Giants Have No Choice but to Bench Eli Manning

If Eli Manning won't waive his no-trade clause, something he has a right to do, the Giants have no choice but to bench him and begin the journey to find the next franchise quarterback.

This is not an easy admission.

Manning has been the face of the Giants since he took over for an ineffective Kurt Warner at the middle of the 2004 season. He dealt with teammates who hated him, Tiki Barber and Jeremy Shockey this means you. He dealt with a head coach who seemingly was always on the hot seat in Tom Coughlin. He won two Super Bowls against the greatest modern dynasty in the NFL in the New England Patriots, and has become one of football's all time top passers.

Yet the last few seasons for Manning and the Giants have put a huge blemish on what is otherwise a Hall of Fame career. Three years ago Eli Manning was as close to a lock as there is for Canton. Now, I'm not so sure. That is how bad the last couple of seasons have been.

It's not all Manning's fault. The Giants offensive line is horrible. Odell Beckham Jr. is a nutcase who the Giants never should have given a contract extension to in August. Ben McAdoo was a horrible coach. Pat Shurmur is a clueless coach. There is a plenty of blame to go around.

Yet, Manning is not getting any younger. At 37, he has shown signs that he can no longer zip the football down field the way he used to, and the mistakes are becoming too common. It is time for a change.

Look at the numbers and you can see that Manning has slowly made his way to the back-nine of his career. The last time he threw for more than 30 touchdowns in a season it was 2015. That was four seasons ago. He is piloting an offense that was supposed to put up points in bunches and he can't guide this unit without a turnover, a bad penalty, or one of his receivers letting the team down with a big drop.

At 1-7 the Giants season is going nowhere as they enter a bye week. New York will not play again until November 12 at San Francisco on a Monday night. That might be the right time to give rookie quarterback Kyle Lauletta the start. And if the Giants start Lauletta in Week 10 at San Francisco, they should leave him in the starting lineup for the remainder of the season. There is no reason to play Eli Manning anymore. His career in blue is over.

Giants fans have been clamoring for months that the team made a mistake in not drafting Sam Darnold (I disagree). But, the fact is they want to see if someone with a stronger arm and fresher legs can lead this team in the final weeks of the season.

Should the Giants start Lauletta, who was an impressive four-year starter at Richmond before being drafted by Big Blue in the fourth round of last April's draft, fans should expect plenty of growing pains and more losing. It's not like Lauletta is playing behind the 1970s version of the Steelers offensive line. This Giants offensive line is one of the worst collections of talent in football. The only team that comes close to a worse offensive line is the Giants' MetLife Stadium co-tenant the Jets. Lauletta will get battered, beaten and pulverized behind this offensive line.

But, hey the Giants need to know what the kid can do. With the Giants in the market for a quarterback in 2019, they need to know whether Lauletta could be that hidden late-round gem, or if he is just another guy that is a stop gap until the next Giants starter under center.

The time is now to begin the process. Just do it.