Yahoo Lifestyle Eli Manning still undecided on future, but Giants owner isn't closing door on former franchise QB
No one knows what’s next for Eli Manning. His future is unclear for the first time in 16 seasons, since his days as the starting quarterback for the New York Giants are over.
It seems like Manning also doesn’t know what his future holds. In an interview with WFAN’s “Moose and Maggie,” Giants owner John Mara discussed his recent conversation with Manning and said that the QB is still mulling over his options.
“He's just undecided right now,” Mara said. “The season just ended recently and he needs to take some more time and think about it. And I've told him there's no time limit on that. We'll talk whenever he's ready to sit down and talk again.”
Manning all but ruled out a return to the Giants several weeks ago, telling the media that being a backup “is not real fun.” Despite that, Mara said that the organization hasn’t closed the door on Manning suiting up again for the only NFL team he’s ever played for.
“I haven't closed any doors on that,” Mara said. “Eli came to see me a few days ago, and we had a nice, long talk, but I don't think he's fully decided yet what he wants to do. And I've told him just take his time, think about it some more and then come back and see me again.”
Mara admitted that he knows that Manning doesn’t want to be a second-stringer. If being a backup won’t float Manning’s boat, Mara said that he mentioned to Manning “the possibility of thinking about other roles in the organization.”
Mara didn’t elaborate on what those roles could be (and reiterated that Manning is still thinking about his options), but he clearly would love to have Manning back with the Giants in some capacity.
“Obviously, he's been the best representative of this franchise, maybe that we've ever had -- I mean, both what he's done on the field, the way he conducts himself off the field, the professionalism that he shows. You can't ask for a better representative than Eli Manning. So he's going to take his time, and we'll hopefully have another discussion at some point in the future.”
More from Yahoo Sports:
