MONEY MANN
Jints set to pay Eli’s $5M bonus
When Eli Manning’s $5 million roster bonus kicks in Monday at 4 p.m., it will provide financial clarity to what is already known about the 38-year-old, two-time Super Bowl MVP: He will be wearing blue as the Giants’ quarterback in 2019, for the 16th consecutive year.
Manning might not be the only quarterback who gets to play for the Giants this season. That depends whom they take in the NFL draft next month or whom they acquire (Josh Rosen?). Manning returns as the starter, though, despite the team’s downward spiral since its most recent rise to greatness: winning Super Bowl XLVI in 2012.
Since then, the Giants are on their third head coach (Tom Coughlin to Ben McAdoo to Pat Shurmur) and their second general manager (Jerry Reese to Dave Gettleman), uncommon upheaval for a fran- chise with ownership that prides itself on patience and stability. The Giants are 8-24 the past two seasons, and Manning is 8-23 as the starting quarterback in that span.
The new regime of Gettleman and Shurmur believes Manning can get the job done as long as he is protected by an offensive line that will be in its second year of a total rebuild and as long as the focal point of the offense shifts to running back Saquon Barkley. Last week’s stunning trade of superstar receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to the Browns sent away Manning’s most dynamic weapon — one of the most lethal targets in the league — but the Giants did not win much with Manning throwing to Beckham.
That Manning is returning on his full salary is baffling to many. He will make $17 million in base salary and count $23.2 million on the 2019 salary cap. That cap drain puts Manning tied with Cam Newton of the Panthers for seventh-highest among quarterbacks. In terms of average annual salary, Manning’s $21 million is not exceptional among his quarterback peers. It puts him 14th in the NFL, behind Matt Ryan, Kirk Cousins, Jimmy Garoppolo, Derek Carr, Alex Smith and Nick Foles, among others.
The Giants see their payout to Manning this season as commensurate with what their aging starting quarterback should earn. Plus, given the way Manning comports himself, on and off the field, and the way he is revered in the building, co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch had no real appetite to cut the salary of a player who helped earn the most recent two Lombardi Trophies.
Last season, Manning com- pleted a career-high 66 percent of his passes, for 4,299 yards with 21 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions. His passer rating of 92.4 was the third-highest of his career. Offensive failures in the first half of the 2018 season led to a 1-7 start. A much more effective second half led to a surge in scoring as the Giants finished 5-11.
Having traded away Beckham to the Browns last week, the Giants need to restock their receiver corps to catch passes from Eli Manning. One of those targets, Cody Latimer, will be resigned.
Latimer announced his return Sunday night on Twitter, posting “Back for seconds!!!. Let’s go big blue!!! Ready to get back to work with the squad!!! Time to finish what I started last season.”