GIANTS’ MANNING REALLY GLAD TO BE BACK:
Eli was unsure of Giant future after dismal 3-13 year
Eli Manning was not sure he would still be a Giant this year.
The 37-year-old quarterback admitted on Tuesday in an interview with WFAN’s Mike Francesa that he had no idea what the future held for him after a 3-13 season that resulted in his head coach and general manager being fired.
“For the first time ever, I didn’t know what the future held,” he said. “I tried not to overthink it and draw conclusions off information I didn’t know. Just had to say, ‘Hey, I have to be positive through the season, offseason, and just work out and be ready for whatever is thrown at me.’
“Obviously, I was very excited to hear news from Mr. Gettleman and Mr. Mara they wanted me back. I work extremely hard to keep my job and when you almost lose something it makes you appreciate it even more. That’s certainly the case here.”
Manning has two years remaining on his contract and the Giants have made it a priority to try to win once more with him by drafting Penn State running back Saquon Barkley with the No. 2 overall pick instead of a quarterback.
The Giants did draft Richmond quarterback Kyle Lauletta in the fourth round, and he will compete with Davis Webb for the backup job, but Manning was not asked about the addition of another young quarterback.
Instead he spoke mostly about learning the new playbook and the excitement he has for his new and improved offense.
“It’s easy to get excited about your own paper team — that’s the guys you have on your roster — and that’s just because of the playmakers,” he said. “Look at Odell (Beckham), Saquon, Evan Engram, Sterling Shepard, those are all guys who have played in games and made big plays for us. You go in with a new left tackle, some offensive linemen, so on paper there’s a lot of playmakers, now it’s just a matter of us coming together as a team.”
Manning was also asked about Beckham, who continues to get himself into off-field distractions, but the Giants quarterback is hopeful those headlines will dissipate.
“That’s the goal, where we can keep the main thing about the main thing and that’s winning football games,” he said. “In New York everything gets blown up a little bit, we just got to focus on not making distractions when we don’t need distractions. Have the conversation about our good play and not other things that may hurt the team or draw the focus away from the team.”
PATS EYED MAYFIELD
In an alternate universe, the Giants could have traded the No. 2 overall pick in the draft to … the New England Patriots?
Jack Mills, Baker Mayfield’s agent, said on a podcast that if Mayfield were available at No. 2, the Patriots were considering a stunning move to nab the Oklahoma quarterback.
“Another team had said, ‘You may get a big surprise on draft day at No. 2, if he’s available.’ And it was the Patriots,” Mills said Tuesday morning on “The Business of Sports with Andrew Brandt.” “They had 23, and they had 31, (they had) two seconds. We thought, ‘That’s going to be a heck of a move to get up that high to where they are,’ and of course, he wasn’t available. We didn’t know if that was a reality or not.”
Mayfield met with the Patriots a week before the draft and, according to The Athletic, it was Josh McDaniels who told Mayfield’s camp that hinted they would be willing to trade up in order to get an interview with the Heisman Trophy winner, who kept declining the Patriots’ requests because they held the No. 23 pick.
Giants GM Dave Gettleman, however, was dead set on taking Penn State running back Saquon Barkley with his pick, so much so that he said he did not even entertain trade offers.
“They went Mayfield; we were taking Saquon,” he said. “It’s that simple.”
LANDON: NO RESPECT!
Landon Collins feels he gets no respect. The Giants strong safety made the NFL Network’s rankings of the top 100 players for 2018, coming in at No. 92, but Collins took exception with where he was placed.
“Glad I made it but very disrespectful with the number… #SavageSeasonuponus,” he wrote on his Twitter account @TheHumble_21. Collins recently underwent a second surgery on his broken right arm and is expected to be out until the start of training camp in July . ... Ereck Flowers is teaming up with NFL agent Drew Rosenhaus.
Rosenhaus posted a picture of himself on Twitter with the Giants offensive tackle, who did not report to voluntary mini-camp last week. “Happy to now be working with @Eflow_74 and @eflow1906!” Rosenhaus wrote in a caption.
Flowers previously did not have an agent and was represented by his family. The Giants reportedly tried to trade Flowers last week during the NFL Draft but could not find anyone willing to take him because of his poor play combined with his contract situation. The 23-year-old is owed $4.5 million in the final season of his rookie deal, which is likely holding the Giants back from outright cutting him.
Flowers’ standing with the team changed after the Giants signed free-agent left tackle Nate Solder to take his position.