New York Giants: 5 top questions heading into training camp

Is this really Eli Manning’s last season in Blue?

It sure looks like it.  Manning’s contract is up at the end of the season and there’s no way the Giants are going to re-sign him for anything close to what he’s worth – or what his agent, Tom Condon, will ask for.

Manning would need to have a transformational season and take the Giants deep into the playoffs and perhaps win another Super Bowl to be back in 2019. Even then, the Giants will turn to Daniel Jones, their No. 1 pick in this year’s draft.

It certainly looks like the Giants are going to play the wait-and-see game with Jones, meaning they will put Manning under center as the starter and then gradually ease Jones into action. How and when that all unfolds is still unknown. The Giants are hoping that Manning is still visibly better than the rookie in the preseason and at training camp so there will no controversy who the starter is for the Giants’ season opener Sept 8 in Dallas.

The worst-case scenario is Jones outplaying Manning in camp and the preseason and the fans and media point out that the emperor has no clothes. The Giants are under pressure to play Jones at the soonest possible moment as it is, so this will force their hand in the matter.

Jones was selected No. 6 overall in the draft, a slot usually reserved for an immediate starter. The Giants have to play the best player at the position, something Shurmur has already stated this spring.

If Jones wins the job outright, that would make the Giants offseason even more of failure than their critics have labeled it since they could have cut Manning and used that cap space to sign a few viable veterans at other positions.