For more than a week the New York Giants and their two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Eli Manning were in agreement in principle on a four-year contract extension. The delay in actually getting the deal done was caused by the Giants being reluctant to agree to a no-trade clause in the extension. On Friday it was reported that the team has now agreed to add that language into the extension, which is reportedly worth $84 million, with a $31 million signing bonus, and it includes $65 million in guaranteed money. The former Ole Miss quarterback will still make $17.5 million in 2015, the final season of his contract, and the extension means Manning will make $101.5 million over the next five years.
Signing Eli Manning to an extension is a smart move by the New York Giants. Manning was entering the final season of his current deal, and quality quarterbacks in the NFL are hard to come by. The Giants’ signal caller is 91-76 in his NFL career and 8-3 in the playoffs, with two Super Bowl wins. In the last 11 years Manning has never missed a start, and he also holds almost every Giants passing record. He is trusted in the Giants locker room, and he is also not bothered by the spotlight and pressure that comes from playing in New York. Those may seem like small things, but they are important. Not everyone can play, and succeed, in cities like New York or Boston, and not every quarterback or athlete can gain the trust and respect of the other players on his or her team.
This is not to argue that Manning is one of the top three quarterbacks in the league right now. I actually ranked him at number eight in my NFL Quarterbacks Ranking. What I am arguing is that the three-time Pro Bowler is at least a top-ten quarterback in the NFL at the moment, and the Giants could not afford to let him walk after the 2015 season. There are many NFL teams that have most of the pieces needed to win, but they fail to do so because they do not have a quality quarterback. The last 12 Super Bowls were won by the following quarterbacks: Tom Brady (3), Ben Roethlisberger (2), Peyton Manning (1), Eli Manning (2), Drew Brees (1), Aaron Rodgers (1), Joe Flacco (1), and Russell Wilson (1). Those signal callers are all really good, and some of them are all-time greats. There are many teams that can’t win a playoff game, or even make the playoffs, because they do not have consistently good play from the quarterback position. Once a team has that, they can ill afford to throw it away.
Manning may not be the best quarterback in the league right now, but he is certainly worth this extension. The Giants will be happy he is under center for an additional four seasons.
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – DECEMBER 14: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Eli Manning #10 of the New York Giants in action against the Washington Redskins on December 14, 2014 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Giants defeated the Redskins 24-13. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
