Eli Manning is six years into retirement, but he still sounds like a quarterback who can never have too many good receivers.
Or maybe he is just looking out for his protégé Jaxson Dart.
Manning said that he would like to see the Giants prioritize adding a receiver to complement Malik Nabers this offseason, whether it be in free agency or with the No. 5 pick in the NFL Draft.
“I definitely agree that they probably need a true No. 2 to go with Malik Nabers,” Manning told SportsBoom.
“Some of the best offenses are doing that. I don’t know if they need to do that in the draft, or it kind of depends on free agency. I wouldn’t mind if there’s a good free-agent receiver that could be that No. 2 — kind of that 1B almost.”
There are a ton of moving parts for the Giants at receiver.
First, Nabers is coming off a torn ACL and has not committed to being ready to play by Week 1, even though the Giants’ expectation is that he will participate in training camp.
Second, Wan’Dale Robinson is a free agent after a breakthrough season of 92 catches for 1,014 yards and four touchdowns.
Third, Darius Slayton’s salary-cap charge is $16 million, which is a hard number to justify for a No. 3 or No. 4 receiver.
If the Giants lose Robinson, there is a case to be made that they would need to add two high-end receivers to advance the depth chart.
The Cowboys are expected to use the franchise tag as leverage to keep top free-agent receiver George Pickens from reaching the open market.
Robinson, Alec Pierce (Colts), Mike Evans (Buccaneers), Romeo Doubs (Packers), Rashid Shaheed (Seahawks) and Jajuan Jennings (49ers) are the next-best receivers expected to be available.
Evans, a future Hall of Famer, could teach Nabers a thing or two.
“For Nabers to have that veteran guy, who’s had success and knows what to do and how to get open,” Manning said, “and just kind of some of those little nuances to be an elite receiver, I think that would be helpful for him.”