Quarterback situation has a familiar feel for Giants boss John Mara

Sometimes if Giants COO John Mara didn’t know any better, he’d swear this was like 2004 all over again.

That season, the Giants brought in a young rookie quarterback by the name of Eli Manning, a player they had traded a boatload of assets from both their 2004 and 2005 drafts to acquire via trade from the Chargers.

That year, the future of the franchise also sat behind an established veteran, Kurt Warner, who would go on to become a Hall of Famer, until head coach Tom Coughlin decided it was time to make the switch to the youngster.

Fast forward 16 years later and it’s now Manning who finds himself as the old graybeard while Daniel Jones, chosen sixth overall by the Giants, is proving himself every day to be the future of the franchise.

“I guess you can make that comparison, yeah,” Mara said Tuesday when asked if the circumstances felt familiar to 16 years ago.

“We weren’t quite sure when that was all going to take place and how it would all kind of work out, but yeah, there’s a certain similarity to it. I like to think that we have a better team than we had in 2004, but we’ll see about that.”

Just as there was a lot of high hopes and expectations for Manning, the same exists for Jones.

To his credit, Jones continues to draw praise from head coach Pat Shurmur, offensive coordinator Mike Shula, and anyone within the Giants organization you ask.

That includes Mara, who said that Jones had met expectations so far.

“He’s everything that we thought he would be,” Mara said.

“He’s been terrific on the practice field, did a good job the other night. I think people need to temper their enthusiasm a little bit. It’s one preseason game, one series, but so far, so good.”

While Mara has been impressed by Jones on and off the field, he was also quick to remind reporters that the team is committed to Manning.

“Eli is our starting quarterback and will start the season. He’s been a great representative of our franchise for a lot of years and will continue to be, so we’ll have to see how that one unfolds,” Mara said.

The unfolding part though is the unchartered waters that the Giants are entering with Manning.

For the first time in his career, Manning is entering a season as a lame duck, as his contract is set to expire after this year.

Mara, who has a fondness for Manning and an appreciation for the two Super Bowls he helped bring to the franchise, said the team would take things year by year with Manning.

Mara also stunned reporters when he expressed his desire for what he hopes to see in 2019.

“I hope Eli has a great year and Daniel never sees the field,” he said. “I’d be very happy about that because it means that we’re having a great year and Eli’s having a great year.”

When the time does come for the team to pass the reins over to Jones, Mara said that it would be up to Shurmur to make that call, just as the decision to move on from Warner to Manning 16 years ago rested in Coughlin’s hands.

“At the end of the day, just like it was in ’04, it was Tom’s decision back then, and it will be Pat’s decision this time. Again, hopefully, it’s a decision he doesn’t have to make until way in the future,” Mara said.

The Giants have been tight-lipped concerning what set of circumstances would prompt Shurmur to make the switch, but it’s believed that as long as the team is alive for a postseason berth, they will stick with Manning for as long as he’s healthy.

But that’s not to say that Jones won’t get a few snaps here and there, particularly if a game ends up being lopsided, though the hope would certainly be to give Jones some meaningful snaps at some point.

Another possible scenario could mirror what the Kansas City Chiefs did a couple of years ago when they were looking to take the training wheels off of Patrick Mahomes.

The Chiefs, who had locked up a postseason berth, sat then starter Alex Smith and gave Mahomes an entire week to prepare as the starter and then take all the snaps under center.

That experience helped put the Chiefs’ collective minds at ease over parting with Smith the ensuing off-season and turning the reins over full time to Mahomes.

For now, Mara doesn’t want to get too ahead of himself in daydreaming about the “what ifs” of the season, though he did express confidence that Manning would be able to justify the faith and confidence the team has in him.

“I think he’s played well when the protection has been there in front of him when he has confidence in the protection,” Mara said of Manning.

“I thought that the second half of last year he played much better, our protection got a little bit better, and obviously Saquon (Barkley) was having a big year. So, I think our offensive line is better this year than it has been, and he’s had a terrific camp so far.”

But make no mistake; a parting between Manning and the Giants is coming sooner than later, and it’s something Mara doesn’t sound like he’s looking forward to seeing play out.

“It’ll be a very difficult, emotional moment, to be sure, but I’m not thinking about that just yet,” he said. “He’s still the starting quarterback.”

For now.

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