Birds to Put Russell Wilson and G-Men to the Test Next Year to See if Old Nemesis’ Die Hard

On November 15, 2022, the world’s population reached 8 billion people, a new personal best in human development for this planet.  Since then the surface population has grown to 8,214,939,609 as of today, Friday, March28, 2025.  So it says a lot about the supply and demand of NFL franchise quarterbacks that total, by my count, only 22 out of 32 NFL rosters right now and some are even up for debate.  What’s even more telling about the level of difficulty and complexity of the position is that of the 32 NFL franchises, there are only three, who’s current starting quarterback has won a Super Bowl with the team that currently employs them as their QB1 (Philadelphia, L.A. & Kansas City).

Because of the low supply of viable NFL quarterbacks, there are two kinds of teams in the NFL: Those that have their long-term franchise quarterback and those that are looking for him, and looking for him, and still maybe looking for him.  You can usually tell who the teams are that are still looking for their guy by the number of Super Bowls they’ve won. It is possible to win one without a prototypical franchise gun-slinger but it’s not all that common.  Some might say that the Chicago Bears haven’t had a franchise quarterback since 1950, Sid Luckman’s last season as a Bear, until  last year when they drafted Caleb Williams with the first overall pick.  The jury is still out on Williams as he’s heading into just his sophomore season in the Windy City and he might be the only Bear from last year’s squad and staff that didn’t either get fired or traded.  

Because of the scarcity of that Super Bowl-caliber passer, many teams are forced to turn to “bridge quarterbacks,” passers who arrive with mixed levels of much fanfare, and are only expected to hold the starting role until the next great hope arrives.  It is assumed that these chosen human spackle dollops are skilled enough to have a positive impact on the teams that they play for until the team’s franchise guy shows up.  Examples of good bridge quarterbacks would be a Ryan Fitzpatrick, an Andy Daulton or perhaps a Cooper Rush.  Examples of bad bridge quarterbacks would be a Nate Peterman, Mac Jones or a Carson Wentz.

Russell Wilson used to be a franchise quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks.  He helped bring Seattle their first Super Bowl Championship back in 2014 and came within a play-calling brain malfunction of winning another.  He logged a good 10 good years in Starbuck’s country before getting exiled into bridge-quarterback land before the Giants as he signed a one-year deal with New York Tuesday night for upwards of $21 million with $10.5 million guaranteed.  That’s a pretty splashy, splashy upgrade to go from Tommy DeVito to Russell Wilson wouldn’t you say? Or is it?  Does this big headline-rattling maneuver move the Giants closer to their goal of closing the gap between themselves and the Philadelphia Eagles or does it quite possibly have the Paula Abdul “Opposites Attract” effect of minimizing gains? 

For the last three seasons Wilson has been given the opportunity to be the franchise quarterback for the Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers.  The Mile-High experiment was a colossal failure as Wilson went 11-19 in his two seasons in Denver and in Pittsburgh, the Wilson mission was about as successful as the Apollo 13 moon landing as Russ got off to a 6-1 start but stirred those pesky tanks in early December and the Steelers finished out their season going winless in their last five games including a 28-14 loss to the Ravens in a first round Divisional Playoff Game.

The borderline future Hall of Famer has eclipsed 21 passing touchdowns just once in the past three seasons and now finds himself in the same quarterback room as Jameis Winston and Tommy DeVito but publicly stated that he believes he will be the starting quarterback for the G-Men once the season rolls around on his introductory Zoom call this past Wednesday.

“Yeah, I expect to be the starter and come in here and be ready to rock and roll every day,” Wilson said when asked how the situation was laid out by the Giants. “I think this team’s really looking for somebody to lead them in every way.”  While that statement couldn’t be more accurate the real question is is Wilson the compass that Big Blue needs to point them in the right direction.  

Wilson, 36, started 11 games last season for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has been a starter every year of his career, even as a rookie third-round pick by the Seattle Seahawks in 2012.  While the Birds have had little trouble beating the Giants over the last 10 years with a record of 16-4, New York will now trot out a seasoned, professional quarterback, who, when he was making a name for himself in the Great North West, also became their arch-nemesis, going a perfect 6-oh against Philly in a Seahawks uniform, including a 17-9 Playoff victory back on January 5, 2020 at Lincoln Financial Field in Carson Wentz’ only playoff appearance in midnight green.  Wilson’s only career loss to the Birds came last year while wearing a Steeler uniform when he and his teammates from the ‘Burgh dropped a game at the Linc 27-13 last December.

The Giants have struggled to replace Eli Manning since he retired after the 2019 season and the boys in Vegas have Big Blue’s over/under win total now at 5.5, up from 3.5 before the signing, for the 2025 season, which still doesn’t instill a lot of hope in a quarterback room that has more bridges than the dentistry division of the Mayo Clinic.

What’s the Problem Now?

Here’s the problem the Giants’ organization is facing, specifically their general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll.  Giants Owner John Mara expects his team to win now while also securing a franchise quarterback perhaps in next month’s draft as the Giants are sitting in the number three slot behind the Titans and the Browns, two teams who are in dire need of a franchise quarterback in a down year for college QB prospects, where only two prospects are projected as high as 1-5 selections, Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders.

In in an interview with reporter Bruce Beck a few weeks ago when asked, “How long will it take to improve the product John?” Mara responded, “It better not take too long Bruce because I’ve just about run out of patience.  That’s be a good sound bite for you tonight huh?”  Hmmm.  If Mara wasn’t the team owner he might be palling around with former Flyers’ head coach John Tortorella right about now.  But, since he is the team owner I think there’s a much better chance that Schoen and Daboll could be palling around with Torts pretty soon if the Giants don’t do more winning to improve on last year’s abysmal 3-14 record.

Russ Almost Got Rodgered

He agreed to terms with the Giants on Tuesday night after being stuck in a quarterback waiting game that seemed to revolve around Aaron Rodgers. The Giants and Steelers were among the teams left to be interested in Rodgers. Pittsburgh is still waiting for an answer from Rodgers, who visited last week.

“Aaron Rodgers is a tremendous football player,” Wilson said. “He’s done some amazing things in this league. I’ve been fortunate to be able to do some great things, too. And really what I’m focused on is right now and what we can do here. That’s been my focus since I’ve signed and everything else. And also, too, along the way is finding a place that continues to believe in you.”

That’s great but the Giants are still believed to be in the market for a quarterback in this year’s draft. Ward is expected to go to the Titans or Browns and that would leave Sanders for the taking provided that he doesn’t get taken by the team who doesn’t select or have the opportunity to draft Ward.  

Message From Mara

Mara has said it more than once earlier this year that finding a quarterback of the future was the organization’s “No. 1 issue” this offseason. That hasn’t been addressed, considering Wilson and Winston are not signed long term and both are well into their respective careers.

“If we draft a quarterback, we will make sure that he does everything he can to be ready to go and be prepared with his mentality,” Wilson said. “But for me, it’s about the process of winning. I’m focused on winning, what I can do as a quarterback of the New York Giants to help us win and to do everything that we can to lead.”

Conflict of Interest

The dilemma for Schoen and Daboll is winning now if the Giants are able to land their arm of the future because while I’m sure Mara is chomping at the bit to draft and watch his shiny new object embark on his development as the team’s leader for the next 10-15 years, there’s no way a rookie steps onto Met Life Field day one and gives the football Giants a better chance to win than Wilson, who’s a borderline hall-of-fame Super Bowl winning quarterback who still appears to have a decent amount of juice left in the tank and plenty of moon balls left in his right arm.  So what’s a front office to do?

“Yeah, I think the first thing is you always handle yourself first. You always get yourself prepared at the highest level and control what you can control,” he said. “And part of that is doing everything I can to be my best every day. And then from there, from leading in that sense, everybody else grows with you from that. They learn from you, they see how you work, they see your practice habits, they see your mental habits and how you go about it. Your approach every day. And so I’m excited about the opportunity to continue to lead, not just the quarterback room, but really the locker room in every way.”

“The Giants needed a veteran,” an AFC Scouting Director told NFL Senior Writer Matt Lombardo from Between the Hashmarks on Wednesday, of Wilson’s fit in the shadows of Secaucus.  “That general manager and head coach can’t afford a rookie.

“He (Wilson) fits what they do fine, and could maybe be a solid player for them.”

Clearly, the Giants are counting on Wilson to showcase his collection of moon balls in an offense that features one of the premier wide receivers in the game, and yes, another ball-suction juggernaut from the Bayou named Malik Nabers, who pulled down the fifth most grabs in the league last year in his inaugural season, 109 receptions for 1,204 yards averaging 11 yards per catch to go along with seven touchdowns as a rookie.  What’s more amazing is that Nabers was catching balls from the triumvirate of Daniel Jones, Drew Lock and Pauly “Walnuts” or Jimmy “Two-times” or Nicky “Eyes” or something like that.

With a similarly sketchy offensive line as last year’s, and the possibility of not landing Ward or Sanders in the first round of next month’s draft, Wilson is little more than London Bridges falling down, just good enough to win a few more games than last year’s team did, putting Big Blue in a little more precarious of a drafting slot for next year’s crop of future-franchisers, caught in the cyclical purgatory of below mediocrity for yet another painful, devoid of prideful, season in the Big Apple of the Garden State.   While Wilson’s presence shouldn’t preclude the Giants from looking into the future long term, it might just be good enough to keep the G-men and their decision maker’s future fortunes just out of reach again, but just bad enough to trigger an executive house cleaning so that New York can reset their plans for a rebuild that would include a franchise quarterback specifically chosen for the betterment of the franchise. 

Wouldn’t it have been just a little easier to lose to the Colts in week 18 last year?

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