Report: Eli Manning Wants To Be NFL's Highest-Paid Player
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- How much is a two-time Super Bowl MVP worth?
The New York Giants are working to lock up Eli Manning to a long-term extension. But quarterbacks don't come cheap, and the 34-year-old face of the franchise has high hopes for his next contract, according to NFL Media's Ian Rapoport.
"He wants to be paid higher than any quarterback in the game, wants to be the game's highest-paid player, more than (Packers QB) Aaron Rodgers," Rapoport reported Monday on the NFL Network. "Until he comes down from that, the two sides are likely still to be far apart. And he at this point seems OK with that."
On WFAN, Manning said his only concern is ending Big Blue's three-year playoff drought, adding the "contract stuff" should work itself out.
"It's not important to me. I gotta do a job. I'm working and making sure this team is going in the right direction and we win more games and we have success and we get back to making the playoffs. That's the important thing to me, that's what I'm focused on," Manning told host Mike Francesa.
"If there are discussions going on, I'm not in those discussions. I just don't think there's a whole lot of point worrying about it," he added. "I got things I have to do, get ready for practice every day and that's what I'm focusing on."
Eli Manning
Manning is coming off a strong first season under offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo, having completed 63.1 percent of his passes for 4,410 yards and 30 touchdowns. He threw just 14 interceptions after setting an unfortunate franchise record with 27 in 2013.
"Eli's done a terrific job for us for a lot of years, and we think he has a lot of years left," Giants general manager Jerry Reese told Francesa. "We're hopeful that he'll end his career here."
Giants co-owner John Mara told Francesa "there's no deadline" for Manning, though he'd like to have a new contract signed, sealed and delivered by Week 1.
"We're going to try to lock him up," Giants co-owner John Mara said. "We're still having discussions with his agent and our goal is to still try to reach a contract with him, hopefully before the regular season starts or as soon thereafter as possible. There's no deadline on it right now. But we obviously want him to finish his career as a Giant and I'm sure that's something he wants as well."
