Russell Wilson may or may not still have the ability to play football at an elite level. The New York Giants quarterback, though, is undoubtedly an elite name-dropper.

During a post-practice session with media on Thursday that lasted roughly 12 minutes, Wilson managed to name-drop 25 Giants players, coaches, and staff members.

Wilson’s extensive, and impressive, name-drop list:

Bobby Okereke, Tim Slaman (equipment), Aaron Wellman (player performance), Drew Wilson (strength and conditioning), Brian Daboll, Mike Kafka, Shea Tierney, John Michael Schmitz, Jon Runyan, Wan’Dale Robinson, Malik Nabers, Jalin Hyatt, Daniel Bellinger, Greg Dulcich, Jaxson Dart, Jameis Winston, Tommy DeVito, Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Abdul Carter, Paulson Adebo, Jevon Holland, wide receivers coach Mike Groh, Darius Slayton.

Wilson had done something similar in an introductory Zoom call shortly after signing with the Giants. That time, he name-dropped co-owner John Mara, GM Joe Schoen, Daboll, Director of Football Operations Ed Triggs. Kafka, Tierney, and 14 players.

Perhaps this, in answer to a question about whether he willingly mentors a player like first-round pick Jaxson Dart — the player who will likely one day take over the reins as Giants quarterback — tells you something about why.

“I’ve always viewed it as you’re always trying to be the best version of you, and then you’re always giving back to everybody else. I think that it’s not just about one teammate, it’s about all the teammates. It’s about everybody in the building,” Wilson said.

“It’s about from all the way to the quarterback room, to the receivers, to the running backs, to the tight ends, to the O-line, and the relationship there, all the way to the defensive line, to the corners, and all the way to the training room. …

“So it’s like, to me, it’s all-inclusive, and that’s always the approach.”

How did Russ get here?

Wilson will turn 37 during this, his 14th season in the NFL. He had made 10 Pro Bowls. He has played in two Super Bowls, winning one. He has been to the playoffs nine times in his 13 seasons. He has topped 4,000 yards passing four times, thrown more than 30 touchdown passes in a season five times, and passed for more than 46,000 yards with 350 touchdown passes in his career. He has a regular-season record of 121-77-1 as a starter.

Wilson is, to say the least, a decorated quarterback.

It is sometimes hard to reconcile that Wilson with the perception of the one who has arrived in East Rutherford, N.J. to quarterback the Giants. The last few years of Wilson’s career have been somewhat of a car wreck.

It took 10 years with the Seattle Seahawks before Wilson quarterbacked a team that had a losing record. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, though, used that losing record to send Wilson packing.

Perhaps Carroll was tired of fighting about how much control of the offense Wilson should have. Maybe he was just tired of Wilson. There were rumblings of a strained relationship between the two, and even a report Wilson denied that the quarterback wanted the coach fired.

The Seahawks shipped Wilson to the Denver Broncos before the 2022 season and his two years there were disastrous.

Wilson was given an office rather than joining his teammates in the locker room, which rubbed many in the organization the wrong way. The Broncos went 5-12, Wilson gave up his office, and coach Nathaniel Hackett was fired. In 2023, Sean Payton became the new head coach.

It could not have been any clearer that Wilson was not the quarterback Payton wanted, and after the 2024 season, the Broncos shipped Wilson to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Wilson and the Steelers won six of the quarterback’s first seven starts, but by the end, Pittsburgh lost the last five games Wilson started. There were also reports that Wilson’s efforts to lead the team were falling on “deaf ears.”

Pittsburgh made no real effort to keep Wilson after the season, preferring to wait … and wait … and wait some more for Aaron Rodgers.

The Giants, needing a competent bridge quarterback after two years of horrid play at the position to both help head coach Brian Daboll save his job in 2025 and pave the way for a highly-drafted quarterback of the future, flirted with Matthew Stafford and Rodgers. They got neither, and signed Wilson a one-year, $10.5 million contract, all but $500,000 guaranteed.

So, now what?

The question in the headline asks “Are the Giants really all-in on Russell Wilson?”

The short answer is — probably not. Not with first-round pick Jaxson Dart on the roster as the anointed quarterback of the future. Not with Wilson signed just for this year. Not with Brian Daboll needing to do whatever he deems necessary to keep his job beyond 2025, including turning to Dart at some point if he believes that to be the best play. Not with backup quarterback Jameis Winston signed for two seasons.

The real answer is that the Giants will be all-in on Wilson … until it’s time to get out. That means, of course, until it’s time to start the Dart era. That might be five games. It might be nine games. Or 12 games. It could be 17 games if things go extraordinarily, and unexpectedly, well.

Unless Wilson somehow turns back the hands of time and leads the Giants deep into the playoffs his time won’t extend into 2026.

Daboll has been clear that Wilson is the starting quarterback. In OTAs witnessed by media thus far, Dart and Winston have received a smattering of starter reps, but the distribution makes it clear there is no competition for the job.

Players and coaches are saying all the right things, showering Wilson with the respect his resume says he deserves.

Here is offensive coordinator Mike Kafka:

“I’ve just watched him from afar. Being around him in the quarterback room, he’s great. He has a really cool perspective. Just all of his experiences, playoff games, Super Bowl games, in-season games, situations at the end [of] the game, here, this happens.

“It’s great for me to bounce ideas off him because he has a different perspective, he sees the game differently, right, because he’s played a lot of ball. All of a sudden he can — we can challenge each other on some of the games or situations and the play calls and keep that open dialogue in terms of communication.

“Not just with Russ, but with the whole quarterback room. That’s been great for everybody.”

Assistant general manager Brandon Brown:

“Russell, he’s been a guy that when you look at what he’s done from Seattle to Pittsburgh, it was a mesh and fit for our scheme. We knew we needed to push the ball down the field a lot more. You guys have seen him do that in practice. That’s an ability and knack that is unique for Russ.

“You look at the leadership component. When you see what Russ has done since he’s got here, within the first two weeks he’s bringing Jalin Hyatt out to L.A. and they’re working out privately. He’s getting all the skill guys together down in Atlanta. Earlier this week, scheduling a dinner with the O-Line and running backs.

“That type of leadership component… Remember, our nucleus has been really young throughout our time here. Him having that veteran leadership on the offensive side as well as having the ability to complement what Dabs wants to get done from the quarterback position, we thought it was a really good fit.”

Wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson:

“A guy that’s been in this league a long time. He tells you exactly what he wants out there, running routes, and the spots he needs you to be in. So, it’s been really, really nice. …

“Just his leadership. You see it every day. From the first meeting to whenever we’re out there on practice, he’s just doing everything right. You can just kind of see why he’s been in the NFL for so long.”

Guard Greg Van Roten:

“Russ, he’s been there, done that, he’s been the league a long time, competed at a high level – 10 Pro Bowls, Super Bowl, been to two, a lot of experience and he’s just been a really good voice to have in the offensive room. As far as the little things where it’s like, we’ll watch a clip, he’ll go back like, ‘Hey, look at this over here, make sure we watch this.’ Like no stone goes unturned with him and that’s very important. I think a lot of guys this time of year are like, all right, it’s OTAs, it’s May, but that’s not his mindset. That’s going to trickle down to our offense, and that’s important with him.”

Dart’s time is coming

There will be nothing Wilson can do to stop it. He can delay it by playing good football and winning games, but he can’t prevent it from happening.

• Kurt Warner couldn’t prevent the coming of Eli Manning despite a winning record that had the Giants on the periphery of playoff contention.
• Manning couldn’t prevent Daniel Jones from taking his job despite two Super Bowl titles and the best career a Giants’ quarterback has ever had.

Wilson won’t be able to hold Dart off forever, either.

The Giants will continue to give Wilson his respect, his flowers, if you will. Until, of course, it’s time to move on to the younger, prettier, more exciting model in Dart. Then, the bouquets will be sent in Dart’s direction and Wilson will fade away.

Wilson had Justin Fields in Pittsburgh with him last season, the first time since his rookie season he had dealt with any type of challenger to his QB1 throne.

In answer to a question I posed to him on Thursday, Wilson said he is unfazed by having a rookie first-round pick in the room with him for the first time in his career.

“It doesn’t change anything at all,” Wilson said. “I think the biggest thing for me is just being my best every day, leading. I always think about just leading everybody, just leading every room, every moment, every time I get to step between the white lines and the opportunity of that.”

Wilson said “I always share, and I always think about communication,” even though he doesn’t directly consider himself a mentor for Dart.

“I’m a big believer in communicating out loud, just here’s what I’m thinking, here’s what I’m saying. You don’t hold any information,” he said.

“I think that for us, it’s always about us being the best that we can all be. And I think for me, when you have tremendous confidence in yourself, you have no problem sharing it with others. I think that’s just how I’ve always believed.”

Wilson said he won’t worry about when his time will end and Dart’s will begin.

“I just think about having success today. It’s always been my approach. Every day is like I’m trying to be the best in the world,” Wilson said. “I think that for me, mentally, you have confidence in yourself. You have confidence in what you do, your process. I constantly stay the course and understand that if I’m the best me, I know how great that is.

“And so, for me, I always just stay within. I don’t really think about outside. And I know you guys have a great day job to do and everything else. But for me, I just stay focused on the process of it all.”

So, yes, the Giants and Wilson are all in on each other. Today. Tomorrow, or a few months from now? We’ll see when we get there.