David Carr, who has backed up Eli Manning for four of the last five seasons, will likely leave the New York Giants and seek a back-up opportunity elsewhere.

Apparently, he wants a backup gig with more opportunities for playing time.

Carr, 33, will be a free agent on March 12, and reports have surfaced connecting the quarterback to a handful of destinations. Among them: the Cardinals, who are desperate for depth at the position, and the Buccaneers, where former Giants assistant Mike Sullivan is the offensive coordinator.

The Giants could replace Carr two different ways: drafting a quarterback in the middle-to-late rounds of April’s draft or signing a veteran off the street.

Should they take the free agency avenue, here are the options available:

• Matt Moore
• Jason Campbell
• Chase Daniel
• Drew Stanton
• Josh Johnson
• Byron Leftwich
• Brady Quinn
• Vince Young
• Matt Leinart
• Rex Grossman
• David Carr
• Derek Anderson
• Charlie Batch
• Bruce Gradkowski
• Kellen Clemens
• Tyler Thigpen
• Josh McCown
• Sage Rosenfels
• Seneca Wallace
• Donovan McNabb
• A.J. Feeley
• Troy Smith
• Luke McCown
• Chris Redman
• John Beck
• Jordan Palmer
• J.P. Losman
• Kevin O’Connell

Among them, Moore, Daniel, Grossman and Rosenfels all stick out. Both Moore and Grossman have experience as starters in this league, and with Rex, they have a quarterback who helped the Bears to the Super Bowl and spent years within the NFC East.

Daniel has backed up Drew Brees for the past few seasons, and despite much playing time has been tutored by one of the league’s elite signal-callers and is bound to have learned a few things. Rosenfels is a fit, only because he spent 2010 backing up Manning.

Should the Giants look to the draft to find Manning’s new backup, here’s a list of NFL.com’s available QBs.

• Geno Smith, West Virginia
• Zac Dysert, Miami (OH)
• Tyler Wilson, Arkansas
• Matt Barkley, USC
• Mike Glennon, N.C. State
• Ryan Nassib, Syracuse
• E.J. Manuel, Florida St.
• Tyler Bray, Tennessee
• Landry Jones, Oklahoma
• Matt Scott, Arizona
• Collin Klein, Kansas St.
• Brad Sorensen, Southern Utah
• Alex Carder, Western Michigan
• MarQueis Gray, Minnesota
• Sean Renfree, Duke
• Colby Cameron, Louisiana Tech
• Ryan Aplin, Arkansas State
• James Vandenberg, Iowa
• Kyle Padron, Eastern Washington

While Smith, Barley, Glennon and Nassib are all candidates to be drafted within the first two-three rounds, Manuel, Bray and Jones — who were all top college QBs with suspect NFL prospects — could be available still in Round 4.

Manuel provides the dual-threat option, while Bray and Jones have raw skill-sets but big arms.

Another interesting name to throw into the mix is Renfree, who despite playing for Duke put up impressive numbers. His coach, David Cutcliffe, was also Manning’s coach at Ole Miss.

Which direction do you think Big Blue should go in when it comes to finding Manning’s backup?

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