After Overtaking Eli Manning, Russell Wilson Needs 7 More Wins to Surpass Joe Montana on Elite List

Ever since his initial breakup with Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks, Russell Wilson has found himself struggling to recapture the regular season success that he enjoyed in the early days of his career. Nevertheless, Wilson is still edging himself towards some rather prestigious titles in what just may be the final days of his professional football career. 

Wilson hasn’t produced 8+ wins in a single season since 2020, yet he still managed to surpass the likes of the New York Giants last notable quarterback, Eli Manning. The former face of the New York Giants ended his 16-year career with a total of 118 career wins, meanwhile, Wilson has managed to compile 121 career wins in the span of just 13 seasons. 

Heading into the 2025 regular season, Wilson appears to be more or less unchallenged for the starting honors, and he needs just seven more wins to eclipse Joe Montana and collect the 12th most total career wins in NFL history. Should he somehow manage to guide the Giants to the first ever 17-0 regular season result in history, then that would give Wilson just enough wins to surpass Philip River’s career total of 137, making the 10th most-winning signal caller to ever grace the grid iron. 

Of course, oddsmakers are forecasting a much shorter win total for Wilson and the G-Men in 2025. According to VegasInsider, New York’s regular season win total currently sits at a measly 5.5 wins, and the addition of Wilson had almost zero impact on that number. 

However, when accounting for the 2024 win percentages of their upcoming opponents, the Giants have the easiest strength of schedule of any team in the NFL this year. So while the sportsbooks may not be inherently confident in the abilities of Wilson or his head coach, Brian Daboll, there certainly won’t be any shortage of opportunities for them to steal some extra wins this year. 

Unfortunately, 2020 also proved to be the last time in which Wilson would play an entire season. Suffice to say, he’s more than capable of hitting the over, but he’s going to need to prioritize his health first and foremost in order to do so. 

Factor in the lackluster rate of play that he’s become known for in recent years, and it may be a bit more fair to project Wilson to break Montana’s record in the year of 2026, rather than 2025. A healthy season with 6+ wins isn’t inherently difficult, but that’s a big ask from both Wilson and the Giants at this point in time. 

He may never be able to rival the likes of Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Brett Favre, or Peyton Manning, who all sit atop the QB-win rankings, but Wilson still has just enough time left to outdo the Fran Tarkenton’s and Johnny Unitas’ of the world to solidify his place as one of the most-winning players to ever throw a football.