Eli Manning backs out of Giants ownership purchase

Pat Leonard, New York Daily News on Jul 15, 2025

Published in Football

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NEW YORK — Eli Manning still has a desk inside the Giants’ building, but he won’t be buying a stake in the team.

The franchise is looking to sell up 10% of a minority stake in the organization. Manning, 44, the two-time Super Bowl MVP, previously had expressed interest in buying in. But he said on CNBC recently that the asking price is too high.

“The Giants one, basically it’s too expensive for me,” Manning said. “These numbers are getting big. A one percent stake of something valued at $10 billion, it turns into a very big number.

“So I love the Giants. I think it’s deserving of that valuation,” he added. “There’ll be people that will want to go for it. And I was kind of along the ride.”

Manning said there were also conflicts of interest with his current jobs, however, that further complicated his potential investment.

“It really was a matter of some complications with the fact that I’m doing broadcasting, I wouldn’t be able to talk to the players,” he said. “I coach in the Pro Bowl. I do a high school football camp where college guys come. There were gonna be a lot of conflicts, and it was gonna affect my day job.

“So I kind of had to pull out of the Giants deal,” he added. “But still obviously I’m here and have access and am still very involved in the Giants organization.”

Manning’s announcement could be good news for the Giants if the franchise indeed is fetching a $10 billion total valuation. This could also be Manning’s way of trying to help the organization fetch that number as he bows out.

The Giants, in the meantime, made some internal staff cuts this offseason with an eye on trimming down for prospective buyers.

They also retained GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll into the fourth year of their five-year contracts after a 3-14 centennial season.

Some league sources have speculated that this was in part financially motivated, since hiring a new GM and head coach while still owing Schoen and Daboll tens of millions through 2026 could have been less attractive to prospect buyers.

The NFL allowed private equity firms to buy up to 10% of teams under a new policy approved last August.

Regardless of who buys in, the team is not ceding control, which has rested with current President John Mara or his family since his grandfather, Tim Mara, founded the team in 1925.

Since 1991, the Tisch and Mara families have each owned 50% of the club, with a long list of individual family members holding small stakes. Since the passing of Wellington Mara and Bob Tisch in 2005, the team has been under the control of John Mara and Steve Tisch on behalf of their respective families.

Waller wanted to play, just not here

Darren Waller wanted to play in the NFL again — just not for the Giants.

Waller, 32, who hung up his cleats after one 2023 season in New York, un-retired to facilitate a trade to the Miami Dolphins that became official last week.

The tight end said he soured on playing football entirely in 2023 when Brian Daboll deployed him as a fullback against the Bills in a Week 6 October loss at Buffalo.

“I knew I was retiring when we played in Buffalo. It was in the first quarter of the game,” Waller said on ‘The Side You Don’t See’ podcast. “We were running this counter lead running play, and I’m kind of leading through the hole like I’m a fullback. And the play is working.

“But I sit down on the sideline after a drive where we ran it three times, and I’m like, ‘What the f— am I doing with my life? I’m out here playing fullback. I don’t even wanna do this s— anymore.’ ”

Waller said he was “looking at the moon” and decided “yep, I’m gonna finish this year to the best of my ability, but I’m definitely done playing after this year.”

Former Giants standout receiver Plaxico Burress said on the ‘Up On Game‘ podcast that, in his opinion, Waller didn’t want to play for Daboll.

“I think it had more to do with a lot of things he had going on outside of football, and I don’t really think he wanted to be here in New York playing for Brian Daboll,” Burress said. “I really honestly believe that. It wasn’t a good situation.”

Schoen, who traded a third-round pick to the Raiders to acquire Waller in 2023, got a 2026 sixth-round pick from the Miami Dolphins in exchange for Waller and a conditional 2027 seventh rounder.

The Giants GM continues to seek an elusive answer at tight end. He has drafted two fourth-rounders (Daniel Bellinger 2022, Theo Johnson 2024) and one seventh-rounder (Thomas Fidone, 2025) in addition to the failed Waller trade. And he’s still searching for a reliable answer at the position.

Camp on the way

The Giants’ rookies reported to the team’s facility on Tuesday. The full team is required to report one week later on July 22. Then the team will hold its first practice of training camp on July 23.