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INDIANAPOLIS – Eli Manning still will call New York home.
Second-year head coach Pat Shurmur squashed speculation that Manning could be traded or released this offseason.
“I think Eli can help us win games. He proved, when the players around him starting playing better, that he can play at a very high level and help us win games,” Shurmur said Wednesday at the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine. “At this point I want Eli back. He’s back.”
General manager Dave Gettleman helped kickstart questions about Manning’s ouster in his end-of-season press conference.
Gettleman described the conversation in January as ”a no-holds barred” discussion with Manning.
“I’m committed to making the best decision in the interest of the Giants,” Gettleman said at the time. “We’re in the evaluation process. … Everything is on the table for us.”
Shurmur on Wednesday sang a different tune. Asked if he believed Manning has multiple years left as a starter, he replied “I do.”
Gettleman said Manning, who turned 38 last month, sought out the discussion after the Giants finished season 5-11.
“We’re trying to build sustained success. That takes brutal honesty and some tough decisions,” Gettleman said. “… It wasn’t like he was called to the principal’s office. He came to see me.”
Manning has started 230 of 232 games he’s appeared in since joining the league in 2004. He has one year left on his contract, with a base salary of $11.5 million.
Manning finished the season with 4,299 yards, 21 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and completed a career-best 66 percent of his passes.
–By Jeff Reynolds (@ReynoldsJD), Field Level Media