Should the Giants reach out to Jags about Eli Manning?

What originally started as the least of the New York Giants problems, has turned into the main issue, and that is the quarterback play of Eli Manning.

The New York Giants doubled down on Eli Manning this offseason, by bolstering their offense with the drafting of running back Saquon Barkley, and making Odell Beckham, Jr. the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL. The Giants also signed offensive linemen Nate Solder and Patrick Omameh, along with drafting center Will Hernandez. With those moves, the Giants were ready to bounce back from their 3-13 season in 2017, and they thought that they could still win with Eli Manning as their quarterback, despite Eli being 37 years old and on the decline.

However, the Giants’ plan to contend this season has backfired and they seem to be stuck in the same place they were last season, as they are currently 1-6. Eli Manning has struggled, and while some of the blame is on his offensive line, as they give him no protection, Eli still gets some blame as he is not mobile and stays in the pocket, which causes him to either get sacked or make inaccurate passes. The current NFL game features a lot of quarterbacks that can move around and make plays on the run, which is not Eli’s style of play, and that has hurt the Giants this season.

Clearly, Eli will not be in the Giants’ future plans, as he will either retire, or potentially, get traded and the Giants will focus on acquiring their future quarterback. A team that has been rumored to be a trade partner with the Giants for Eli is the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars have a team that is ready to win a Super Bowl, but lack a quarterback that is ready to reach that stage. Blake Bortles is an adequate quarterback, but based on this season, he has proven that he is not their franchise quarterback. Although Eli would not be the long-term answer, either, he would be able to get the Jaguars on the right track, and would have had a far better shot at getting another Super Bowl ring. Plus, he would be reunited with his former head coach, Tom Coughlin, who is the vice president of football operations for the Jaguars.

The debate among not only Giants fans, but NFL fans in general, is whether or not the Giants should have passed on Saquon Barkley and drafted a quarterback instead, such as Sam Darnold. The plan would have been to have Eli play one final season, while the quarterback they drafted would have learned the playbook under Eli, and then take over as the quarterback the next season. Now, the Giants cannot do that, and if they do trade Eli Manning to the Jaguars, they would have to play either Alex Tanney or rookie Kyle Lauletta. Personally, out of those two options, I would go with Lauletta, just because he is a rookie and the Giants can see what they have with him. Plus, the Giants season is all but over, and it would not make a difference who plays quarterback, as the plan will be to get a high draft pick and take the quarterback of the future, which could be Justin Herbert from the University of Oregon, who is rumored to go first overall in the 2019 draft.

The Giants should definitely move on from Eli and they should absolutely reach out to the Jaguars, and make what would be a mutually beneficial trade. The Jaguars would get a quarterback that already has two Super Bowl wins and can win another in Jacksonville, plus the Giants would finish this season and focus on drafting their quarterback of the future.