Manning's payday

Eli Manning enters his 6th season. Time to pay the Man.

Strengths
1) Poise
2) Stability
3) Unwavering/Unflappable
4) Calm under pressure
5) Improvement each year
6) Smart (Audibles, etc..)
7) Always maturing
8) Selfless (Team first)
9) Young
10)Championship QB

Weaknesses
1) Needs a tight spiral
2) Inconsistent accuracy

The great ones do not have weaknesses. Eli is not great. But he is good. Good enough to win championships. With 5 years under his belt, he's going to get a lot better before we're through seeing him. Eli knows his weaknesses; we just hope he can address them to become that GREAT QB. This is what Reese talks about when he thrusts more responsibility on his shoulders. Reese wants him to lead the team and bust down the door. Manning came up aces in 2007-8 and came up flat vs PHL this past winter.

Objective review of Eli by the numbers:

(Year/QB rating/Playoff record)
2004 55 none
2005 76 0-1
2006 77 0-1
2007 74 4-0
2008 86 0-1

Now that Manning is fast becoming the senior member of the huddle, he needs to take charge and demand more from his players. His nickname is 'easy' but he cannot be 'easy' on teammates when they make mistakes. He must hold them accountable.

Hold O'Hara accountable for that stupid personal foul penalty.
Hold Bradshaw accountable for protecting the ball.
Hold Diehl accountable vs the speed rusher.
Hold the young WRs accountable for running their routes well.
And hold himself accountable for inconsistent/wind play.

Like it or not, when you get paid the wallet-bulging numbers he is going to get, you cannot hide from that responsibility. Eli has the calm not to let that be a burden. But he has to realize that if he is going to get those numbers, he needs to simply accept the responsibility of his share of the JOB of winning.

Reese's job gets tougher now in re-signing players. The team has enjoyed success by keeping players like Jacobs, Webster, Snee, Diehl etc.. and by selectively going after players like McKenzie, Burress and Pierce (and now Canty and Boley) in free agency. Mathematically, paying Manning top dollar (literally!) means we would be able to get one less Boley or Canty. Is that going to be the difference in us winning a title? Perhaps. Perhaps not if Manning plays at that level he is about to get paid at.

The way this blogger sees it, Reese is the true man behind the curtain who makes it all work. Signing a guy like Tuck in January of 2008 was almost like stealing. If we have anything less than a great GM, Manning's new salary would be an albatross which would kill the team because mistakes would become magnified. Jerry Jones' mistakes enabled us to GET Canty. Thankfully we have the other Jerry in the NFC East.