No matter what the Giants do in the 2025 NFL Draft, there’s a good chance they’ll roll into the season with Russell Wilson as their starter.
Yes, they could pick a quarterback at No. 3. Shedeur Sanders is the only realistic option there. Or they might take a quarterback at No. 34. Maybe Jalen Milroe or Jaxson Dart there. But Wilson would almost certainly start over any of those three guys — at least to open the season.
And Joe Schoen — the Giants’ hot-seat fourth-year general manager — is fooling himself if he thinks Wilson, at this stage of his career, is going to save his job and keep him around for 2026.
Who cares that Wilson won a Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium coming out of the 2013 season? That’s completely irrelevant. Wilson is a shell of the player he was then. The Steelers, who employed him last year, seemingly had no interest in retaining him for 2025. That’s telling.
Here’s the reality for Wilson: If the Giants use a premium pick on a quarterback — whether it’s No. 3 or No. 34 — fans will be calling for his benching the moment to starts struggling.
But it’s not like starting a rookie — coming out of a weak quarterback draft — or Jameis Winston will save Schoen and coach Brian Daboll, who went 6-11 in 2023 and plummeted to 3-14 in 2024.
(By the way, Schoen has only himself — and his brutal decisions — to blame for his current desperate quarterback situation.)
Giants co-owner John Mara made it clear after the season — while doing a poor job of explaining why in the world he retained this regime — that he wants much better results immediately.
So Schoen and Daboll are under significant pressure to win now. Which is why they wanted Aaron Rodgers (who would’ve been insane to sign with the Giants). Wilson was their third choice, after trading for Matthew Stafford (a plan that failed) and signing Rodgers.
But if you take an honest look at this Giants roster — and the still-questionable offensive line (especially along the interior) — you can see there’s little chance for a fading Wilson to deliver a lot more wins.
Don’t forget this: The Giants face the NFL’s toughest schedule in 2025. So against that gauntlet, if Wilson does indeed start most of the games, how much will the Giants actually improve?
Well, maybe they won’t win three games again. But would Mara consider 6-11 or 7-10 enough growth? Probably not.
Wilson, who turns 37 in late November, went 6-5 as the Steelers’ starter last season, with 16 touchdowns, five interceptions and a 95.6 quarterback rating. But he stumbled down the stretch, as the Steelers closed the regular season 0-4 and then lost in the wild-card round.
In those final four regular season games, Wilson averaged just 174.5 passing yards, with four touchdowns, two picks, two lost fumbles and an 81.3 rating.
After the season, the Steelers preferred to bring back Justin Fields — whom they had benched for Wilson in 2024 — over retaining Wilson. Mike Tomlin and Co. had seen enough of Wilson, who missed last season’s first five games with a calf issue — a red-flag injury for an aging player.
Oh, and Wilson’s former Seahawks coach, Pete Carroll, also needed a quarterback in Las Vegas — but said no to a Wilson reunion and instead decided to trade for Seattle’s Geno Smith. That’s telling, too.
So Wilson ultimately landed with the Giants — as their third choice — on a one-year, $10.5 million contract (a cheap quarterback deal). He very clearly isn’t their long-term answer. He probably isn’t their short-term answer either, as Schoen and Daboll scramble to remain employed.
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Darryl Slater may be reached atdslater@njadvancemedia.com.