Eli Manning is in the twilight of his career. At 38, he's entering his 15th season as starting quarterback of the New York Giants, but there's no telling how long he'll hold onto that status given the team's controversial selection of Duke's Daniel Jones with the No. 6 overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Manning alluded to the fragility of his career and place in the Giants' quarterback pecking order, saying he now has “more appreciation” for being New York's starter.
Article Continues Below“You don’t know what the future holds,” he said, per Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. “When you’re younger, you assume you’ll keep playing.”
Manning threw for 4,299 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions in 2018, superior numbers to those he put up over the previous few seasons. His grip on being New York's starting quarterback has never been more tenuous regardless, and not only because the team finally moved to find his long-term replacement. The Giants have made the playoffs just once in the last seven seasons, and Manning's contract expires at the conclusion of 2019, leading many to speculate this will be final season with New York.
Jones threw for 2,674 yards, 22 touchdowns, and nine interceptions while completing 60.5 percent of his passes last season. New York general manager Dave Gettleman said one day after drafting Jones that the Duke product could follow a similar path to begin his career as Aaron Rodgers, who sat behind Brett Favre for three seasons before taking over as the Green Bay Packers’ starter.
The Giants officially began training camp on Wednesday.