The New York Giants look a lot different than they did the last two seasons. A whole new quarterback room and a cast of serviceable weapons plus a scary defense. They aren't quite a proven commodity yet but that's not stopping one alum from giving a pretty rosy forecast for the 2025 season.
Two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Eli Manning spoke with Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio on Tuesday and believes his Giants have what it takes to surprise folks and make the NFL playoffs.
Despite a tough division, Eli Manning believes the Giants can slide in the playoffs. pic.twitter.com/jJVxncPUi3
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) August 19, 2025
"I think that's a great thing about the NFL is that you can make those quick changes and you can go from a team that wasn't winning many games to winning games," Manning said. "[They] helped out their defense with Abdul Carter, they're already a strong pass rushing team. I think [Malik] Nabers going into his second year will be better, some other receivers and the running backs [Tyrone] Tracy. Then getting Russell Wilson, a guy who's a veteran, [a] guy who throws the ball down the field well. He's not scared to make those bold decisions and bold throws down the field. They can be very competitive."
Eli Manning is seeing all blue in his preseason prediction for Giants
Manning's right, the Giants did make some substantial upgrades to their roster but that doesn't automatically make them contenders in a stacked NFC East division. Not to mention they have the toughest schedule in the entire NFL. Even Manning admitted as such.
"Obviously, you're going into a tough division with Washington and Philadelphia who are both obviously Super Bowl champs and then the NFC Championship [runners up]," he conceded. "It's not going to be easy with the teams they're playing but I think they can be very competitive and win a lot of games and have a good shot to make the playoffs."
The Giants won three games last year while Philadelphia and Washington won 14 and 12 respectively. Manning is expecting practically a ten win swing in a single season for the G-Men. Dallas may have won only 7 games but you can't expect the Cowboys to stay down forever, especially with a healthy Dak Prescott back under center.
Manning clearly had his Giants glasses on when speaking with Florio and you really can't blame him. The team showed a flash of brilliance in 2021 but hasn't been able to prove it more than a fluke since then. Maybe a little hope and optimism will do the Giants fan base well... or maybe it'll just make things worse by unnecessarily raising expectations.