Eli Manning hears trade speculation, but intends to remain a Giant

Following the New York Giants’ loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, their fifth straight to start the season, reporters and analysts began to talk about blowing the team up. For the Giants’ the biggest obstacle to a complete re-build is quarterback Eli Manning. He is old enough for the Giants to have to think about their future after him and he takes up a big chunk of the Giants’ salary cap.

But on the flip-side, Manning is still good enough to win games for the Giants. The solution, some have started speculating, could be to move Manning (and his contract) in a trade.

“I don’t know why all of a sudden that started up,” he said on his weekly appearance on Mike Francesa’s show on WFAN.

Manning has a no-trade clause in his contract, so he would have to waive that clause for any trade to move forward.

Early this past week Daniel Jeremiah of the NFL Network speculated that Tom Coughlin of the Jacksonville Jaguars should think about calling up his own team and trading for his old quarterback. The Jaguars have (painstakingly) built a roster capable of contending in the AFC, but they are held back by quarterback Blake Bortles.

The speculation was that Manning might waive his no-trade clause to be reunited with Coughlin and get on a team that is a contender. The trade speculation only ramped up with the injury to Aaron Rodgers this past Sunday. The Giants run an offensive system that is very similar to Green Bay’s and Manning is one of the few quarterbacks who could step in and play there with the minimum of a learning curve.

But Manning is, ultimately, the only one who can decide whether or not he gets traded, and he doesn’t want to go anywhere.

Manning said, “I don’t know why people would think I’d leave or want to leave or the Giants would want to trade me. But I don’t get caught up in them (the rumors). I don’t think about them. I know I’ve got one job, and that’s playing quarterback for the New York Giants.”