New York Giants: Geno Smith Isn’t Eli Manning’s Heir Apparent
By Zac Wassink
The New York Giants likely aren’t expecting Geno Smith will be the future franchise quarterback who will eventually replace Eli Manning.
Stories of redemption and coming back from adversities in sports fascinate pockets of both diehard and casual fans. Brett Favre, Michael Vick, Kurt Warner, Carson Palmer and even Tony Romo are some NFL examples from the past decade or so. Regardless of whether or not you cheer for such athletes to succeed, we pay a little extra attention to the second and, in some cases, the final stints of these careers.
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Former New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith never flirted with matching the accomplishments of the previously mentioned players throughout his four seasons with the Jets. Smith showed glimpses of promise during his rookie campaign in 2013, but that proved to be his best year as a member of Gang Green. Per Pro-Football-Reference.com, Smith started in only a single regular season game from September 2015 through the end of last season.
His career will nevertheless continue in the New York area, as he put pen to paper on a one-year deal with the New York Giants on March 20, as Conor Orr of NFL.com explained. In that same post, Orr reminded readers Smith suffered a torn ACL last fall, but passing a physical was apparently enough to convince the Giants he will be ready to go on the practice field when the time comes.
Those thinking the Giants may view the 26-year-old as any kind of future replacement for two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning need to pump the breaks and realize what’s happening. Smith is a warm body with experience playing at MetLife Stadium who comes to the Giants on a relatively cheap deal for somebody once deemed worthy of being a second-round pick. He isn’t the heir apparent, at least he isn’t today.
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Logic and past performances suggest Smith is an upgrade from Ryan Nassib, a Big Blue project who now probably isn’t returning to the club. While Nassib likely would’ve been less expensive, it appears, on the surface, the Giants had some concerns about his health after he underwent season-ending elbow surgery last December.
Smith is a cheaper option than journeyman Josh McCown, who parted ways with the Cleveland Browns following the 2016 campaign and who recently signed a deal with the Jets that will earn him $6 million in guaranteed money, as explained by NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport and Marc Sessler of NFL.com. Both Robert Griffin III and Colin Kaepernick are in better positions to negotiate for more money from NFL franchises than Smith considering what both men have already earned from previous NFL contracts.
The Giants don’t need Smith to at the level of a Rookie of the Year, a quarterback capable of playing on the first Sunday of February or even of an individual who has been able to stick around in the NFL for well over a decade. New York merely needs Smith to stay healthy. Manning hasn’t missed a start since taking over for Kurt Warner back in 2004, and there’s no reason to believe his body will break down between now and January 2018, so long as his offensive line doesn’t betray him.
It should also be remembered this particular Giants regime has no history of trusting players from other franchises to lead an offense. Even when the club signed Kurt Warner before the start of the 2004 campaign, the plan was always for Manning to take the gig as soon as he was ready to do so as a rookie. That’s exactly what happened, and the rest is history.
The Giants signed David Carr to serve as Manning’s backup back in March 2008. Despite being the No. 2 pick of the 2002 draft, Carr was never anything more than second on the depth chart behind Manning during both of his stops with the Giants. The Giants will now expect Smith to play a similar role in what may be his only season with the franchise.
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In an ideal world, Smith will not play a meaningful down for the Giants other than in preseason games and while taking a knee at the end of a victory. The Giants will be chasing a Super Bowl title once training camp begins, which means they won’t be in the business of saving anybody’s career this time around. Sitting behind Manning has been easy work for a plethora of QBs over the years. And the hope is Smith will do just that and only that during games after opening kickoff of Week 1.