Eli to be NFL's highest paid?
I recently returned from a week-long vacation in Cape Cod. I tried to stay away from football news (and a computer) as much as possible during my time off. Upon return, I had about 300 Rotoworld posts to catch up on. One story that stuck out was Eli Manning's desire to be the NFL's highest paid player.
Manning is entering the last year of his six-year, $54 million rookie deal. He is due $9.4 million in 2009 base salary.
Not surprisingly, the Giants' standing offer isn't close to Manning's demands. On an annual basis, Nnamdi Asomugha ($45.3M/3 years) is currently the league's richest player. Eli wants $20 million a year.
The Mannings are a nervy bunch, and Eli in particular. He's kidding himself if he thinks he's worth this money.
GM Ernie Accorsi, who drafted Manning in 2004, noticed that Eli's accuracy woes required the Giants to surround him with big receivers. Manning's played with Plaxico Burress (6'5/232) and Amani Toomer (6'3/203) in each of his four full seasons as a starter. Yet his career completion rate stands at a Rex Grossman-esque 55.9. Among the 37 quarterbacks who've attempted 715 or more passes since Manning replaced Kurt Warner as the Giants' starter, Eli's 56.6 completion percentage ranks 30th. He's behind names like J.P. Losman (59.4), Jon Kitna (62.0), Vince Young (57.4), Jason Campbell (59.7), David Carr (63.2), and Joey Harrington (58.6).
Manning has completed passes more efficiently than only Kerry Collins, Gus Frerotte, Derek Anderson, everybody's favorite 2009 sleeper Kyle Orton, Alex Smith, Grossman, and Michael Vick.
Assuming Accorsi's scouting report is correct (and current Giants GM Jerry Reese stands by it wholeheartedly), will Eli improve with Domenik Hixon (6'2), Sinorice Moss (5'8), Hakeem Nicks (6'1), Mario Manningham (6'0), or Steve Smith (6'0) out wide? Doubtful. Sure, there are other stats to look at (TD to INT ratio, win percentage, yards per attempt), but for a quarterback whose main issue has always been accuracy and has been dependent on big receivers to catch his errant throws, completion rate is the most telling metric. It's only going to go down.
Eli has been durable. He won a Super Bowl ring in February 2008. The Giants presumably do see him as a franchise quarterback. But he isn't worth $20 million a year, or anything close.
Comments
is he even a top 10 QB? someone go back to the dynasty QB thread. if you were a GM and could start a team today with any QB, there have to be a number you'd take before Eli. he had a nice string of games at the end of 08 and playoffs. that's about it.
Posted by: veggieb | June 23, 2009 03:39 PM
veggieb -- i'm with you and don't believe he's even a top-ten passer. i'd put him around no. 18-20, and judging by the numbers above even that may be generous. who's to say derek anderson couldn't be just as successful behind that offensive line with that running game and that defense creating constant opportunities.
eli is mediocre at best, and i hope for the giants' sake that they don't meet his demands. giants beat guy ralph vacchiano says they're expected to "settle" on a $15M/year long-term deal, but i don't even think manning is worth that.
Posted by: evan | June 23, 2009 03:58 PM
In other words, he wants to be paid like Matt Stafford... you know the guy who hasn't taken a snap in the NFL yet.
Posted by: stx_jay | June 23, 2009 04:36 PM
nope, eli wants more. way more.
Posted by: evan | June 23, 2009 04:38 PM
Elisha is a QB who does the little things fans don't notice much very well, but sometimes screws up the big things. He plays in one of the most intellectually demanding offenses in the league-- his responsibilities in recognition, audibling, adjusting routes and line calls, and sometimes all-out playcalling are probably second only to his brother's. And he generally does all this stuff quite well, particularly the line calls and the audibling. That doesn't wash out some of the bigger complaints (like sucking when the wind gets over about 5 MPH), but it does provide a boost over some less-cerebral QBs with more impressive standard stats. (Remember the bit about Roethlisberger not knowing what the hell he would do at the Pro Bowl, whose coach expected him to actually look at receivers on both sides of the field on each play?)
Then, you have to look at the baseline: There really haven't been many recent contracts for "can't let him walk away" veteran franchise QBs lately. Romo signed an extension in the middle of the '07 season for a $11.2M/season average. Roethlisberger re-upped in March of '08 for a $12.75M/season average. The salary cap went up about 10% between '08 and '09, so a direct comparison to the R-berger contract would be around $14M/year. But Ben's rookie contract wasn't expiring when he signed that, so Eli has more leverage in this situation, and that matters a lot.
Posted by: Anonymous | June 23, 2009 04:58 PM
I hope Eli gets his money. Can you imagine the pouty face he'll have on if he doesn't??? Edeessh, too gruesome to think about.
Posted by: Gintleman | June 23, 2009 05:14 PM
I just can't imagine giving that kind of money to a guy who isn't one of the top players at his position, and I truly believe he isn't. If he hits the free agent market, someone will though.
If it comes down to it, Eli may have to decide whether he wants to play for the most money he can get or the team that has done so much to put him in a position to succeed. I don't think there's a better situation for him in football.
Posted by: Fredex | June 23, 2009 06:50 PM