Giants QB Russell Wilson Named Impactful Offseason Acquistion in New Analysis

After witnessing the historically horrific season that the New York Giants had in 2024, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to tell you that the team’s roster had a lot of turning over that needed to be done this offseason.

While neither side of the ball was spared of changes in the past few months, the quarterback room was the one that arguably received the biggest shakeup, and rightfully so.

The Giants went through four different arms in their rotation last season, and none could uplift the offense to even a slightly respectable state among the rest of the NFL.

As three of those four players departed from the franchise at the end of the year, except for Tommy DeVito, the same number of new ones joined the organization in free agency and the draft.

The Giants sought to add a couple of veterans to the roster and signed Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, followed by the No. 25 pick, Jaxson Dart, to learn under their guidance.

May 18, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson watches batting practice prior to the game between the New York Mets and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Mentorship was still not the only reason why Wilson, a 10-time Pro Bowler, became New York’s crown jewel of the offseason. He holds a part of his skill set that was valuable to what head coach Brian Daboll and the Giants wanted their offensive identity to become this season—a more explosive unit.

Wilson can dish the football downfield at a much more efficient rate than the Giants have seen lately, and that earned him the Giants’ spot on PFF’s list of impactful offseason acquisitions based on a key metric of his 97.3 deep passing grade that led the NFL last season.

“Russell Wilson brings his patented moon ball to Gotham City after leading the NFL with a 97.3 deep passing grade last season,” writer Dalton Wasserman said.

“Even with the addition of superstar wide receiver Malik Nabers, the Giants struggled to throw the ball downfield last season. As a team, they recorded just a 67.4 deep passing grade in 2024, 4th-worst in the NFL.”

Wilson’s grade wasn’t the only statistic that could show his vertical element in his short tenure with the Pittsburgh Steelers, which saw him start 11 games for the franchise. He completed 50% of his attempts of 20+ yards, which was fourth best in the league, and earned top 15 marks for yards (697), touchdowns (5), and yards per attempt (15.8).

It’s fair to argue he was operating with a bunch of less capable wide receivers in the Steeler's offensive huddle but found a way to make it work with six targets, averaging a catch over 10.0 yards per reception. The Giants, outside of Malik Nabers, had just two additional pass catchers meet that same threshold while playing a full slate of 17 games.

The other two most prominent deep ball options on the team, Darius Slayton and Jalin Hyatt, will hopefully benefit more from the presence of Wilson throwing them the football after they suffered lackluster years because the Giants arms could find them on the vertical routes with consistency.

Slayton, who had four 700+ yard campaigns before the 2024 season, averaged a 14.7-yard grab but only notched 573 yards and two touchdowns in 16 games that took him away from the Giant's receiving pedestal. Hyatt was almost a no-show the entire stretch, getting just eight grabs for 62 yards and never sniffing the endzone.

The Giants will face one of the toughest and most talented schedules of opponents across the NFL this season. They’re going to watch other teams, especially those within the NFC East, flash their vertical threats and need to find ways to match that to keep up on the scoreboard.

Having Wilson in the huddle should give them the best chance to do that, even at his declining age. The bigger concerns will be timing, which stems from better protection up front and reducing turnovers that have started to rear their ugly head on Wilson in his last few seasons with Denver and Pittsburgh.

More than that, there’s the hope that Wilson can tutor that same skill into the growth of Jaxson Dart, who is already coming to East Rutherford with his own flashy arm and play-action abilities. It could be complicated, given Dart is always in the background if Wilson’s job doesn’t pan out, but the Giants are giving the rookie a good mentor to craft his throwing into even better form for the NFL.

There will likely remain a debate throughout the season as to who should play if things go south quickly, and calls will be heard for Dart early on since he was drafted to become the franchise quarterback of the future.

That said, seeing Wilson on this short list should make Giants fans feel a little more confident that they truly have a better quarterback room this fall, and that starts at the top with him.

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