With 13 NFL seasons already under his belt, no one in New York would be surprised if Giants quarterback Eli Manning decided to retire sometime in the next few years. 

Manning’s current contract expires after the 2019 season, when he’ll be 39 years old, which just happens to be the age when pretty much every quarterback not named Tom Brady gets clobbered over the head by Father Time. Just ask Eli’s brother, Peyton, who had one of the worst statistical season of his 17-year career at age 39.

If Eli decides to call it quits sometime in the next few seasons, it appears that the Giants won’t have to look far to find his successor, because, apparently, that player is already on the team’s roster. 

During the NFL’s annual league meeting this week, Giants coach Ben McAdoo was asked if newly signed Geno Smith might end up being Manning’s replacement. 

“I can’t see why not,” McAdoo said, via Newsday.com.

When the Jets drafted Smith in 2013 to be the quarterback of the future in New York, this probably isn’t what they had in mind. Right city, wrong team. 

Although Smith has only been on the Giants’ roster for a couple of weeks, McAdoo is already a big fan of the former second-round pick. 

“I find it very exciting,” McAdoo said. “A guy who has his skill set is hard to find. You can’t find guys out there who have that type of arm talent, the quick release, the throwing motion and the feet to go with it. And he’s a competitor. It’s exciting to be able to bring a guy in and be able to work with a guy like that and see where you can take him.”

However, don’t go out and buy your Geno jersey just yet, Giants fans, because Manning might not be retiring anytime soon. And by the time he does retire, Smith might not be on McAdoo’s radar anymore. 

“We’re a long way to go from there,’’ McAdoo said, via the New York Post. 

The one thing Smith’s presence does is protect the Giants in the draft. With the 26-year-old on the roster, the Giants won’t have to spend a pick on a quarterback this year if they don’t like any of the guys available, and based on McAdoo’s comments, they view Smith as a player who’s just as good as the top quarterbacks available in the draft. 

“To me with Geno, you look at it and you study the guys coming out and you study Geno, I think he’s right in the mix of one of the better players available this year,” McAdoo said, via Newsday. “We spent a lot of time talking (during his free agency visits) about fundamentals and football and preparation and how this could be a great fit for both of us. He felt the same way and it’s exciting for us.”

Before Smith can inherit the starting job, he’ll have to fend off Josh Johnson for the backup spot in 2017. Smith will also have to do that while coming off an ACL tear that he suffered in late October. 

During his four years with the Jets, Smith went 12-18 as a starter, which includes an 8-8 record during his rookie year. However, Smith has only started exactly one game over the past two seasons, so he might be a little rusty when he kicks off offseason workouts with the Giants in April. 

As for McAdoo, he had one of the most interesting interview during the owners’ meetings. The Giants coach also talked about the possibility of bringing in Adrian Peterson for 2017.