Report: Giants Taking Long Look At Darnold, Other Top QB Prospects
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Eli Manning may not make it to the end of his contract with the Giants.
Though head coach Ben McAdoo has said the veteran will remain the team's starting quarterback for the foreseeable future, there's no telling if that timetable will drag beyond the end of the season.
A favorite to win the NFC coming into the season, the Giants were never supposed to be a contender for any of the top quarterbacks in the 2018 draft. However, due to the disaster that has unfolded so far, they are now very much in that conversation.
And, as ESPN reported Wednesday, they are doing their due diligence.
Big Blue is reportedly taking a very close look at that crop of young arms, which is believed to include Southern California's Sam Darnold, UCLA's Josh Rosen, Wyoming's Josh Allen, Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield, and Louisville's Lamar Jackson.
If the season ended today, the Giants would pick third next April. And though they seem prepared to at least take a look at Davis Webb, this year's third-round pick out of Cal, if the season continues spiraling out of control, he's not as highly touted as any of the signal-callers that figure to be available next spring.
MORE: Giants' Manning Makes It Clear -- He's Still All About The Game
Manning, who is in his 14th season, has taken a lot of heat for the Giants' 1-7 start, despite the fact that he has been going to work for a while now without his top two receiving targets, Odell Beckham, Jr., and Brandon Marshall, who were both lost for season due to injury back in Week 5.
The 36-year-old quarterback has started 207 consecutive games and has two years left on the four-year, $84 million extension he signed in 2015. A two-time Super Bowl MVP, Manning also has a no-trade clause. However, he could always get cut if the Giants choose to go in another direction.
Much like Manning, Darnold, Rosen, and Allen are considered prototypical drop-back passers with the potential to be starters the second they arrive in the NFL. There have been reports suggesting Darnold, a sophomore, may stay in school, but juniors Rosen and Allen are expected to declare for the draft.
Mayfield and Jackson are dual-threat quarterbacks, much like the Houston Texans' Deshaun Watson, who took the NFL by storm as a rookie this season before suffering a season-ending knee injury in practice last Thursday.
For the time being, however, Manning is still the guy in New York. He'll be under center Sunday when the Giants travel to San Francisco to take on the winless 49ers (0-9).