Eli Manning Bullish on Giants' New Direction
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Former Giants quarterback Eli Manning is happily settled into retirement these days, enjoying more quality family time and his newfound success with the Manning-cast he shares with his brother Peyton, which will continue through the 2024 season.
But that doesn’t mean that the Giants’ newest Ring of Honor member isn’t in tune with what’s happening on the first floor of the tam’s Quest Diagnostics Training Center, the headquarters of his old club, even though these days he no longer draws a paycheck from the team for his work done on the first floor of the building where the bulk of the football operations is located.
Manning, appearing on the "Great Dane Nation" podcast with Saints Hall of Fame kicker Morten Anderson, who in 2001 made a brief stop with the Giants, said that there have been any number of reasons behind the Giants decline since they won Super Bowl XLVI in 2011.
“Every year is a little bit different,” he said. “There's a couple of years where we were scoring points and were good offensively, just couldn't stop teams, couldn't win those tight games in the fourth quarter, when in those two minute situations.”
And ever since Tom Coughlin, who in addition to that 2011 Super Bowl also was at the helm of the 2007 world championship effort, left after the 2015 season, the Giants have had four different head coaches—Ben McAdoo, Steve Spagnuolo (interim), Pat Shurmur, and Joe Judge.
Despite all that turnover, Manning is hopeful the Giants, who are starting anew with general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll, will finally get back on track.
“Just get the right players in there… that's just going to change the culture, get the culture where it needs to be, and get guys that are just all in on winning,” Manning said. “Got to be able to score more points offensively.”
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One of the players who has drawn a heavy amount of criticism has been quarterback Daniel Jones, who succeeded Manning as the team’s starter in 2019. But much like the Giants' front office—co-owner John Mara, Schoen, and Daboll—Manning doesn’t view Jones as the problem.
“I love the way he works. I love his commitment to the game. I love how he does everything. And I think it's a little bit unfair with the people around him,” Manning said.
“He's had different offensive coordinators every year, so I think he earns the respect of his teammates. I think he has the respect of his coaches, and the way he works, the way he studies and prepares and does those things. So you just hope that it can show up on game day and can get the production that he deserves for his hard work. So I think you got to stay with them and give him a shot.”
And that includes getting some help on offense before turning to other options such as Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson.
“I think there are too many other areas that they need to make improvements before they go pay a bunch to get the quarterback,” Manning said. “I just don't think that's the one missing element to get them back to the playoffs.”
It’s going to be a long road back for the Giants, who have a messy salary cap situation they need to straighten out and a big draft ahead of them this spring, but Manning is confident the team will get things back on the right track.
“The ownership is so committed to the team, to put a great product out there, they do whatever, anything possible, just to go win,” he said. “They're 100% behind the team and only care about winning games and doing the right thing, so I know they'll get it back.”
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