Former New York Giants quarterback Kurt Warner disagrees with the team’s decision to bench Eli Manning heading into Week 3.
The tables have turned for Eli Manning, almost 15 years later. On Tuesday, the New York Giants decided to finally make the switch at quarterback.
They ultimately benched Manning for rookie first-round draft pick Daniel Jones. It’s a situation (one in which the replacement was the hopeful future at the position, not Geno Smith), that hasn’t occurred in the organization since 2004 when the Giants replaced Kurt Warner with a rookie—Eli Manning.
While many believed it was time to make the switch to Jones, Warner didn’t. Speaking with TMZ, the former NFL MVP believed Manning isn’t the reason for the Giants’ losing thus far.
“If you watched the film, Eli was one of the few guys playing winning football for that team,” Warner said.
“Maybe I’m biased, but there is nothing worse in football than a team making the quarterback the scapegoat for losing when it’s way bigger than that.”
Warner added that the Giants should replace “some other guys first” such as on a defense that’s allowed 63 points through its first two games.
“[Manning] has earned better than two games in his last season,” he said. That’s assuming this is indeed Manning’s last year in the NFL. His current contract with Big Blue expires at the end of the season.
Jones’ first regular-season start in his career will thus come on Sunday afternoon at 4:05 p.m. ET against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs are 1-1 on the year, coming off a huge win over the Carolina Panthers last Thursday.
