The New York Giants are “very interested” in impending free agent quarterback Nick Foles, according to a report from Tony Pauline.

I had been hearing for weeks the NY Giants are very interested in Nick Foles and it was a matter as to whether or not he was going to receive the franchise tag. — Tony Pauline (@TonyPauline) February 27, 2019

But wait — didn’t Giants head coach Pat Shurmur just re-commit to Eli Manning as New York’s starter earlier on Wednesday?

Well, he seemingly did. But talk is cheap and Shumur’s presser came before Howie Roseman announced the Eagles won’t be franchise tagging Foles. In addition, Giants general manager Dave Gettleman kind of backed off on the Manning commitment a little bit.

Q: You heard earlier that Pat said Eli is back for 2019. You were a little vague on that at the end-of-season press conference. What led you guys to decide that? GETTLEMAN: Well, it’s a never-ending process. We haven’t even hit free agency yet, so like I told you, I had my conversation with Eli back right after the season ended and we are where we are. Like Pat said, there’s a million different models, there’s a million different ways to do this and you could cite a number of models where they had a veteran guy and they drafted a young guy, and at some point in time, the torch got passed and away everybody went, and it was a happy away everybody went. So, there’s still a lot of time to make these decisions. Q: Is it safe to say you’re not looking for a veteran to [replace Eli]? GETTLEMAN: I can’t say anything like that. I can’t do it. You don’t know what’s going to happen, you don’t know. Q: So you haven’t committed to Eli? GETTLEMAN: I just told you. We’re evaluating everything and we’ve just got to keep moving forward.

Later on in his presser, however, Gettleman did defend Manning.

GETTLEMAN: Here’s what I’m going to say, and I’ve really been thinking about this. I got a headache, that’s why I hurt myself, I think. I’ve really been thinking about this: The narrative around Eli for the past four years, five years, since I was gone, was really negative. The narrative’s been negative. There’s an old saying, ‘tell a lie enough, you believe it.’ The narrative is so negative that when you take that position, most people struggle getting off that spot, most people struggle saying, ‘I’m going to look at this with fresh eyes.’ So for example, when you evaluate pro players, every year’s a new year. When you evaluate him, it’s a new year. Yes, before he was at this level, but that doesn’t mean when you look at him that he’s automatically at this level or at this level. You’ve got to take everything for what it’s worth at that time and I think that the narrative has been negative, and I don’t think it’s been fair.

The thinking here is that the Giants ARE going to stick with Manning and just select a quarterback (Dwayne Haskins?) at No. 6 overall in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Still, I don’t doubt that Pauline has heard what he’s heard. It’s also worth noting that Foles reportedly has “legitimate” interest in the Giants, according to NJ.com’s Zack Rosenblatt.

So, maybe Foles stays in the NFC East. Honestly, I’d be surprised. All indications still point to the Jaguars as the favorites, as noted earlier today.

Ian Rapoport later added that Foles prefers Jacksonville over the Dolphins. Rapoport also said Washington isn’t expected to spend big money on a free agent quarterback, so it sounds like they’re out on Foles. I have a hard time believing Foles would want to play for Dan Snyder and that organization, anyway.

Where do you think BDN ends up?