Eli Manning Favored to Be Next Player to Retire Among Those Active in Week 1

• Eli Manning will feel the pressure this season as rookie Daniel Jones has looked strong in the preseason.
• Manning threw for 4,299 passing yards last season, eighth-most in the NFL.
• Josh McCown should be favored with this prop; not Manning.

As the 2019 NFL season gets underway, there’s already a question of who’ll retire next. The conversation has been a hot on with Antonio Brown and his mess of a situation in Oakland.

Sportsbooks have posted a prop focusing on which player who will be on their team’s Week 1 roster will be first to retire. Eli Manning is the favorite but is he a good bet?

Next Player on Week 1 Active Roster to Retire

Odds taken 09/06/19 .

Eli Favored Over the Field

The New York Giants are clearly looking towards a future after Manning. They drafted quarterback Daniel Jones with the sixth pick in the 2019 NFL Draft and watched him play a nearly flawless preseason. He was 29-of-34 for 416 yards and a couple of touchdowns. That’s led to calls for Jones to get in the starting lineup sooner than later.

That means we could be seeing the end of the Manning era. However, Manning is actually coming off a decent season. He had 4,299 passing yards (ninth in the NFL) with 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He could be first to retire but he shouldn’t be favored in this spot.

McCown Was Previously Retired

Journeyman quarterback Josh McCown was already retired, so he should be the one who is favored to retire again. After all, he’s just along for a one-year ride with the Philadelphia Eagles in hopes that he can win a ring. He already has a cushy post-career job with ESPN and he’ll go back there at the end of the season.

McCown should be favored here as he’s already shown us his cards. He’ll be hanging up his cleats at the end of the year.

Vinatieri Has No Plans To Retire

Adam Vinatieri is currently the oldest active player in the NFL at 46 years of age. While you might think he’s a good bet to retire, the reality is he’s made no plans to do so.  Vinatieri was quite reliable last season as he went 4-6 on kicks from 50+ yards and 5-6 on kicks from 40-49 yards. He’s still got a leg and with so many shaky kickers in the league, he’ll find work.

The other factor here is that he’s a kicker. He doesn’t take the kind of beating that running backs or quarterbacks do. As long as he remains accurate, he’ll find work.

What’s The Best Bet?

What’s more likely the case here is that the Eli Manning era is over in New York, but not the NFL. There are QB-needy teams like the Tennessee Titans or Chicago Bears who might be interested next year.

Those teams feel they are quite complete absent of a competent quarterback. If Joe Flacco can find another job, Manning can too.

That being the case, I’d bet on McCown here. He was already retired and is only back for a one-year run as a backup in Philadelphia. That’s it.