Despite his advancing age, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning doesn't seem to be facing a diminishing skill set as his performance last season in Year One under new Giants offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo can attest. Manning, under McAdoo, set new career-highs in completions (379), completion percentage (63.1) and posted the second-most yards, touchdowns and second-best rating of his career. Despite the gaudy figures, Manning and his reps, as well as some members of the Giants brass, are reportedly feeling uncertainty and surprise that a new deal isn't closer to coming to fruition, per Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News.
Per Vacchiano, the two sides are still facing a "significant gap" in valuation. There may be good reason for this, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports that Manning is "pushing to become the highest-paid player in the NFL."
Manning watched Friday as fellow 2004 NFL Draft class member and the man he was traded to the Giants for, Philip Rivers, signed a mammoth new contract extension with the San Diego Chargers that will pay him approximately $99 million through 2019. While Rivers' regular season numbers have consistently been better than Manning's, Manning has outplayed him in the postseason and, of course, has two Super Bowl rings to Rivers' zero.
Of course, while Manning's numbers last year represented a step up for him, they still don't make him a top-five quarterback in the NFL. His reported desire to become the highest-paid player in the NFL may amount to nothing more than a pipe dream. That being said, Rivers' deal, which carries an annual value of around $20 million, seems to be the new normal for quarterback contracts in today's NFL world. While an average of $20 million per season likely seems high to the Giants, unless they're assured of a high first-round pick next year or are certain that Ryan Nassib can become a franchise signal-caller sometime soon, Manning still represents their best chance at a return to the Super Bowl this year and going forward.
