120 Million for Eli?

Wow….speechless. I mean the crazy thing to me is the mob mentality: everyone else is doing it so you just have to. You know? I mean if the Giants don’t pay him that kind of money, Minnesota would. Or Chicago might. You get the point. That’s just the going rate for top 10 QB’s. His occasional clunker aside, Eli is still a top-flight QB in the NFL.

Additionally (wow, I can’t believe I’m defending the guy) he’s still young. Phil Simms didn’t come into his own until his late 20’s. Eli is a big strong kid. He still has time to develop and get better. So now, its time for him to prove that last year wasn’t a fluke.

Unfortunately, I think the Giants have to pay him the money.

I like Eli and I want him as our QB, but I just don’t see him as that “game-changing” QB like Brady or Peyton who can demand that kind of money. I do not want to tear the guy down (he is a Super Bowl MVP, afterall), but 15 Mil a year for a guy that is not going to pass for 4000 yards a season is tough to swallow. Although if he protects the ball as well as he did this year, you can’t ask for too much more than that. In the end I agree with Cody, they are going to have to pay him.

throw an average qb on a great team with a good line, solid defense and ground game and that team often does well. You can even throw a rookie out there sometimes. Is Eli a favorite of fans and the new york media? Not as much as other “top qbs”, he and coughlin were close to being run out of town last year.
To me, and in this economy, you lay out that much money (tho fine print and incentives change things) and you need a sure thing, no borderline maybe he will grow into the money. The risk/reward is wacky.

Squabbling over the dollar amount is not the point. If Eli were really a game-changing QB we wouldn’t be having this conversation; we’d pay him and be happy. The more concerning question is the number of years for which we would lock him up. While Eli played well in last year’s playoff run and had strong stats this season, I don’t think Eli will ever be one of the elite QBs in the league. He can keep his cool under pressure and manage the game (usually), but he is not a QB who makes things happen. When composed, he can plug into a well-run offense with a strong running game and be flanked by one of the best defenses in the league. But I don’t want to see Eli have to carry the team without elite receivers, the loss of Ward, and a Spag-less defense. The guy can’t throw a spiral for crying out loud; he without question had one of the ugliest balls in the NFL. As the NFL network says, he also qualifies as one of the league’s double agents — a QB who can do as much harm as good for his team. Many QBs don’t reach their greatest potential until several years in; Eli is at that exact turning point where we will find out who he really is as a QB — but we’re/he’s not there yet. Either way, he still hasn’t proven that he can be an elite QB and consistently carry, not just manage, a team. Until then, we should let him play out the last year of his contract and see what he’s worth at that point. To say we should lock him up — for that amount of money and length of time — simply because we don’t see anyone else out there better right now is a pretty sad state of affairs! That’s like staying with a bad lover simply because your lonely or bored. The storied Giants franchise deserves better. Who would be better than Eli if he plays next season as he did last week and we decided not to re-sign him? Anyone who can throw a spiral!