The legend of Eli Manning is continuing to get a little stranger. It seems as if the Giants organization cannot let go of the quarterback who supplied two super bowl wins over the greatest quarterback to every play the game of football, Tom Brady. Rightfully so, but it is time to stop living in the past and move forward. To be honest, I have been the biggest Eli supporter since I started watching him and I will defend him until death in any argument, but I think it is time to let go. Coach Pat Shurmur’s comments on Eli over the past weekend made me question a lot about Eli Manning’s future on the Giants. Shurmur said statements along the line of that he thinks Eli has more left in the tank, specifically 2 more years.

It has become clear that Manning will likely be under center in 2019, but I am torn on how I feel about this. This season as a Giants fan has felt like a roller coaster and it almost feels like I am at a buffet with all the options that were on display this year. We saw the low’s and the high’s, but most of all it left us all confused. Manning is statically having his best year throwing for 3,689 yards 18 touchdowns, 9 interceptions and a career high 65.9 passer rating. Looking at these numbers one would assume the team to be above .500, but nope this is not the case for the Giants. I truthfully believe this season is not entirely Eli’s fault, but rather a combination of bad defense and a bad offensive line.

I’ll admit Eli is not the same player he once was. He cannot move like when he was young or does not have the arm strength he once had. We are now in an age of mobile quarterbacks and they have expanded offenses and made it easier for coaches to open their playbooks. Look at the Chiefs for example, Patrick Mahomes is the best young quarterback in the league and he can expand plays with his legs making it easier for his offense to keep driving down the field and put up points. The same goes for Lamar Jackson, Carson Wentz and Dak Prescott. These quarterbacks are fantastic with using their feet and are able to get the ball to the weapons across the offense.

I believe it may be time to move on from Eli especially when the Giants have used their last few first round picks on offense weapons for Eli, but it seems like nothing is working. Having players like Odell Beckham, Saquon Barkley, Evan Engram and Sterling Shepard should give the Giants the best offense and a NFC East division championship, but nope they are in last place. As a fan it truly stinks to see a team with so much talent go to waste, but we Giant fans cannot let go of the legend of Eli Manning, who we cherish with all of our hearts. Don’t forget, we are the same fan base who booed Coach McAdoo out of New York for benching Manning, but then booed Manning off the field this year for poor play.

I caught a game earlier in the year and I would never have expected to see a fan base who loves a player so much, boo him off the field. Yes, it is frustrating, but there is no reason to boo him. I believe the Giants should let Manning finish the season off, then draft a quarterback this year and we’ll go from there. There is no need to waste the primes of these special young players, so come on Giants fans let’s face the facts, Eli is no longer the same player and we need to let the legend go off into the sunset. Maybe soon enough another quarterback could bring the Lombardi trophy back to East Rutherford because that sure will be sweet.