The Giants don't think being the highest paid player in the NFL will change Eli Manning.

Nothing seems to.

"He is a franchise quarterback," Giants general manager Jerry Reese said yesterday. "He has done everything we asked him to do. He has come in, taken a lot of flack from you guys (the media) and he just keeps going. He does what we ask him on the field and he does what we ask him to do off the field. He is a good football player."

Eli Manning agreed to a six-year, $97 million contract extension, an average salary of roughly $15.3 million, according to a person close to the talks. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal was not signed and had not been announced, said Manning is guaranteed $35 million under the deal that will keep him with the Giants through the 2015 season.

The easygoing New Orleans native, who took over as the Giants starter midway through his rookie season in 2004, has proved a worthy No. 1 overall draft pick. In his first four NFL seasons, Manning has won a Super Bowl and was MVP of the game, helped his team to the playoffs all four years and is coming off his first Pro Bowl season.

Now he's set to make more money than even older brother Peyton.

The extension will pay Eli Manning $200,000 per year more than All-Pro cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha of the Oakland Raiders, who agreed to a three-year, $45.3 million contract this year.

Peyton Manning earns an average of $14.17 million annually with the Indianapolis Colts.

Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers has Eli Manning beat this season, when he'll make $16.7 million — but it's only a one-year deal.

Manning was in the final year of the contract he signed as a rookie in 2004 and will make $9.4 million under that deal this season.

Manning's Pro Bowl season last year included 3,238 passing yards and 21 touchdowns.

CARDINALS

UH ALUM MAUIA GETS ONE-YEAR DEAL

Free-agent fullback Reagan Mauia, a University of Hawai'i alum, has signed a one-year contract with Arizona.

Financial terms of the agreement, announced yesterday, were not disclosed.

Mauia started two games last season for the Cincinnati Bengals and was inactive for three others after being claimed on waivers from the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 3.

He was a sixth-round draft pick of the Dolphins in 2007.

BROWNS

STALLWORTH MEETS WITH GOODELL

Cleveland wide receiver Donte Stallworth, suspended indefinitely for killing a pedestrian while driving drunk, met in New York with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell about a possible reinstatement, according to media reports.

Stallworth was recently released from jail after serving 24 days for a DUI conviction.

Stallworth pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter in the death of 59-year-old Mario Reyes of Miami. Stallworth admitted drinking at a Miami Beach hotel before the accident. He reached an undisclosed financial settlement with Reyes' family, which factored into his relatively light sentence.

Stallworth signed a seven-year, $35 million contract with the Browns before last season but was injured much of the year.

ELSEWHERE

Panthers: Carolina placed starting defensive tackle Maake Kemoeatu on injured reserve, ending his season the same day he underwent surgery on his torn right Achilles' tendon. Kemoeatu, a Kahuku High alum, was injured minutes into Carolina's first training camp practice Monday.

Eagles: Philadelphia defensive end Juqua Parker was arrested on a marijuana possession charge early yesterday near the team's training camp in northeast Pennsylvania. Lower Saucon Township police said Parker was a passenger in a vehicle stopped for a traffic violation at 12:33 a.m. near Lehigh University, where the Eagles train. Parker was carrying "a small amount of marijuana."

Falcons: Atlanta receiver Harry Douglas tore his left ACL during practice yesterday and will miss the rest of the season.