John Mara hopes Eli Manning keeps Daniel Jones on the bench

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Over the last decade, it’s hard to tell whether the Giants are working on a long-term plan or a short term plan. Or sometimes, if they had a plan at all.

But Giants co-owner John Mara has registered his preference in the hottest debate of the summer, saying he hopes first-round quarterback Daniel Jones doesn’t take over for Eli Manning anytime soon.

“I hope Eli has a great year and Daniel never sees the field,” Mara said, via Ryan Dunleavy of NJ.com. “That would be an ideal world. We would like to see that.”

That kind of inertia would suggest a certain level of success on the field, perhaps even a playoff push (which they haven’t made often, just once in the last seven years).

What Mara wants to avoid is the same kind of ham-handed benching of Manning as the one Ben McAdoo presided over two years ago. Mara said the decision would belong to coach Pat Shurmur whenever the time came.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to be a decision by the head coach as to when and if Daniel ends up playing this year,” Mara said.

That’s consistent with General Manager Dave Gettleman’s stance, putting the franchise’s biggest decision on someone else’s plate.

And Mara just hopes that happens later rather than sooner.