Eli Manning thought about leaving the Giants.
He asked ex-teammates and coaches who had gone elsewhere. He asked his father, Archie, and brother, Peyton — both former NFL quarterbacks who changed teams near the end of the line. He did all the due diligence after losing his starting job to Daniel Jones and staring ahead at free agency in March for the first time in a 16-year career.
And then he retired. In the end, a wish to wear only one uniform beat out the wish to keep playing at age 39.
“Peyton had a hard time leaving Indianapolis and he kind of had this thought, ‘I’m supposed to play for one team,’ ” Archie said.