IDEA ELI’S DONE IS ‘A CROCK’

TRUST me, says the man who believes he received fair value for trading away Odell Beckham Jr.

Trust me, says the man who believes yet again in 38year-old Eli Manning and has not, and naturally will not, reveal his franchise-quarterback quarterback plan.

Wish I could. Giants fans wish they could, too.

“Very honestly, it’s not my responsibility to tell you guys what I’m doing,” Giants GM Dave Gettleman said with a chuckle during his conference call Monday. “Trust me, we got a plan, and over time, you’ve gotta be patient. “Ev- erybody wants answers now, we live in an instant-gratification society, instant gratification works and everybody wants answers now. Over time, you’ll see it. You gotta trust it.”

Until Gettleman channels his inner Ernie Accorsi and leaves the franchise in good shape with the right Manning successor, the plan is a flawed one, lacking in vision.

Gettleman can call it building all he wants ... this is rebuilding with a 38-year-old quarterback whose job it will be to hold the fort because there isn’t anyone else to hold the fort.

“This narrative that Eli’s overpaid and can’t play is a crock,” Gettleman said. “So at the end of the day, you guys gotta say, ‘Gettleman’s out of his mind,’ or, ‘He knows what he’s talking about when he evaluates players.’ And I’m OK if you disagree with me.”

Trust me, I disagree with him.

How do you sign Beckham to a $90 million contract in August and trade him seven months later and leave $16 million in dead cap money?

“This was purely a football business decision,” Gettleman said. “There’s no intrigue, there’s no he-said, she-said.”

I don’t buy it. Here’s the truth: Getting rid of Beckham was viewed — undoubtedly reluctantly by ownership — as addition by subtraction.

The money quotes from Gettleman: “It’s about accumulating really good football players who are also really good folks. Culture’s important, I’ve said it a million times.”

That was in answer to a question about signing 34year-old safety Antoine Bethea.

“With football being the ultimate team game, we turned that fact into three assets at the very least,” Gettleman said.

The 17th pick of the draft, a third-round pick and safety Jabrill Peppers, a 2017 Browns first-round pick was the best Gettleman decided he could do.

“It’s about building a team,” Gettleman said. “It’s not individual players in silos. It’s about building a team.”

They didn’t sign Beckham to trade him. This is a recording.

“But obviously things changed,” Gettleman said. “And frankly what changed is another team made an offer we couldn’t refuse. And as it turned out, the fact that he was signed for five more years made him very attractive and enabled us to get legitimate value.”

That’s his story, and he’s sticking to it.

“You’re not gonna be able to do a Roman Coliseum thumb up or thumb down on this trade for a little bit,” Gettleman said. “In two or three years you’ll have your opinion, just like you have ’em now.”

Maximus Decimus Merid-

ius Gettleman ... Giants gladiator against the world.

Until Gettleman identifies his Manning successor, it is thumbs down. The burden of proof is on Gettleman to find a Baker Mayfield, a Sam Darnold, or trade for a Josh Rosen so he can keep picks 6 and 17.

“At the end of the day, when you blow a whistle, 11 guys gotta go out there. I’ve done that study. And on offense, you gotta have a quarterback going out there,” Gettleman said.

So in $23.2 million Eli he trusts, says the man who says trust him.

Gettleman: “Once we got that O-line fixed ... better, look at what we did the second half of the year ... on offense.”

Gettleman is trusting in an upgraded offensive line, a Saquon Barkley-centric offense and Good Ol’ Eli being forced to play catch-up because Landon Collins and Olivier Vernon are gone from a decimated defense. With no Beckham to bail him out.

“You can win while you’re building,” Gettleman said.

Again: He’s rebuilding. The good news is Manning isn’t higher than the middle of the contract pack for quarterbacks.

“The way he finished the season and what he’s making, there really wasn’t a decision to make,” Gettleman said.

That’s because Davis Webb was a wasted pick and Kyle Lauletta isn’t the heir apparent.

The $33 million in dead cap money moving forward?

“It’s the long-term vision that we have,” Gettleman said.

In fairness, Gettleman inherited a mess. But there will be no thumbs up until he fixes it. And until he does, the vision is a blurry one. Trust me.