 to break our very own Dan Graziano and Jordan Ranon reporting that Eli Manning will officially retire on Friday at a press conference and I think that Eli feels that he could still play but he's kind of boxed in. He learned life as a backup quarterback was not something that he enjoyed. He said that when he got the starter's job back when Daniel Jones was out with the injury he didn't like backing up he thought it was miserable and all he's ever done was start his entire career all of a sudden backing up so when you look at the landscape of the NFL where was he like gonna go to start and he didn't want to come back to the Giants and backup Daniel Jones and probably the Giants didn't want him hovering over Jones anyway although he was a great influence on Jones so it comes down to this I think Eli made the choice that he was almost painted in the corner to make because I think if you injected him with truth serum he would tell you I can still play he does not think his skills have diminished he has not been banged around and hurt like most quarterbacks he has been an iron man and now he becomes part of the the great Giants legacy two-time Super Bowl MVP two-time Super Bowl champion four-time pro-ball selection seventh in NFL history passing yard seventh all-time with 366 TD passes as that great streak of 210 straight games starting the guy answered the bell all the time finished with a record of 117 and 117 thanks to that win that he had when he was filling in for Jones and done now the debate will will start obviously nobody will ever wear his number 10 again for the Giants he did that number proud he did the Giants proud he's everything the Giants could have wanted he represented the organization in a great way and on the day when Derek Jeter is making the rounds here in New York as a new Hall of Famer Eli Matting retires and you wonder is his ultimate landing spot going to be in Ken yeah I think it will because the only argument you can make is if you take those two championships away you can't take those two championships away two-time Super Bowl MVP consistently through for 4,000 yards longevity never missed the game due to injury missed just one game in his career because the ill-fated decision to have Gino Smith start in Oakland he is been an amazing player for the most part kept his nose clean I know you got that controversy with the the game used helmets and stuff but for the most part he made the Giants proud he made himself proud good guy and I think he'll land in Canton there's a couple of things to play here for trying to make a decision at the state he's in could he maybe try to hook up with another team kind of wait out the summer see if somebody gets hurt see what plays out in New England right let's say Brady decides to leave well the Patriots be looking for a quarterback would he get a chance to sign on with a team remember he's a free agent and I don't think the Giants have any appetite to bring him back and certainly if they did it would just be a mentor to Jones who probably doesn't need that now that he's had a full season under his belt but I think his oldest daughters in school now does he want to like live in a hotel someplace when his family stays back in New Jersey does he want to uproot his family for a one-stint here one-stint there kind of thing so yeah I think he believes he can still play but there's no guarantee of a starting job no guarantee where that would be so why would you want to uproot your family and basically live out of a suitcase just to be able to keep one more year alive when I think you've accomplished everything you set out to do in your career yeah I I don't think he wants to retire again that's through no knowledge that he gave me or I've heard from anybody just watching from the outside looking in he thinks he could still play he thought that he should have played this year he understands the dynamics of getting a new quarterback in there he can't play forever but at the age of 38 he sees Tom Brady playing at 42 at a very high level and you know he's been banged up less than Tom Brady and he probably still wants to do it but I also believe that being a giant a lifetime giant really means something to him and he knows I could go somewhere else maybe start maybe have to win a job and then I'm not gonna be an all-time giant I'm gonna be a giant plus that one here it's but you're telling me that let's say Philip Rivers out of nowhere decided to retire tomorrow and Brady re-signed with the Patriots and the the the Los Angeles Charger job was open and they offered him the starting job he's taking he's taken that I would think but I think he realizes that that's not gonna happen what I mean wouldn't it be weird he refused to be drafted by the San Diego Chargers all of us and he would end with the L.A. but the different regime everything has changed I'm just giving it a hypothetical Michael but let's just be you know I don't know he said a few weeks ago when the season ended multiple times Eli made clear I'm gonna think about this I'm gonna let you know what I want to do I want to play I don't want to back up if we all knew all those things guys the only thing that changed was that the landscape for quarterbacks became official you know his his agents were able to check things out and go Eli there's nothing there for you dude and Eli being the class act that he is was like I'm not gonna force it and hang out till July I'm done and if you don't want me to be your start and I'll tell you the truth right now with someone who's been critical of Eli he can go I think he could be a team a team that was set up and had pieces in place I think Eli could still be a pretty viable starter would he be a top half in the league starter I don't know about that but he could be around the 18 to 20 mark in the league still I still think he's capable of that you know he's you telling me he couldn't win some games for the Dallas Cowboys with a good offensive line a running game two big targets to throw the football to bears you know so I liked I liked the bears for Eli I don't think as a quarterback during the course of the season even as a backup you're sitting there analyzing all the teams and finding a landing spot he probably was focused on the game focused on himself and then when the season over season was over he probably told his agent make a couple of phone calls see if there's any interest well how long has it been now almost a month since their last game they probably came back to him and said Eli right now there are no nibbles something can happen but you're talking about somebody having to get hurt in order for you to get a job do you want to do that or do you want to just walk away and he thought about it and it just makes sense right and he doesn't need the money it was an amazing stat that I didn't realize he's made more money in his career than any player in NFL history more than his brother now Brady plays this year he will pass him but Eli certainly taken care of and he's done a good job and he's had you know obviously a lot of commercial endorsements and stuff like that so I think money has anything to do with this I think that being a lifetime giant means something to him in a big way and he didn't want to be a I think we do overrate that I think in the moment it's awkward it's awkward to see Michael Jordan as a wizard you know it was awkward to see name it as a ram but as history goes on that just fades into the background right but it is true because we but in a sense it's true but in a sense it's not we always know that your name it ended up a ram Johnny United's ended up a charger that's that you know it's always that caveat I guess not gonna be a caveat with the Eli he was a giant right but it doesn't affect you being an all-time whatever I mean it doesn't affect name it being an all-time jet no