NFL free agency: Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers named among early losers

By the time free agency officially begins in about three hours, most of the top options at every conceivable position will have already agreed to terms. That trend gets more pronounced every year, leaving NFL teams that don't pounce in that early legal tampering period window behind the competition.

The same is true for some free agents, particularly those who will have to settle for second and third-tier options after seeing their competitors sign more lucrative deals. In the case of former Seattle Seahawks starter Russell Wilson and formerly-rumored Seahawks free agent option Aaron Rodgers, both are still languishing on the open market waiting to find a new home.

That's going to be tough, since there are only two real options left. Vinnie Iyer at The Sporting News breaksdown why Russ and A-Rod are on his losers list after the first wave of free agency.

"Rodgers and Wilson saw Smith, Darnold, and Fields get new homes in NFL free agency quickly, whittling the few appealing landing spots down to the Steelers and Giants. The Jets replaced Rodgers with Fields to go in a different direction at QB in terms of youth and playing style. The Seahawks and Raiders then fell apart as potential destinations for him. Now, Wilson and Rodgers are in direct competition with each other and potentially the Falcons' Kirk Cousins to avoid a "mentorship" role vs. a guaranteed starting one."

Long-time conference rivals, it's difficult to say at this point in their careers which quarterback represents a better (or more likely worse) choice for these teams. Wilson still has his moments like he did early on with the Steelers but it didn't take long for opponents to catch up, and once again Wilson seemingly refused to change the way he does things on the field and fell out with yet another playcaller.

As for Rodgers, his time with the Jets came to a quick end after he struggled in 2024 following missing pretty much the entire previous season with an Achilles tear. At his age it's hard to imagine Rodgers ever fully recovering from that, and what we saw last season indicates the decline is now impossible to reverse.

That said, Rodgers has bounced back from bad years more than once, while Wilson has been on a pretty steady downhill trajectory ever since the second half of the 2020 season. It's not much of a choice, but Rodgers is probably the better option right now.

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