New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning retiring after 16 seasons

Eli Manning, who led the New York Giants to a pair of Super Bowl victories in his 16 seasons with the team, is retiring from the NFL, the team announced Wednesday.

Manning, 39, is scheduled to formally announce his retirement during a news conference Friday.

“Eli is our only two-time Super Bowl MVP and one of the very best players in our franchise’s history,� Giants co-owner John Mara said in a statement. “He represented our franchise as a consummate professional with dignity and accountability. It meant something to Eli to be the Giants quarterback, and it meant even more to us. We are beyond grateful for his contributions to our organization and look forward to celebrating his induction into the Giants Ring of Honor in the near future.�

Manning played his entire career with the Giants after being selected No. 1 overall out of Mississippi by the San Diego Chargers in the 2004 NFL draft. He made it clear before the Chargers selected him that he would not play in San Diego, prompting the team to trade him to the Giants.

The quarterback holds several Giants records, including most passing yards and most passing touchdowns. He passed for 57,023 yards (seventh all time) and 366 touchdowns (seventh all time). However, he was limited to just four starts this past season, serving most of the year as a backup for rookie Daniel Jones. After being benched in Week 3 in favor of Jones, he started in two more games after Jones sustained an ankle sprain late in the season.

Despite his numerous accomplishments, the greatest moments of his career came at the end of the 2007 and 2011 seasons when he led the Giants to victories over Tom Brady and the Patriots in the Super Bowl. He also started 210 consecutive games from Nov. 21, 2004 to Nov. 23, 2017 — the third-longest streak by a quarterback in NFL history behind Brett Favre (297) and Philip Rivers (224).

Although Manning led the Giants to some of the greatest moments in the franchise’s long history, he wasn’t able to bring prolonged success to the team. The Giants won and lost 117 regular-season games under Manning and have made the postseason only once (2016) since their last Super Bowl win.