NY Giants Eli Manning won't give 'cold shoulder' to young QB, but plans to start for team

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Eli Manning certainly has more clarity regarding his immediate future with the New York Giants than he did at season's end last month.

Team brass, including general manager Dave Gettleman and new head coach Pat Shurmur, have left no doubt as to their desire to have Manning quarterback the Giants in 2018.

This is what Manning wanted all along, of course, but as the two-time Super Bowl MVP acknowledged Friday morning, it's a starting point to what the Giants hope is a turnaround from one of the worst seasons in franchise history.

"I’m excited about that," Manning said, referencing the messages he has received from Gettleman and Shurmur that he will be the Giants' quarterback next season. He talked to the media at an appearance for Courtyard by Marriott as part of Super Bowl LII festivities here at the Mall of America. "But still, hey, I got to go out and play well and win games and do my job and do it at a high level."

Under those circumstances, provided Manning is playing well, it's not difficult to envision the 37-year-old remaining as the starter and leading the way back to the playoffs.

Manning insisted he would have no issue if the Giants decided to draft a quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick, and he still believes he will finish his career with Big Blue.

"Hey, the Giants, it’s always, it’s about, they got to draft, you know, whether it’s the future or for now, they got to figure out how to put the best players on the field," Manning said. "Hey, whatever they draft I’m fine with, it’s about me doing my job and that’s playing quarterback. ... All I can worry about is doing my job. I got to go out there and compete and win games and so if I do that everything else will work itself out."

Asked if he would embrace the role as a mentor to another young quarterback such as UCLA's Josh Rosen or USC's Sam Darnold, Manning said: "Yes, in a sense. I wouldn’t look at it as that role. I would look at it as my job to prepare and compete and be ready to play each and every game and in that process you’re always talking football. You’re always helping out the guys in the room. With Davis Webb this year, with Geno [Smith], you’re always helping them out. Nothing changes. It’s about doing your job but also helping the other guys around you and having great communication in the quarterback room."

The Giants' 3-13 campaign ended with uncertainty in a lot of areas, and foremost centered on what Manning's role would be moving forward. He has two years remaining on his contract, and admittedly he did not know what his status would be in the immediate aftermath.

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After meeting with Gettleman and Shurmur, with whom he has crossed paths several times at the team's facility since his introductory news conference last week, Manning said he has gained the clarity for which he was looking.

Manning said he has started watching video of Minnesota Vikings games from this past season - more specifically, the offense run by Shurmur - to get a jump on preparation.

"Yeah, obviously knowing I will be a New York Giant, that helped. Been told that, so that’s a starting point," Manning said. "Now just keep going about my job an learn this offense, obviously got to wait for spring and start back practicing with the team and get everybody up to speed."

Brett Favre did not necessarily welcome Aaron Rodgers with open arms when the Packers drafted him to be the successor to the future Hall of Famer in Green Bay.

A reporter brought up the situation between Favre and Rodgers to Manning, who promised he would not do that to any rookie at his position.

“I’m not going to be giving the cold shoulder to anybody,” Manning said. “Hey, whatever they draft, I’m fine with. It’s about me doing my job and that’s playing quarterback.”

Manning met with a Courtyard contest winner who will spend Saturday night in a suite-turned-hotel room at U.S. Bank Stadium before Super Bowl LII. Manning will be at the Super Bowl, too, part of a ceremony that honors all past winners of the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, an award he won last year.

I think in most people’s cases you think you’ll finish your career with that team, until you don’t,” said Manning, who reiterated his stance that he has no interest in initiating his departure from the team by waiving his no-trade clause. “Hey, I have all intentions of finishing my career with the Giants. That’s what I want to do. But in football, like everything, it’s year-by-year. You see what happens and go from there.”

Manning's best two games of the season, albeit in losses, came against the Eagles, who will play the Patriots in Super Bowl LII on Sunday night. Philadelphia went from worst to first in the NFC East, and now the Giants' hated rival is one win from capturing the first Vince Lombardi trophy in franchise history.

"We can turn [things] around. Hey, we were an 11-win team the year before, so you have the talent there," Manning said. "Not much changed in both years. Obviously we have to get back healthy and there will be some additions, and we have to obviously play better football, but there is enough talent to win a lot of football games."

As for predicting a winner Sunday, Manning refused to play favorites.

"Obviously I know the Eagles better than I know the Patriots having played them twice a year for the last 14 years," he said. "So you know their schemes a little bit more. The Patriots, we didn’t play them this year and you don’t see them on film as much, but you know it’s about, can you slow down Tom Brady, can you get a pass rush? They have a great pass rush. They kind of have the tools, you would think. There’s a reason why they’re here. They’re playing great football. It’s just a matter of can they play it in the fourth quarter? Can they get the ball and keep Tom from having a two-minute drive to win the football game? Can the Eagles have a two-minute drive to win it?"

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Manning's been there before and done that for the Giants against the Patriots twice, but he said there's no extra meaning if Big Blue remains the only team to beat Brady and Belichick in the Super Bowl.

"No, I don’t think of it in those terms. I’m not rooting for one team over the other," Manning said. "I’ll watch the game just as a fan of football, not a fan of either team."

As was the case in his 14 previous seasons, Manning remains focused on one team, the only one he has known in his career and the one for whom he'll play at least for one more season: the Giants.