Is Russell Wilson the best bridge option for the Giants?
The wheel of quarterback speculation is spinning … and spinning … and spinning some more for the New York Giants. Where will it land when the league season begins next month and transactions can be made?
33rd Team’s Marcus Mosher looks past all of the Matthew Stafford hullabaloo and the possibility of drafting either Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward and picks a quarterback who has been connected to the Giants ever since last offseason.
Russell Wilson.
In an effort to identify the most likely landing spots for the plethora of big-name veteran quarterbacks expected to be on the market, Mosher pegs the Giants as the spot for Wilson.
Here is part of his reasoning:
Going into his age-37 season, there might not be many opportunities for Wilson to start. However, a team looking for a bridge quarterback could sign Wilson early in free agency to ensure they have at least a starting-caliber quarterback. That is why the Giants make so much sense … there isn’t a competent quarterback on the roster heading into the offseason.
The plan is to select one early in the 2025 NFL Draft, but with the Giants picking at No. 3, there is a chance that the top two quarterbacks (Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders) are off the board. Wilson would give them a strong backstop in case they get wiped out during the draft and potentially a bridge quarterback, even if they were to select one of the top passers.
Wilson is still incredibly accurate on deep passes down the field, but his athleticism is waning, and his inability to throw over the middle of the field can severely limit his offenses. Still, landing in New York as a bridge quarterback makes a ton of sense for both parties.
Valentine’s View
The Stafford to the Giants Speculation Game is fun to play. It would, in my view, be the best short-term solution the Giants could find — provided they don’t have to surrender a first-round pick this year or in 2026.
Why would it be the best? Because the 37-year-old Stafford is still playing at a higher level than any of the other veteran bridge options who might be available, though the Giants would have to understand his performance could fall off the cliff at any time.
I still, though, do not see Stafford to the Giants as realistic. The Rams won the NFC West in 2024, then won a playoff game. They are a team primed to win now and, with Stafford, might be able to challenge for an NFC Championship in 2025.
Even if they have misgivings about renegotiating Stafford’s contract and paying him big money over the next couple of seasons, which they apparently do, throwing away a potential Super Bowl window with a proven Super Bowl caliber quarterback seems like a stupid thing to do.
I don’t think the Rams are stupid, and I think they will eventually make peace with Stafford and try to chase down the Eagles in 2025.
Which brings us back to Wilson and the Giants.
One year of Justin Fields entering his age 26 season at a cost of $6-8 million for a year might be preferable to two years of the 37-year-old Wilson at an estimated $35-38 million annually, but it probably isn’t realistic. Reading the tea leaves it seems likely the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to keep Fields and let Wilson hit the market.
Wilson would give the Giants many of the same things Stafford would, but at clearly lower level of performance. That, of course, is relative since a declining Wilson with a 95.6 passer rating and 1.5% interception rate in 2024 was clearly superior to anything the Giants fielded at quarterback last season.
If Wilson were willing to accept that there would likely be a young quarterback, whether that is Ward, Sanders, or someone drafted later, nipping at his heels, I think the Giants could live with this. They might have to.
