CBS CEO Les Moonves on Eli Manning: “We’d take him in a second!”

The sudden benching of New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning is still being processed around the NFL. And as Manning, his teammates, the Giants, and the NFL wonder what will be the two-time Super Bowl-winning QB’s next move, one network CEO is thinking about it.

TMZ caught up with CBS CEO Les Moonves outside celebrity hangout Craig’s in Los Angeles. In fact, Moonves and his wife, Julie Chen was eating dinner with NBC’s Al Michaels and his wife Linda.

TMZ asked Michaels about Manning and he said he was “sad about it.” And when pressed further, the Sunday Night Football voice said “Eli will have a future in a lot of places, wherever he wants.”

Then when the TMZ paparazzo asked if Manning could make it to CBS, Moonves said in an attempt to brush him off, “We’d take him in a second.” Michaels agreed that Manning would have a future in broadcasting.

Does this mean a formal offer? Most likely not, but even if Manning decided to go into the broadcast booth or the studio, he would have plenty of suitors, not just from CBS. And Eli does have a good media presence.

Whether that will translate to the booth or the studio isn’t known, but certainly networks will clamor to have Eli now that his brother Peyton, who was thought to be perfect for TV, has decided to be more of a commercial pitchman rather than a broadcaster. But hey, maybe Manning will stick it out in the NFL for years to come instead of following in Tony Romo’s footsteps this offseason.

[TMZ Sports]