Why NY Giants QB Russell Wilson Has Inspired Hope of a Turnaround

It’s a task that no NFL general manager wants to take on. Yet, for Joe Schoen of the New York Giants, he knew he was going to have to shake up the team’s quarterback room after having exhausted all hope that Daniel Jones, whose arrival preceded those of Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll, proved beyond a shadow of a doubt.

So when the final buzzer sounded in the Giants’ Week 18 game last season which sealed the deal on a franchise worst 3-14 season, Schoen knew what he had to do. His plan consisted of bringing in a veteran bridge while also hoping, given that he drafted third overall, to land the team’s next franchise quarterback.

Initially, the plan hit a snag. The Giants tried desperately to acquire Matthew Stafford from the Rams, a guy for whom they were ready to give a significant pay raise and surrender draft capital.

In the end, Stafford chose to stay with the Rams, a decision that, given the recent news of the veteran quarterback’s back issue, turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the Giants.

There was a passing interest in veteran Aaron Rodgers, but that interest didn’t develop largely due to the mercurial Rodgers taking his time in deciding where he would finish out his Hall of Fame career, ultimately choosing the Steelers.

Meanwhile the Giants would get a mulligan on a decision that it turns out they erroneously made during the 2024 offseason, when the team briefly flirted with Russell Wilson, who had just been released by the Broncos and was likely willing to sign a very friendly deal with the Giants had they only promised him a fair chance at competing against Jones for the team’s starting job.

They weren’t, so Wilson went to the Steelers, whom he helped finish 10-7 and with a postseason berth, while the Giants fell into the depths of despair.

What Wilson brings to the Giants

When the Stafford deal fell through, the Giants and Wilson renewed their interest in each other, finally agreeing to a one-year deal with $10.5 million that includes incentives that could push the total to $21.5 million, adding him to a room that already included holdover Tommy DeVito and Jameis Wisnton, who had been signed just days before Wilson’s signing.

New York also got themselves the young quarterback of their choice in Ole Miss’s Jaxson Dart, who will sit and develop for most of the coming year while Wilson tries to get the team out of the mire it’s found itself in for most of the last decade.

Wilson, by nature, is Mr. Positive, someone who always looks on the bright side of things and who has an abundance of confidence in himself even though he’s not quite the same quarterback he was during his prime days in Seattle.

But so far, what Wilson, recently named the starter, has brought to the Giants has been a sense of detail and calmness that hasn’t gone unnoticed by his teammates or his head coach.

“He's a guy who's done it for a long time. He's got a lot of experience. He's been in a number of systems, he's played a lot of football, he's seen a lot of things,” said head coach Brian Daboll.

Wilson has not been shy about making suggestions to Daboll regarding practice structure and play design.

Quarterback, Russell Wilson and Coach Brian Daboll | Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

For instance, it was his suggestion to Daboll to incorporate more 7-on-7 drills, something the team had moved away from in recent years, to allow for the offense to have a clearer view of how things develop downfield without having to see through the traffic in the trenches.

Wilson has also taken the bull by the horns regarding uniting his new teammates, such as when he invited them to join him in San Diego for workouts and bonding time.

The veteran, nicknamed “Mr. Unlimited,” is also a hit with his teammates.

“It's been nice having him around,” said receiver Darius Slayton, who added that Wilson has brought some clarity to the offense.

“He's been playing football for a long time, so he knows what's worked for him and his career,” he said.

“He knows what he likes, what he doesn't like and that makes it simple for all of us to just be able to get on the same page as him.”

“He's a great leader,” added receiver Malik Nabers, who has quickly become one of Wilson’s favorite targets so far this summer. “He's one of those quarterbacks that gets everybody going.”

Wilson’s skillset, knowledge, and attention to detail have Nabers excited about what this Giants offense could become.

“I think we can be very, very explosive,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of talent on our side of the football. We just have to load the mental errors down, make sure we're all confident in what we're doing, and I'll say the sky is the limit for us.”

Wilson’s confidence in himself and what he wants has also been something of a calming effect for young players like tight end Theo Johnson.

“He's got a ton of knowledge,” he said. “He has an idea of what he wants things to look like and how he thinks a concept should look.”

Wilson, meanwhile, isn’t passing himself off as the savior. Instead, he’s focused on taking one day at a time and giving his all.

“For me, my mentality is always to be the best in the world. I don't know anything else other than that. Just having that mentality and helping our football team win,” he said.

“I think that's the big thing that I'm highly focused on is elevating our practice, elevating our play, elevating our mentality, and having a championship mentality daily.”

Building a championship mentality might be easier said than done, but Wilson believes it’s possible.

“I think that we're on that path, but we have to keep doing it daily, and it starts with me and my mindset and my energy and the way that I step into the huddle every day.”

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What Wilson brings to the Giants

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