Plenty of quarterbacks headed to the pay window for new contracts during the off-season and there appears to be another one attempting to cash in.

Cam Newton, Russell Wilson, Ben Roethlisberger, and Philip Rivers inked new deals over the past few months. Now, Eli Manning is ready to be the latest to sign a new deal which would make him the league’s highest paid player, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Manning, who enters his 12th season, is looking to sign a new deal before his contract expires in 2016. He starts the season with the third-highest cap number for a quarterback ($19.75 million, behind only Drew Brees and Philip Rivers) but will look to eclipse the current deal signed by Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers. The Rodgers deal nets the Green Bay quarterback an average annual salary of $22 million.

A preposterous thought, yes?

However, Manning may have some short-term leverage. Only Roethlisberger has a comparable resumé with Eli’s pair of Super Bowl rings. Meanwhile, Newton has one playoff win to his credit; and Rivers has never reached a Super Bowl. Plus, since the 2011 season, Manning has more playoff wins (4) than Rodgers (2) including a win over Green Bay during the ’11 postseason.

A potential problem for Manning could be his recent performance. While Manning posted his best individual season since 2010 last year including 30 touchdown passes, team success has been a missing ingredient. The Giants have missed the playoffs three seasons in a row and five of the past six years.

The Super Bowl XLII MVP turned 34 in January and is running out of major paydays.

The DirecTV version of Eli Manning needs to return in order for the Giants to feel good about putting him in the salarly class of the defending NFL MVP.

Not familiar with DirecTV Eli? Well, it’s this guy:

It’s been a minute.