Goodbye, Super Mario: Manningham signs with Niners – New York Daily News

The last time Mario Manningham took the field, his tiptoeing, 38-yard catch along the sideline helped the Giants beat the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI.

The next time Mario Manningham takes the field, he will be suiting up for a different NFC contender. On Saturday, the 25-year-old receiver signed a two-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers, his agent, Drew Rosenhaus told the AP, ending his four-year tenure with the Giants.

Manningham’s departure was something that the Giants had been expecting. He caught 39 passes for 523 yards last season, but he had wanted more. The speedy wideout hoped to be paid handsomely, and he began the offseason by telling the Ohio Vindicator, “I just want the ball more, that’s all.”

That wasn’t likely to happen in New York, not with 1,000-yard receivers Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz entrenched as starters and the Giants battling to get under the salary cap. In late February, GM Jerry Reese did not deny that contract talks with Manningham had stalled. And when free agency opened, one of the heroes of Super Bowl XLVI quickly made visits to Niners and the St. Louis Rams.

He finished his time with the Giants with 160 catches for 2,315 yards and 18 TDs, but he was hardly viewed as irreplaceable by Reese. In fact, before coming alive in the playoffs, Manningham had struggled through regular season, battling a painful knee injury that led him to miss four games.

Manningham caught three TD passes in the postseason and made one of the most clutch catches in Giants history in the Super Bowl, but his production is hardly viewed as irreplaceable.

“We drafted (Jerre) Jernigan in the third round (in 2011), so we expect him to make the jump,” Reese said at the NFL Scouting Combine. “Ramses Barden, who we drafted a couple years ago, had some injury issues, we expect him to contribute as well.”

Meanwhile, Manningham will head to San Francisco, where he could help the Niners revitalize a moribund receiving corps that managed just one catch against the Giants in the NFC title game. The Niners opened free agency by signing former Patriots and Vikings star Randy Moss, and now, they add Manningham.
The addition of both receivers could help make San Francisco far more appealing to Peyton Manning, whom the Niners are desperately trying to sign.

Manningham spent the last four years catching passes from Eli Manning. This year, he could be catching passes from Manning’s big brother.