Manningham Gone?

Giants' WR Victor Cruz (left) and WR Mario Manningham (right)
at the 54th Grammy Awards.

WR Mario Manningham was the New York Giants' third round draft pick in 2008, a couple months after the Giants pulled off the unthinkable in beating the undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. This past season, Manningham made an amazing catch down the sideline to help the Giants defeat the Patriots again, this time in Super Bowl XLVI. Now, it seems to be a certainty that Manningham will not be a Giant any longer.

Going into the 2012 playoffs, Manningham's contract status was a main topic in New York, but didn't seem important elsewhere. Manningham has been very valuable to Eli Manning, especially in the past three seasons, which have resulted in Manning's first three 4,000 yard seasons. Manningham has been a reliable deep threat, and his footwork and ability to make difficult catches has made him a target for Manning in the red zone.

Manningham scored a touchdown in all three playoff games before the Super Bowl. However, Manningham has battled injuries this past season and only caught 39 passes. Meanwhile, WR Victor Cruz stepped in and became very valuable, catching 82 passes and racking up over 1,500 yards. Cruz is a free agent as well and the Giants certainly intend on bringing back Cruz.

That leaves Manningham as the odd man out. The new collective bargaining agreement has put the Giants in a tough bind last offseason and this offseason as well. The Giants will probably have to shed players this offseason as well just to be flexible to retain key players. Last offseason, RB Brandon Jacobs took a paycut to help the Giants re-sign RB Ahmad Bradshaw. The Giants will mostly likely ask Jacobs to take another paycut in order to keep some players.

While the Giants have WR Hakeem Nicks and mostly Cruz for next season, losing Manningham can be a setback for the Giants' offense. Manning loves to place tight passes to Manningham because he is the most athletic and has the best footwork out of all the receivers. Now Manning will have to find a new red zone target, in which Nicks and Cruz are certainly capable as well. WR Domenik Hixon tore his ACL this past season and most likely will not be back either, so the Giants definitely need someone to step into that third receiver role the way Cruz did this past season.

WR Ramses Barden has been expected to be a major contributor for a couple of seasons now and he just hasn't been that guy. At 6'6", he is certainly capable of being the go-to guy for Manning in the red zone. The Giants also have WR Jerrel Jernigan, who is fast. He is capable of being a deep threat down the sideline, while getting Cruz back to the slot receiver role in which he has thrived. In all, there are many questions to be answered by Jerry Reese, but with two Super Bowl rings on his finger, he is more than capable of coming up with the solutions.