Eli Manning was the No. 1 pick in the 2004 NFL Draft and after spending the first few hours of his professional career with the Chargers, he's been a member of the Giants ever since. But with New York having the No. 2 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, there has been plenty of speculation that the team, fresh off a disappointing 3-13 campaign, should take Manning's successor.

The thinking: Manning is 37, on the downside of what will likely be a Hall of Fame career, and when will the Giants again have such a high draft pick?

Fair concerns though not surprisingly, Manning has some thoughts on the matter.

"Thirty-seven is not old," he said, via NewsDay.com's Tom Rock. "I think 37 is young, so it's all perspective."

Manning's right if he's hanging out with Tom Brady (40), Drew Brees (39), Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger (both 36). But football is a young man's game and perhaps more importantly, Manning will count $22.2 million against the Giants' salary cap in 2018 and $23.2 million in 2019, the final year of his current deal, according to Spotrac. 

But Manning has a fan in first-year coach Pat Shurmur, who has called the quarterback the fittest 37-year-old he's ever seen, which can be taken several ways.

"I guess he hasn't been around too many 37-year-olds maybe," Manning said. "I feel good. I'm moving around well. I'm always working on my flexibility and my conditioning and offseason lifting and everything, so I haven't relaxed on that in any sense. I know I need that to kind of keep up with those other guys, but I feel good in that sense and I have to keep it that way."

We've been beating this drum for weeks but we'll repeat it one last time, hours before the Giants are scheduled to make the No. 2 pick. Here's how we think the team should proceed:

-- Re-sign Odell Beckham Jr. for Antonio Brown money. (Is he worth it? In a word: no -- but he has the potential to be. And the offense is substantially better with him a part of it.)

-- Draft a quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick. There has been speculation that the Giants could take running back Saquon Barkley or defensive end Bradley Chubb. But they should draft a quarterback -- whether it's Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Josh Allen or Baker Mayfield will in part be determined by what the Browns do with the top pick -- and groom him to replace Manning.

-- Replace Manning ... after the 2018 season.

-- Follow the blueprint laid out by the Eagles and Rams: Take advantage of a franchise quarterback still on his rookie deal and use the extra cap space to build a playoff team around him. Philadelphia won the Super Bowl last season and Los Angeles is gearing up to do the same in 2018. With needs up and down the roster, the Giants could certainly find uses for the money they would free up by jettisoning Manning.

For now, however, Manning is focused on next season.

"Obviously I have to prove that and do that [I deserve to be the quarterback] every day and get on the field and make sure I'm making the right decisions, protecting the ball, making good throws and learning this offense quickly," he said. "I think we're off to a good start."