The father was talking about his son and football and the uniform.

Archie Manning admitted, “I’ve thought about it.’’ The question: Has he ever imagined seeing Eli in a jersey other than the blue, white and red of the New York Giants?

“I know there were a couple of things this year, there were a couple of things out there, but who knows?’’ Manning said Sunday, before Eli and the Giants beat the Dolphins 36-20 in what pretty much thrilled and brought a sense of relief to everyone invested in the Eli Manning farewell proceedings.

There is always a wistful aura to the end of a long and prosperous career. Everything runs its course. Archie Manning, now 70, saw middle-child Peyton retire following the 2015 season after helping to navigate the Broncos to victory in Super Bowl 50, a championship fueled by defense more than Peyton’s once-mighty right arm.

“Peyton’s ended pretty good,’’ Archie said. “Eli’s won’t end like that. That’s all right. Both of ’em, very blessed. Do this, what they wanted to do and do it for a long time and see the bright side of it.’’

No one should ever want to overstay a welcome and remain at the party as the floors are getting vacuumed and the plastic red Solo cups are gathered and discarded. Peyton exhausted his physical gifts and his body was on fumes. Eli, soon-to-be 39, feels great. The NFL has changed around him, though, and the time is right for him to exit the scene and leave the ball for the swifter, more elusive athletes occupying the position of quarterback.

The world and trends have a way of circling back on themselves. The league needs quarterbacks entering its bloodstream more like Archie Manning in 1971, when the Saints made him the No. 2 overall pick, than this version of the NFL needed Peyton entering as No. 1 overall in 1998 and Eli as No. 1 in 2004. The league needs more of what Daniel Jones, taken No. 6 in 2019, offers. The arm, the smarts, the heart and the legs. Oh yes, the legs.

“The times, what’s going on in Baltimore, there’s a big change going on,’’ Archie Manning said.

What is going on with the Ravens and Lamar Jackson is not normal, but it is being normalized. Good luck finding a clone of such an uncommon athlete. And yet, Robert Griffin III was the new mega-force in 2012 when he was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, a run-pass option nightmare until he ripped up his knee and his star flamed out. It is a cautionary tale for quarterbacks who run too much and too hard.

“A pocket quarterback — someone asked me, what would it be like for Tom [Brady] and Peyton and Eli and Philip [Rivers] and those guys coming out today in the draft?’’ Archie said. “They’d probably look at ’em a little different than they look at Joe Burrow and Jalen [Hurts]. The world changes and the game changes. I’ll say this, a pocket quarterback better have some good protection.’’

The man knows of what he speaks, watching Eli these many years chuck and duck behind shabby Giants offensive lines. Archie Manning was a runner and mover at Ole Miss and he averaged 226 rushing yards in his first nine years with the moribund Saints. Peyton had a total of 667 rushing yards in 18 seasons and Eli has 567 rushing yards in his 16 years. The old man is much more a prototype quarterback for today’s game than either of his NFL sons are.

Jones has 241 rushing yards as a rookie, averaging 6.2 yards per attempt. He is what is needed, with college football failing to produce powerhouse offensive linemen and an absolute need on third-and-4 for a quarterback to be able to scoot and slide for a first down.

Archie Manning does not know if this is the end of the line for his youngest son. He and his wife, Olivia, are in town visiting with Eli, wife Abby and the four New Jersey grandkids for a pre-Christmas visit. Of course, they were in their suite to see Eli win what is likely his final game.

Last Friday, Eli — as usual during the season — arrived home earlier than the other days of the week from the team facility, with his parents at the house.

“It probably would have been a good time to talk about some things,’’ Archie said. “But I said, ‘No, probably not a good time to talk.’ ’’

Eli was not ready yet to have that conversation. In time, he will, and when he leaves, he will take a piece of a generation of pocket passers with him into retirement.

For more on the Giants, listen to the latest episode of the “Blue Rush” podcast: