New York Giants legend Eli Manning believes their current quarterback Daniel Jones can deliver the team's fifth Super Bowl championship.
Last season, Jones, 25, led the Giants to the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Once there, New York won their Wild Card game against the Minnesota Vikings 31-24 and advanced to the Divisional round before being well-beaten by eventual Super Bowl runners-up, the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-7.
After a historic postseason performance, particularly versus the Vikings, during the off-season, Jones signed a four-year, $160 million contract extension. Manning is in favour of that decision and insists that the experience of playing and winning in the playoffs will be invaluable to the team and, in particular, Jones.
“Once you make a playoff run, you win a playoff game; I think you always have the mindset that you can get better,” he told NJ Advance Media. “And if you can make the playoffs, then anything can happen. I know that from experience.“
Manning was the Giants' quarterback when they won their two most recent Super Bowls in 2007 and four years later in 2011. The first of those came the season after losing in the Wild Card playoff, while the latter was on the back of missing two consecutive postseasons.
A two-time Super Bowl MVP in those championship-winning seasons, Manning acknowledges several similarities between himself and Jones. He also backs his successor to achieve similar successes.
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“I think he has the work ethic and the leadership skills to do all those things,” Manning said. “The moment is never too big for him.”
“Daniel works extremely hard. I think he’ll continue to get better as a quarterback, just going into his second year under this offense. So I’m excited for him. I know he’s excited to get back to work and work hard and make those improvements.”
After arriving last offseason, Brian Daboll brought a new offense to the Giants, and Jones thrived in it. Under predecessors Joe Judge and Pat Shurmur, that was not the case, with the quarterback plagued by struggles with inconsistency. Those negative experiences are something Manning hopes he can harness positively.
Manning continued: “The fact that he has had struggles — and I had struggles — I think if you work through those and you learn how to grind it out, it makes you appreciate the good times.
”And [you] understand: ‘Hey, I want to keep winning. I want to win championships. I want to do all those right things for my organization and for the fans and everybody.’ So I think he has the right mentality to take the next steps.”
Alongside retaining Jones during this offseason, the Giants also resigned running back Saquon Barkley. They added tight end Darren Waller too. The hope is for a deeper playoff run in year two with Daboll at the helm.
