New York Giants NFL 2015 news: Eli Manning denies saying he wants to be NFL's highest-paid player

Wikimedia Commons/Marianne O'Leary

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning denied reports saying that he wants to be the highest-paid player in the National Football League (NFL). 

A recent report by the NFL Network said Manning and the Giants are having a gap in their contract negotiations because the franchise quarterback wants to have the most lucrative deal in the league. 

But before their practice last Tuesday, Manning shot down the reports saying, according to ESPN, "The reports are all wrong. That's never been said, it's never come out of my mouth, I've never said it to my agent, I don't know where people are getting their information."

According to ESPN's Dan Grazio, Manning learned about the report through his father who phoned him; he then called the Giants' media relations department to know what is happening. 

The Giants and Manning are yet to strike a deal as he is set to enter the final year of his current contract which will earn him $17 million in base salary. 

The 34-year-old quarterback signed a six-year extension pact with New York back in 2009 which was worth $97.5 million. 

It is expected that the Giants will come up with a deal for Manning who have brought so much success to the franchise since joining the team in 2004. 

ESPN also reported that Manning said he is focused on their practices and is really not thinking about the contract talks they are having with the Giants, 

Manning added that his agent, Tom Condon, is the one monitoring the negotiations; he just checks with him for any updates, although he does not do it often in order to let Condon do his job. 

Manning really needs to focus to help the Giants bounce back because they have never made it to the playoffs in the past three seasons after winning  Super Bowl XLVI in 2011.