We've kicked this around on BBI a little bit, but if you recall, after the 2018 season ended, Gettleman and Eli had a sit down conversation which Gettleman detailed as such
| Dave Gettleman said Wednesday morning that Eli Manning initiated a one-on-one Monday meeting with the Giants GM and “took me in the low post” in an “extensive,” “no holds barred,” “very honest, upfront conversation” about the two-time Super Bowl MVP’s future with the team. |
I know that we had speculated on BBI, but if you go back and look at the timeline of this conversation, the Giants ramped up their pursuit of QBs in the 2019 draft significantly. They had Shurmur and Gettleman very visible in the workouts for Murray, Jones, and Haskins. Not to mention Lock and Grier.
Additionally, the Giants made no effort to sign Eli to an extension, even with all the dead cap money that was in their lap after the Odell trade. And Eli made no noise about his contract (not that he ever really did before, that's not how he operated).
Even the Odell trade was probably telling in hindsight because I'm sure it factored into the Giants thinking that they didn't want Odell around to pressure a rookie QB (or get Barkley into some of his mercurial habits) and they chose to eat his money in 2019 and get a new QB on the roster now to jumpstart the rebuild.
My belief/guess at the time was that Eli went to Gettleman and told him that he planned on retiring after the season. And it's quite possible he tipped the Giants off on the fact that they should look into drafting a QB, and he will act as a mentor...however the caveat being that he wanted the opportunity to start and keep playing as long as he and the team were playing well. IE- the long discussed "Kansas City Scenario". I think going into this year, Eli all along knew that Jones was going to take over at some point, but he'd be given more time to start and didn't expect to be pulled after Week 2 (which in hindsight in some ways should have been an indicator that Shurmur was on thinner ice than we thought and Shurmur felt his best chance to keep his job was to get Jones out there to improve and win with him late. Well, he didn't win late). And additionally, if the Giants didn't indicate to him that it would be his job to lose going into 2019, he might have just decided to retire right then and there (remember Archie's comments that Eli might walk away).
I'm not sure when is the right time to ask, and hopefully a reporter can find the opportunity tomorrow, but now that it's over, I'd love for them to ask Eli what did he and Gettleman talk about last year and did he go into 2019 knowing this would be it for him but he didn't want a farewell tour and way it played out was pretty much what they discussed (with the one deviation being he only got 2 games).
So, speculation abound, and I"d love to see if we can get the real story tomorrow, but until shown otherwise, I think the evidence points to the fact that Eli told Gettleman that 2019 was going to be his final season in that meeting.
I don't think the evidence necessarily points to this at all. If you're Gettleman heading into the 2019 offseason - you already know you need to get Eli's replacement on the roster. Eli could tell you he wants to play another five years, and logically, you have to approach things the same way.
DG may have said we are going to be moving on from him after next year and that it would be Pat's choice of who to start if they drafted a QB.
All in all, the inability of the Giants to field a competitive team for most of the 2nd half of Eli's career is a damn shame.
Wellington should be turning in his grave.
I agree with Matt, Eli was likely pulled sooner than he thought he would be. I'm sure that didn't sit well with him, but he's a class guy and wasn't going to be negative about that.
I agree that he didn't want to be replaced, but I'm not sure how you can say he didn't want to retire. If he didn't want to retire, he wouldn't be retiring. He's not even waiting until after the SB to retire, or to reach free agency and explore his options.
Maybe his agent already has a sense of what his market might be or which teams might express interest and he has determined that none of his options are worth wearing another uniform besides NYG, but given how quickly he reached this decision, I'd say he's at peace with it.
Gettleman and Shurmur (especially) both realized that 2018 went terribly for them. Shurmur had a losing record when he was brought here and failed miserably in year one. Things got very desperate, very quick. Hence the week 3 benching this year.
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Just the opposite. I think Gettleman told Eli they would be perusing getting a QB to replace him if they could. That makes more sense given what we saw from Eli. He didn't want to retire or be replaced.
I agree that he didn't want to be replaced, but I'm not sure how you can say he didn't want to retire. If he didn't want to retire, he wouldn't be retiring. He's not even waiting until after the SB to retire, or to reach free agency and explore his options.
Maybe his agent already has a sense of what his market might be or which teams might express interest and he has determined that none of his options are worth wearing another uniform besides NYG, but given how quickly he reached this decision, I'd say he's at peace with it.
Do you think if there was a team out there with a opening for him to play for them that had an interest in him, he'd be retired. I don't. I think they have been looking around and found out there just wasn't enough interest. It wouldn't have taken that long. Most teams are in their planning for next year phases.
I dont think there was a guaranteed starting job for Eli out there and as you say, they looked and didnt find what Eli wanted and rather than have to sign a prove it deal he retired.