Russell Wilson signing means Giants have time to find a QB in draft
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson looks to pass the ball during the second half of an NFL wild card playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens on Jan. 11 in Baltimore. Credit: AP/Terrance Williams
The work can’t be done.
Agreeing to terms with Russell Wilson on Tuesday night, just a few days after they reached an agreement with Jameis Winston, gives the Giants two pretty decent options at quarterback. It’s certainly a better room than they had at the end of last season and considering they had no one but Tommy DeVito there a week ago it’s a good start. It puts the team in a position where general manager Joe Schoen always says he wants to be at this time of year, able to field a full team for a hypothetical game played tomorrow.
But this offseason was never going to be defined by any of the free agent quarterbacks the Giants went about wooing and acquiring in March. The key is still the one they get in April, in the upcoming draft, and the process toward that critical decision is still very much ongoing.
They have a quarterback of the very short-term present; Wilson’s deal is for one year with a base salary of $10.5 million (plus an opportunity for him to earn close to double that through incentives). They have a serviceable veteran backup behind him in Winston who is going to sign a two-year deal. Now they have to go find the quarterback who will be able to lead the Giants into their future.
Wilson gives the Giants plenty of things: Skill at delivering deep passes, playoff experience (including a Super Bowl win with the Seahawks at MetLife Stadium), the savvy of over a decade in the league, and a preternaturally positive attitude toward just about any circumstance. Between he and the perpetually peppy Winston the Giants may need to push their Sunday kickoffs back to 1:30 p.m. just to allow for the hype speeches each of the thirty-something quarterbacks will want to deliver.
Two more not-insignificant benefits: Wilson should keep those fan-chartered airplanes with their banners of disapproval grounded for a bit, and he also prevents the Giants from making the whopper of a mistake that signing Aaron Rodgers would have been.
But the best thing Wilson gives the Giants is an element they haven’t had for what feels like a long while.
Time.
Most of the last two seasons have felt like one long clench of desperation and disappointment, the Giants trying to live up to their improbable 2022 playoff run and falling dreadfully short. Wilson allows the Giants – if just for a moment – to exhale.
He now gives them time in the draft where they no longer face the pressure of absolutely having to draft one of the top quarterbacks with the third overall pick. If they love the one who is there – and at this point with Cam Ward almost certainly heading to Tennessee with the first selection that would probably mean Shedeur Sanders – then they can take him. But they could also pick the best player available, either Travis Hunter or Abdul Carter. Neither is a consolation prize. After that they can either trade up into the first round for a quarterback (there is value in that with first-rounders getting a fifth-year option on their rookie contracts) or use a second-day pick on the position.
Is it a coincidence that the Giants came to terms with Wilson on the same day Schoen was at the Louisville Pro Day to get an up-close look at Tyler Shough, the passer many analysts believe is rising to the top of the second tier in this draft class? And who knows… if Sanders or Jaxson Dart fall a bit, maybe the Giants can deliver the kind of 1-2 punch the Texans did two years ago when they selected C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson Jr. at the top of the first round and set themselves up on both sides of the ball for years to come.
Wilson’s arrival also gives time to whomever they draft, the enormous gift of being able to sit and learn. That’s always been the ideal way to groom a quarterback. Sure there are exceptions, rookies who start from the get-go and play like polished vets. Stroud was that guy in 2023, Jayden Daniels in 2024. This draft class doesn’t seem to have anyone like that, though. So the quarterback of the Giants’ future will have to wait his turn a little while longer. Good. Maybe it’ll be half a season the way it was for Eli Manning, maybe it’ll be a full season like it was for Patrick Mahomes, and maybe it’ll be a couple of years as it was for Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love. However it works out, the Giants can now afford to be patient.
And finally, Wilson probably buys some time for Schoen and Brian Daboll to try to save their jobs without compromising the future of the organization. It’s no secret both need a significant rebound from the three wins they posted last season if they hope to stick around. Having Wilson – and Winston behind him – allows the Giants to focus on winning games in September and October and douse some of the flames roiling under the franchise’s big chairs. It’s pretty clear, based on the rest of their offensive signings this offseason that have essentially reassembled last year’s starters, they feel they are a quarterback away from being a proficient unit. Now they have that quarterback and we’ll see if they are right.
“I'm for taking swings at that position,” Schoen said of quarterbacks back at the Combine in February. “It's the most important position, and it's hard to find 'em. So keep swinging at the position until you find one."
He’s taken two hacks so far this offseason. A third might very well finish the job.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
