Is there a trade market for Eli Manning?

The New York Giants made the tough decision to bench star quarterback Eli Manning on Tuesday. Is there a trade market for the 38-year-old QB?

A growing, and loud, group of New York Giant fans had been clamoring for the team to move on from Eli Manning (I was one of them) in what appears to be a lost season. Now that the move has been made, focus has shifted to the possibility of Eli finishing out his career somewhere-else.

A rash of injuries to several starting quarterbacks only adds fuel to the fire of a potential trade for the 38-year-old. While Eli has always said he wants to finish his career as a Giant, that mindset may have changed today now that he finds himself on the bench.

I speculated about a possible trade to the Colts earlier in the season after the sudden retirement of Andrew Luck. To me, a trade of the legendary Giant caller makes a ton of sense for both the player and the franchise. There is no reason that Eli would want to finish out his career unceremoniously, and several teams could legitimately use him – even at this late stage of his career.

The Giants are paying Eli 23-million dollars this season, in what looks like a year he may only start two games. If Big Blue does decide to trade Eli, they could still save about ten-million dollars at this juncture. That money could be reinvested into the team next year, and be used in a variety of ways down the line to improve the team.

The team acquiring Eli would conceivably not have to give up much to get him, and any added draft capital the Giants could get at this point would be welcomed. Eli would also get one last chance to play for a team that actually has a chance to compete this year, and there aren’t any better options that would come as cheap (trade wise) as the two-time Super Bowl MVP.

While you can poke holes in just-about every trade scenario brought up for Eli, you’d be lying if you said most don’t make at least a little bit of sense for all parties involved. Even if it was in a backup role, you’d have to think Eli would entertain waiving his no-trade clause if he felt his new team had a shot to fight for the playoffs. As we’re seeing around the league, a devastating injury to a quarterback can come at any time, and you can’t put a price on how valuable a reliable, playoff-proven quarterback can be in that scenario.

Here are a few teams that would be wise to explore an Eli Manning trade.