The New York Giants’ front office will be charged with the daunting task of identifying their next franchise quarterback this offseason. Picking No. 3 in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Giants will have an opportunity to take a quarterback high, hopefully landing a rookie that will lead them into a new era.
But the quarterback position is among the toughest in the sport to evaluate. Finding a franchise quarterback is easier said than done, evidenced by the staggering number of teams around the NFL that don’t have a long-term solution under center. Bringing in outside help to evaluate the quarterback class might not be such a bad idea, and one franchise legend is eager to lend a helping hand.
Eli Manning is eager to help the Giants find their next franchise quarterback
New York Giants legend and two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning wants to help the team find its next franchise quarterback. Manning held that title for nearly two decades, quarterbacking the team from 2004 to 2019 before the keys to the castle were handed over to Daniel Jones. Six years later, the Jones experiment has failed, and the G-Men are once again on the hunt for their next franchise quarterback.
Having been a successful franchise quarterback himself, Manning knows a thing or two about what it takes to fill that role in the Big Apple. Utilizing his special knowledge of the experience, Manning wants to help the Giants identify who the next quarterback to hold that title should be:
“I like watching film,” Manning said Thursday per The New York Post. “If that’s something I’m wanted for, needed for, be happy to look at film and get involved in that part of it.”
Manning wants to lend a helping hand in evaluating the quarterbacks of the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft class. The Giants should let him, as he knows better than anyone what it takes to be a successful quarterback for the New York Giants, being the most successful player the franchise has ever had at the position.
He still works for the Giants, although, not in a player-personnel evaluation role. Manning is still employed by the team in a “business operations and fan engagement” role. Despite his current lack of involvement in the front office, the Giants should seek his advice on the upcoming quarterback class.
Manning has a special connection to one of the 2025 class’s most intriguing quarterback prospects
Among the most interesting quarterbacks in the upcoming draft class is Jaxson Dart, the Ole Miss quarterback who broke Manning’s career passing yards record with the university this past season. Manning has gotten to know Dart over the last several years that the latter has played at the former’s alma matter. This connection could be useful for the Giants as they scout Dart, who many analysts view as a potential second-round draft pick:
“Yes, I mean a little bit, just over the years, just guys I’ve been around, whether it’s Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss or quarterbacks over the years who have been to the Manning Passing Academy,” Manning said. “Just what kind of person they are, kind of more off-the-field stuff than maybe on the field.”
The aforementioned Manning Passing Academy is a football clinic that the Manning Family has been running for 28 years now. Over the years, Eli, his brothers Peyton and Cooper, and their father, Archie Manning, have met and taught plenty of young quarterbacks who have gone on to compete at the NFL level, including the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Brock Purdy, Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, Dak Prescott, Trevor Lawrence, and others.
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Several of the top prospects from the 2025 NFL Draft class have attended the MPA, giving Eli special insight and knowledge that could be shared with the Giants’ front office. Among those prospects who attended the MPA in 2024 were the aforementioned Dart, Georgia’s Carson Beck, Texas’s Quinn Ewers, Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, and Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard, to name a few — all prospects who are expected to be drafted in April 2025.
Eli Manning has met and coached many of this draft class’s top quarterback prospects. He also knows better than anyone what it takes to be a successful, champion quarterback for the New York Giants. The Giants need to invite him into their draft room this offseason, seeking his advice and opinions on the class’s top quarterback prospects.