New York Giants: How much is Eli Manning worth?

Contraction negotiations between Eli Manning and the New York Giants are starting to get interesting, with numerous outlets, including NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reporting Manning is seeking to become the highest-paid player in the NFL.

However, Rapoport also said a ‘significant gap’ still remains in contract talks. Manning’s contract is set to expire at the conclusion of the 2015 season.

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Currently scheduled to earn $17 million this year in base salary, Manning is looking to supplant Aaron Rodgers‘ $22 million a year. Back in 2009, Manning signed a six-year, $97.5 million deal that’s since been eclipsed. The market for franchise quarterbacks has been reset recently, and that benefits Manning.

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At the time of his last contract, Manning was making $16.3 million per year. Now, 15 quarterbacks make more than that.

According to NFL.com, Drew Brees, Joe Flacco, Matt Ryan, Cam Newton, Ben Roethlisberger, Russell Wilson and Rodgers have all signed contracts exceeding $100 million, so a new Manning deal is going to cost the Giants a lot of money.

Unfortunately for New York, Manning has a lot of the leverage in negotiations. Manning is one of three active quarterbacks with more than one Super Bowl victory, and he’s the only one in the NFC. He’s never missed a single game. He’s never in serious trouble and he always keeps his composure in games and with the media. Basically, Manning is the perfect quarterback for New York.

Refusing to sign Manning to an extension is prolonging the inevitable. But refusing to sign Manning to a contract of that magnitude is a wise decision by the Giants.

While Manning has been the highest-paid player before, a lot has changed since 2009. Since then, Manning has led the league in interceptions twice, and only led the Giants to the playoffs once. Manning is also no longer in his prime. He did take the Giants to the Super Bowl that one time, but still, Manning’s play has been shaky.

Dec 14, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (10) greets New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham (13) after Beckham

Manning has thrown 161 touchdowns and 111 interceptions for 25,132 yards and a quarterback rating of 86.6. Those are numbers that don’t scream ‘highest-paid player.’

However, Manning does have a whole lot of leverage at his disposal, and he and his agent will likely have an answer for everything the Giants throw at them.

Manning can point to how durable he’s been, as well as the fact that he’s coming off his most productive year in recent memory. With a hopefully improved offensive line, Victor Cruz‘s return, Shane Vereen in the mix and the maturation of Odell Beckham Jr. and Rueben Randle, it’s not hard to imagine Manning having his finest season this year.

Head coach Tom Coughlin thinks it will happen.

“I think he’s prepared to be better than he’s ever been, to be honest with you,” Coughlin said, according to Steve Politi of NJ.com. “I thought last year, his improvement was outstanding. He’s young, he’s obviously very driven and he’s in a great frame of mind.”

Calling Manning ‘young’ is obviously relative coming from Coughlin, but having your head coach on your side can only help.

Let’s not forget that Manning is also one of the league’s most valuable players, in the sense that his team would be lost without him. I would put Manning in the same class as Drew Brees, Andrew Luck and Matt Ryan in terms of valuable-ness to their respective team.

The Packers won games without Rodgers in 2013. If the Giants were without Manning, you could make a case for them being the league’s worst team.

NFL.com’s Chris Wesseling pointed out a potential win-win solution for both parties.

“Even if the G-Men dig their heels and refuse to bypass Rodgers’ annual figure of $22 million, they might be able to find common ground by front-loading the contract with guarantees in excess of Rivers’ $65 million,” Wesseling said.

Wesseling also noted that Rivers earns more money in guarantees than Rodgers does.

Even if Manning and the Giants fail to reach a negotiation — unlikely, in my mind — and let the contract dispute play out into next offseason, the Giants will simply place the franchise tag on Manning. The tag would be worth $25 million if exclusive, which would make Manning the highest-paid quarterback of 2016 anyways.

Manning is simply taking advantage of a quarterback market that’s been reset with average quarterbacks — Jay Cutler, Andy Dalton — making elite-level money. It’s an inflated market right now.

Look, let’s be honest here and say that Manning isn’t going anywhere. He’s the quintessential quarterback for New York, a tremendous leader and the most valuable player on the Giants. I don’t think anybody within the Giants organization wants to see the start of the Ryan Nassib Era start quite yet.

With the other two members of the amazing 2004 quarterback class — sorry, J.P. Losman — having signed lucrative deals, a new deal for Manning should be right around the corner.

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