Eli Manning signs four-year, $84m extension with New York Giants
Saturday 12 September 2015 13:30, UK
Eli Manning signed a four-year, $84m (£54.5m) contract extension with the New York Giants on Friday.
The Giants announced the deal with the two-time Super Bowl MVP two days before the season opener at Dallas on Sunday.
The deal will make Manning the NFL's fourth highest-paid quarterback with an average salary of $21m (£13.6m). Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers is the highest paid with a $22m annual salary, followed by Seattle's Russell Wilson and Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger.
Manning was to earn $17m base salary this season in the final year of his current contract.
"I'm obviously excited knowing I'll be a Giant for a long time," Manning said. "This is where I got started and where I want to finish. I still have the same mentality. My goal is to earn this contract and do my best and keep trying to win championships for the Giants."
The Giants acquired Manning, the No 1 overall pick in 2004, from San Diego in a draft day deal.
"He's our quarterback, he's the guy that's our leader, and he's been the MVP of two Super Bowls," coach Tom Coughlin said. "He's a great player and we are excited to have this behind us and accomplished, and we look forward to having him on the field."
Contract talks with Giants picked up over the past week, with both sides hoping to get a deal done before the start of the season.
"I'm glad we were able to get this done, so we all can focus on winning football games," general manager Jerry Reese said.
Entering his 12th season, Manning is the Giants' career passing leader in attempts (5,609), completions (3,308), completion percentage (59.0), yards (39,755) and touchdowns (259). He has started 167 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the NFL.
Manning had a bounce-back season in 2014, throwing 30 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in his first season in Ben McAdoo's West Coast offense.
"Not many people come to a team and play there for an extended period of time or, hopefully, their whole careers," Manning said.
"I feel obviously blessed to be part of the Giants family and to have played my career here, with the fans, the ownership and everything the Giants represent. It's been a great 11 years going into 12, and hopefully we can continue to have some great years, and there are a lot of fond memories ahead of us."
