It’s Tough For Cruz To Watch

Ex-Teammate Talks About QB’s Struggles

Eli Manning is running out of games.

As the clock ticks down on his tenure with the Giants and his nearly uninterrupted 15-year run as the team's starting quarterback, it's becoming more and more apparent that this is the way it will end. Not with confetti, not with a trophy, not with one last comeback to punctuate a career full of them. But with a team that struggles to score points, behind an offensive line that offers him little protection, and a losing team that has already started to dump ballast in an effort to be more buoyant in coming years.

Sunday, in fact, might be his farewell to the fans at MetLife Stadium. The Giants host the Redskins at 1 p.m. and afterward will head into a pair of defining marks on the calendar. There is the trade deadline on Tuesday, which could present an opportunity for Manning to waive his no-trade clause and join a team with a better chance than the 2018 Giants have of competing for a title. That's unlikely. But then there is the bye week, which should give the Giants some extra time to get rookie quarterback Kyle Lauletta up to speed and ready to show what he's capable of in the second half of the season. If the Giants are truly sacrificing their present for the future, then that's the move that must be made.

It's hard to watch as a fan. Imagine as a former teammate.

“That's definitely tough,” Victor Cruz told Newsday this week. “I've been through the best of the best with him, and these last two years really have been really tough for him. I spoke to him in passing last year and I could tell that things were weighing on him a little bit and I know this year hasn't been any better.”

In some ways, it's been worse. Last year the Giants had injuries and Manning was scrambling to keep the offense functional. One of the more miraculous performances of his career took place in the depths of that spiral in the last game of the season when the Giants beat these Redskins.

“You go back and watch that game, you can barely remember some of the names on the team,” Manning chuckled this week.

This year, the expectations were much higher. Everyone was healthy. The line was supposed to be improved. Manning was given a new weapon in Saquon Barkley. But instead, the losses have piled up and the Giants have changed their mindset from giving it one last shot with Manning and a win-now approach to a white flag and fire sale and a wait till next year — or the year after that, maybe — approach.

All of which leaves Manning on the outside looking in as preparations are made for a future without him. Right in front of him. It's a harsh business.

Giants co-owner John Mara said Manning was being treated like a “punching bag” a few weeks ago. But he's been jabbed at by fans and the media for most of his career. These body blows from the organization have to be the ones that hurt the most.

“There comes a time for all athletes, not just quarterbacks, not just him,” said Cruz, now an analyst for ESPN and speaking as an ambassador for Captain Morgan rum. “Obviously he's Eli Manning so it's a big deal, but it happens to everyone, man. I don't know if it's the right time to do it for me personally, but it feels like the team does and the people who make decisions over there do. That's the decision they're going with. That's tough for me to hear and I'm sure it's tough for everyone around the world who is a fan of Eli Manning.”

The funny thing is that once the Giants are done with Manning, he'll be more beloved than ever. He'll no longer be the guy who hasn't been able to lift the Giants to a winning season in what will soon be five of the last six years. He won't be the quarterback whose career won-loss record as a starter has dropped from 69-50 the last time he won a Super Bowl to 112-109 heading into Sunday's game. Rather he'll slip into the warm embrace of being a two-time Super Bowl MVP and wear the crown as the greatest quarterback in franchise history.

“When he comes off the field he'll be remembered for all the great things that he's done and hopefully not the last couple of years of his career which weren't as great as the first few,” Cruz said.

Not even this ending can alter that.