My initial reaction: They could have done without him.

Stick with Kerry Collins, take left tackle Robert Gallery with the No. 4 pick in the 2004 NFL Draft, do not give up two first-round picks and one third-round pick and move forward as a franchise without Archie’s son and Peyton’s younger brother.

They were not called Hot Takes back then. Then, now, forever, it was a Bad Take, a view easily shot down and dismissed over the course of a stunningly serene 16-year run that ends Friday, when Eli Manning enters the Giants’ field house and announces his retirement.

All those throws and sly jokes and pranks, changing unsuspecting teammates’ cell phones to Chinese or sticking dark purple dye into their socks and gloves, the clutch moments, the two Super Bowl MVPs, the dogged accountability after a bad loss, the hospitals he visited and the sick kids he made smile, the beauty of his stance in the pocket before the release, the injuries he concealed and all the consecutive games he played, it all comes rushing back at a time like this. It goes fast and it goes slow and it always ends and it is no surprise Eli Manning came up with the appropriate moment to walk away.

It is time. Eli Manning always had a sense of timing.

That first pass he threw in his very first minicamp, the one that clanged off the tackling dummy and fell to the grass nowhere near the intended target? It is the stuff of legend now.

Covering Eli was like riding a float on a lazy river, calm and comfortable. Some prefer thrill-rides. To each his own. He filled up your notebook and soon enough you came to realize his content was bland but not uninteresting and never, ever self-aggrandizing.

Here is a challenge: Of all the words Manning spoke publicly lo these many years, find the sentence or sentiment in which he praises himself for a pass, a decision or a performance. His line held its blocks, his receivers got open, his running backs broke tackles. The head coach made the smart call and the offensive coordinator signaled in the right play. Eli was at the center of it all and yet made it sound as if he was one of the chorus and not the lead singer.

Think of those you know for the past 16 years and what others in their close orbit think of them. Another challenge: Find the former teammate — now they are all former teammates — who has a bone to pick with Eli, who did not relish his company or has an anecdote that throws dirt on his quarterback.

Jerry West — the logo of the NBA — once said finding a good teammate is the surest way to find a really good and valued player. Eli Manning was the best teammate, which is why many of those he laughed and sweated and toiled with will be there for him Friday. And as they welcome him into the world of an NFL alumnus they will bask in the enduring afterglow of wistful camaraderie that only those who shared a huddle and locker room can embrace.

My first thoughts on Eli were not mine alone. Giants patriarch Wellington Mara did not believe his team needed a quarterback savior and was content to ride it out with Collins. The general manager, Ernie Accorsi, intensely wanted Manning and masterminded the trade to get him. Mara could have put a stop to it, but it was not in his nature to do so. Mara, seated in the back of the draft room, gave his blessing and the deal was consummated.

“I’ll never forget this, it was almost like ‘Field of Dreams’ when Burt Lancaster stepped over the line and became the doctor,’’ Accorsi told The Post. “That door opened from the lobby in the old stadium and once Eli crossed that threshold, I was watching Mr. Mara, Eli was a Giant. That’s just the way Wellington was. Once he saw Eli and his family, up until that he was a name, he didn’t know him. Once he walked through that door he became a New York Giant, from that moment on.’’

Eli Manning will always be a New York Giant.

For more on Eli Manning’s retirement, listen to the latest episode of the “Blue Rush” podcast: