Eli Manning is getting benched. He knows it. The Giants know it. This is not a matter of if, but when, and that one-word question is going to hover over the franchise from Day 1 of training camp until it happens, be it next week, next month, or next season.

So the better question is this: What is the right time to make the change? Luckily, the one person who can speak with more authority on this topic than anyone else just happened to be watching Giants practice on Thursday, and his verdict was clear.

The sooner, Kurt Warner said, the better.

“You can’t become the player you’re going to be from just sitting back and watching,” the Hall of Fame quarterback and NFL Network Analyst told a small group of reporters. "You have to get experience and you have to face things."

To be clear: He was not saying that the Giants should give rookie Daniel Jones the starting job and hand Manning a clipboard tomorrow. He still thinks the two-time Super Bowl MVP can play at a high level if the Giants have, at long last, solidified their offensive line.

But Warner believes, for the long-term benefit of the franchise, getting Jones experience during his rookie season is imperative. And he knows this from experience.

He was Manning in 2004, the experienced veteran looking over his shoulder at the high first-round draft pick. He knew his days were numbered as a starter, and he was hoping to last just long enough to show another team that he was good enough to earn a paycheck.

He started nine games that season, and how the transition happened is telling. Warner wasn’t benched because the Giants were in the tank -- they were 5-4 in a season that saw an 8-8 team make the playoffs. He wasn’t even benched because he was the inferior quarterback -- head coach Tom Coughlin admitted that this wasn’t the case when he broke the news to Warner.

“I think Coughlin’s approach was, we’re not a great football team,” Warner said. "Is it better to start the future and start building and get our young quarterback ready for that run two years from now, three years from now?

“Eli got seven games to start before Year 2. Was he farther along Year 2 than he was in Year 1? Without a doubt. If you’re ready to move to the next guy, you want to give him every opportunity to go through growing pains so when you start the next season, he’s ready.”

This eventual transition was the dominant topic on the first day of training camp. GM Dave Gettleman has done everything to eliminate off-the-field distractions from this team, jettisoning Odell Beckham Jr., Landon Collins and many others. The most interesting conversations about the Giants, it seems, are taking some place else.

Jones, already a savvy veteran behind the microphones, isn’t going to rock the boat. I asked for his best-case scenario for how this eventual succession should play out, and his answer felt like he was trying to set the world record for the number of times he could use the word “improve” in less than a minute.

That dream scenario is easy: Manning leads the Giants for one last trip down the Canyon of Heroes, heads off into retirement as a winner like his brother did, and Jones takes over next summer. Yes, there is a reason I called this the “dream” scenario.

Short of that, is it better for Jones to watch the Giants muddle along for 10 or 12 games before getting his shot? Or is it pulling the Band-Aid sooner if it becomes clear that this team -- which, given the roster turnover, is likely -- is not a real contender?

Again: Jones won’t be ready. He doesn’t have to be ready. Suffering through the growing pains now, Warner said, are better for the Giants than waiting until next season. And the Giants won’t be doing Manning any favors by letting him hold onto the job as the pressure mounts.

“No matter how confident you are, you understand the dynamics of the situation,” Warner said. “You go, ‘How long is my leash? If I have a bad game, is that it? If I have a bad half, is that it?’ That becomes the hard dynamic of it. You always know that’s there.”

Warner knows this better than anyone. He hated going to the bench 15 years ago, but he respected that Coughlin was honest about his motivations. And, as he gestured toward the two Super Bowl banners hanging in the team field house, he also knows he can’t second-guess the results.

Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevePoliti. Find NJ.com on Facebook.