Eli Manning benched

[MTSuper7]

Time to stream defenses vs. NYG. I particularly like the @ARZ game in week 16. 

[Wpob]

My son is going on 13 and has been a Eli fan first and a Giants fan second since he could follow football.  He has loved Eli since day one and has never wavered.  Even when he started to like other teams, he always loved Eli.  

 

When he heard Eli was benched he was pissed.  He took down all his Giants posters and threw them out, except for the Eli one.  He left that up.  All the time I watched he do this, I could only think that I wish I still had his passion and love for players and/or teams.  But I don't.  Too old and too jaded.

 

I will always be grateful for the long run Eli had with the Giants and for the two Super Bowls.  He is the only quarterback to go head to head with Brady in the Super Bowl and win both.  He will always be hated in New England for ruining perfection (and loved in Miami).  He threw the single greatest Super Bowl pass ever with his completion to Manningham on the sidelines in Super Bowl XLVI (The Tyree Helmet catch was a prayer.  The Manningham throw was perfection).  He has been a gentleman on and off the field and even with the large shadow of his brother cast over him, he never lost his cool.  

 

But, this was the right move.  The only thing to gain for Eli playing is a worse draft position and the potential of him getting hurt.  I would have preferred they traded him by the deadline, but maybe the offers were no good.  My only hope is they do the right thing and work out a deal to Denver or Jacksonville taking less on the dollar if needed, and let him chase that third Super Bowl ring.  If no deal can be made, then release him and let him sign with whoever he chooses.  

 

Geno is awful and I assume Webb is worse.  The Giants will lose out, finish 2-14 and pray San Fran wins one more game so they can pick second overall and get a QB.  Shore up the OL, find a decent RB (not sold on Darkwa) and move on.  The offense is in good shape with OBJ, Sheppard and Engram and are all young.  The defense can still play.   If they draft the right QB (don't ask me who, I don't follow college football that close), then this can be a quick turnaround.  

 

As for my son, I am sure next season he will be on board with the Jaguars or Broncos as his new favorite team.  His current hatred of the Giants will wane (he does like OBJ as most kids do), but they will just be a distant second to whoever gets Eli.

 

Thanks for everything Eli.  I truly hope you get that third ring.

[shnugen27]

I'm ashamed to be a fan. 

 

This is Tyrod all over again, but imagine Tyrod with 2 Super Bowl MVPs and is an all time great of the franchise. Pathetic. 

[Gourdeau]

Beast mode weighs in 

 

 

[Inziladun]

9 minutes ago, LordOpie said:

my sympathies to your son. that sucks.

I hope my broncos get him, but they still need to improve the OL

Hands off, Jaguars need to get their Superbowl win within the next two years.

[Gourdeau]

Inziladun

• Huddler
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you poor soul

 

[Inziladun]

8 minutes ago, LordOpie said:

because they need to boost value to move to a real city?

 

 

 

 

Real rich coming from a Denver fan. But hey at least ya'll got legal grass up there to keep the mood up.

 

30 minutes ago, Gourdeau said:

Inziladun

• Huddler
•  
• Members
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• Fan of the:Jaguars

you poor soul

 

 

Who was the poor soul in week 5? Ha!

Edited November 29, 2017 by Inziladun

[Cowboyz1]

11 hours ago, Wpob said:

My son is going on 13 and has been a Eli fan first and a Giants fan second since he could follow football.  He has loved Eli since day one and has never wavered.  Even when he started to like other teams, he always loved Eli.  

 

When he heard Eli was benched he was pissed.  He took down all his Giants posters and threw them out, except for the Eli one.  He left that up.  All the time I watched he do this, I could only think that I wish I still had his passion and love for players and/or teams.  But I don't.  Too old and too jaded.

 

I will always be grateful for the long run Eli had with the Giants and for the two Super Bowls.  He is the only quarterback to go head to head with Brady in the Super Bowl and win both.  He will always be hated in New England for ruining perfection (and loved in Miami).  He threw the single greatest Super Bowl pass ever with his completion to Manningham on the sidelines in Super Bowl XLVI (The Tyree Helmet catch was a prayer.  The Manningham throw was perfection).  He has been a gentleman on and off the field and even with the large shadow of his brother cast over him, he never lost his cool.  

 

But, this was the right move.  The only thing to gain for Eli playing is a worse draft position and the potential of him getting hurt.  I would have preferred they traded him by the deadline, but maybe the offers were no good.  My only hope is they do the right thing and work out a deal to Denver or Jacksonville taking less on the dollar if needed, and let him chase that third Super Bowl ring.  If no deal can be made, then release him and let him sign with whoever he chooses.  

 

Geno is awful and I assume Webb is worse.  The Giants will lose out, finish 2-14 and pray San Fran wins one more game so they can pick second overall and get a QB.  Shore up the OL, find a decent RB (not sold on Darkwa) and move on.  The offense is in good shape with OBJ, Sheppard and Engram and are all young.  The defense can still play.   If they draft the right QB (don't ask me who, I don't follow college football that close), then this can be a quick turnaround.  

 

As for my son, I am sure next season he will be on board with the Jaguars or Broncos as his new favorite team.  His current hatred of the Giants will wane (he does like OBJ as most kids do), but they will just be a distant second to whoever gets Eli.

 

Thanks for everything Eli.  I truly hope you get that third ring.

Great post. Your son was taught a very unfortunate lesson that many of us older guys didn't have to learn so soon. In my day players stayed with teams most of their career and they played week in and week out, year in and year out. You could invest in a player because he was part of the team that was part of you. Coaches for the most part were stalwarts. Player in skill positions didn't move around nearly as much. Now with FA you really have a hard time investing in players because they are likely gone after their rookie contract is up in 4 to 5 years. For the players I get that it gives them more opportunities for more money but it certainly loosens the knot that binds us to players and teams as fans. Would like to see more flexibility in contracts for teams to be able to hold on to veterans by allowing more exemptions under the cap for vested veterans that teams want to keep and pay what they are deserved. Many times teams are forced to choose pay over player which shouldn't be if they drafted him and have kept him for his entire career but are forced to let him go due to cap limitations. That should never happen IMO. O at least be minimized. Teams shouldn't be punished for drafting well then unable to afford to keep them, being forcing them into a choice of being under talented at other positions or paying them what they market dictates.If the NFL wants fan loyalty they would be better served allowing teams to stay intact thus keeping the bond between fans of players AND teams tight.

 

Nothing worse then rooting for a player that goes to a team you hate over cap space.

Edited November 29, 2017 by Cowboyz1

[stevegrab]

Peter King's take

 

And for those who have missed this or cannot accept it, Geno Smith is not going to start much more than the first game in Oakland, once Webb has some practice with the actual Giants offense (not just running the scout team every week) he'll get the start, and could even play some in Oakland. This is what I've heard from a few sources and is included in Kings article

Edited November 29, 2017 by stevegrab

[Inziladun]

53 minutes ago, LordOpie said:

first, I was joking.

second, i wasn't joking. have you been to denver? have you been to jacksonville?

there's only one person who likes jacksonville... Ash, but he doesn't count cuz he fights demons.

I was joking too. And I live in Jacksonville. It gets too much disrespect solely because Downtown doesn't have any tourist attractions. As for Denver, it's Meh, but I'm mostly referring to y'alls team. But like I said it was as much of a joke as yours was. :P

Edited November 29, 2017 by Inziladun

[XFlash]

Eli Interview

 

You could tell he was upset.  He does hold his composure.  

 

I'm sure off camera with his family he had more harsh words, but you will never see that from him.  He is a class act.

 

I agree with LordOpie, if this was in the plans, they should have traded him to get more picks or other players signed for rebuild mode.  If they traded him to get value, they still would lose games and not ruin chances of better draft position.  At least they would have given Eli a chance to play for a better team and gotten some benefit.  Now....no benefit, but a bunch of P.O. fans and players.

 

Why not just fire McAdoo now?  Instead of benching Eli?

[ItsMitchh]

They aren't making the playoffs this year. They're 2-9. Why keep playing Eli when you have Webb and you need to get him game action to see if he's any good? Playing Eli accomplishes nothing. If you play Webb, you get to see what you have. If Webb is good, then you have the future. If he's bad, you get a good draft pick. Win-win. I think it was the smart move. You're all getting sentimental about Eli, but the season is lost. Mine as well try to get some information than keep Eli in and find out nothing

[stevegrab]

54 minutes ago, LordOpie said:

my guess is that McAdoo was given instructions to bench Eli. If Eli gets hurt, they are financially responsible, but if they keep him healthy, they can trade or cut him next off-season. Since he's due a very reasonable $12mil, then trading him will be easy. Why they didn't do that a month ago is because they're poorly managed.

thanks for agreeing with me. I got some sarcasm when I suggested they trade eli a month ago.

 

From the previously linked Peter King article

 

4. His contract is a little tricky to trade. First: Manning has two years left, with $22 million in salary, $10 million in roster bonuses, and $1 million total in workout bonuses. Two years, $33 million. Reasonable. But Manning also has a no-trade clause in the deal. That means he could refuse a trade if he wants, or he could block a trade to teams he wouldn’t want to play. It also means if he chooses to waive the no-trade clause, the team that acquires him might have to sweeten the deal by adding either money or time to it. It seems fair, for instance, if Manning could get a year or two added to the deal if it puts him a little north of $20 million annually. My guess is four years, $80 million might be the floor for Denver or Jacksonville or some surprise team (Manning’s hometown of New Orleans, if Drew Brees walks, for instance). I can’t see Manning staying if he either doesn’t like the 2018 brain trust or, even after two months to let the anger dissipate, is still wounded by this. But as I say, Manning is more thoughtful than vengeful. He probably makes the best family and football decision, wherever that leads.

[XFlash]

1 hour ago, ItsMitchh said:

You're all getting sentimental about Eli, but the season is lost. Mine as well try to get some information than keep Eli in and find out nothing

 

It's not that at all,

 

They were well out of playoffs for weeks.  This move could have been done sooner if that was what was really going on.  I agree with LordOpie that NYG organization is just mismanaged.

 

They need to clean house and are waiting until the last possible minute.  They could have made more moves earlier than to let issues fester by not addressing the issues weeks ago.

 

You have valid points, but how it was presented was not handled professionally.  They should have talked to Eli beforehand, or had a joint conference, or something, anything than how it was handled.  Walking it back does nothing now for any of the players on that team.  If you treat your players with no respect, you get no respect.

 

 

[XFlash]

Denver or Jax would be the best place for him to succeed.  

 

Denver still has to address their best options (draft picks and/or FA) to get a better O-line.

 

Jax needs better WRs and TE.  Or a better OC who can not only continue the great running talent, but bring on the aerial assault.

[stevegrab]

3 minutes ago, XFlash said:

 

It's not that at all,

 

They were well out of playoffs for weeks.  This move could have been done sooner if that was what was really going on.  I agree with LordOpie that NYG organization is just mismanaged.

 

They need to clean house and are waiting until the last possible minute.  They could have made more moves earlier than to let issues fester by not addressing the issues weeks ago.

 

You have valid points, but how it was presented was not handled professionally.  They should have talked to Eli beforehand, or had a joint conference, or something, anything than how it was handled.  Walking it back does nothing now for any of the players on that team.  If you treat your players with no respect, you get no respect.

 

 

 

Not sure I follow the bolded, are you saying the Giants announced he was being benched before talking to Eli? I heard he was given the chance to continue to start, while Smith and Webb get to play most of the game. He refused, classy move. So he surely knew before it was announced.

[Shaft]

Like mentioned, either Jax or Denver would be the best fit. Denver would be unique story with Peyton's history there. His old head coach is running the Jax operations. This should be interesting. 

[XFlash]

The reporters questioned how he had found out.

 

He seemed very distraught about replying how he was notified and what discussions happened.

 

I'm not buying 100% that they gave me any real chance to win games.  Like he said in the interviews, I'm not about keeping a streak alive.  He wants to win games.

 

I hope more info comes out in the next few days.  Just sad that there best player on/off the field and in the press was treat poorly.  

 

The management still could have handled the announcement with better tact.

 

I still believe they should have moved on this soon, than waiting until week 13.  NYG were clearly out of the playoffs weeks ago.  But no organization will ever admit to tanking a season to get a better draft pick. 

[Dcat]

10 minutes ago, Shaft said:

Like mentioned, either Jax or Denver would be the best fit. Denver would be unique story with Peyton's history there. His old head coach is running the Jax operations. This should be interesting. 

 

Coughlin & Manning!

He'll be a Jaguar.  I have no doubt.

[BeeR]

On 11/28/2017 at 9:08 PM, Cowboyz1 said:

However, to be fair, the Giants season was over when OBJ, Shepard, Marshall went down.

Nah.  The season was over after free agency and the draft was over.  They went in with jack squat at RB or OL and mostly just OBJ at WR.  It was a doomed offense and therefore a doomed team.  Even a good D can only make up for so much most days.

[Front Row]

Disgraceful.  horrible time to be a jints fan, reminds me of the Ray Handley era.    I almost feel bad for Gino.  I really hope Davis Webb doesn't get hurt before his career even starts. What a feces show.

 

[michaelredd9]

I would have benched him several weeks ago. The Giants doing what is right for the organization is far more important than showing loyalty to aged, average quarterback.  They have paid him more than $200 million and gave him the opportunity to win two Super Bowls.  That's pretty good for a middling talent.  I will grant you that Eli did play far better than average during their Super Bowl runs.  But there are other ways to show appreciation than starting a old, washed up quarterback on a 2-9 team that is looking to rebuild.  They should have traded him to the Jaguars at the trade deadline.  Although, the possibility exists that Eli nixed that trade since he has a no trade clause in his contract.

 

[stevegrab]

15 hours ago, XFlash said:

The reporters questioned how he had found out.

 

He seemed very distraught about replying how he was notified and what discussions happened.

 

I'm not buying 100% that they gave me any real chance to win games.  Like he said in the interviews, I'm not about keeping a streak alive.  He wants to win games.

 

I hope more info comes out in the next few days.  Just sad that there best player on/off the field and in the press was treat poorly. 

 

The management still could have handled the announcement with better tact.

 

I still believe they should have moved on this soon, than waiting until week 13.  NYG were clearly out of the playoffs weeks ago.  But no organization will ever admit to tanking a season to get a better draft pick.

 

I admit I haven't watched any interviews with him or press conferences really from anybody with the Giants. I simply think people are overreacting, Eli is a good guy, won 2 SB on teams that were big underdogs. People like him, and feel bad for him.

 

I agree they should have traded him before this, or made some other changes if needed. But they may have tried to trade and he nixed it, or found no takers.

[michaelredd9]

Eli is a top notch dude.  I doubt his priority in life has ever been football.  I doubt he was willing to uproot his family to facilitate a trade, or worse, work in another state while his family is elsewhere.  Because he has a no trade clause, he has all the leverage.  The Giants will be forced to cut him without compensation this offseason.  And, at the age of 36, Eli will get paid one more time, with a semi-sweet contract, with another signing bonus, with a team he chooses.

 

[Gopher]

7 hours ago, michaelredd9 said:

I would have benched him several weeks ago. The Giants doing what is right for the organization is far more important than showing loyalty to aged, average quarterback.  They have paid him more than $200 million and gave him the opportunity to win two Super Bowls.  That's pretty good for a middling talent.  I will grant you that Eli did play far better than average during their Super Bowl runs.  But there are other ways to show appreciation than starting a old, washed up quarterback on a 2-9 team that is looking to rebuild.  They should have traded him to the Jaguars at the trade deadline.  Although, the possibility exists that Eli nixed that trade since he has a no trade clause in his contract.

 

The uproar isn't about whether or not Eli should be benched.  It's about how poorly it was executed, how poorly it was communicated, and at the end of the day, Eli's play has been the least of their problems.  The whole thing is bizarre, and makes it clear that the Giants' front office doesn't really have a plan.  Their drafts have been largely disastrous, and this debacle is just one more nail in the coffins of both the HC and GM.  

 

It would be one thing if they benched Eli to see what they have in Webb.  But, they (the NYG) admittedly haven't given Webb enough snaps in practice to play him at this point.  Which, in and of itself, is pretty hard to understand.  Your season has been a loss since basically September, you want to see what you have at the QB position (besides Eli), but it never crossed your mind to maybe give the rookie some playing time on the practice field!?!  So, instead, they will trot out a known commodity (Geno), which really does nothing for the franchise (other than make them look like more of a laughingstock than they already were).  

 

 

Add to all of that the fact that Eli wasn't notified by the owner or GM (he found out from the head coach, who is clearly a dead man walking, in way over his head, etc.), and I could see why Eli would be disappointed to say he least.  He's the consummate team player/professional, and the inference that the team might be better of with Geno Smith (!?!) starting at QB is a slap in the face.  And their "plan" was to let Eli play a half (to extend his streak), then bench him at halftime?  WTF would be the benefit of that?