After weeks of being at the mercy of Aaron Rodgers, the New York Giants finally had enough and signed a new starting quarterback. Former Super Bowl champion and 10-time Pro Bowler Russell Wilson has inked a one-year deal worth $21 million with the team, of which nearly $10.5 million is guaranteed.
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He will presumably compete with Jameis Winston for the QB1 position, but if history is any indication, Russ will get the job. However, does anyone actually believe he’s the solution to the team’s woes?
Russell has truly shown flashes of brilliance last year during his 11 starts. He scored 16 touchdowns, threw five interceptions, and averaged over 225 passing yards per game. But with his 6-5 record and a sub-par performance in the Wild Card Round, the Steelers’ offense was painfully limited under his leadership. Then why are the Giants handing the keys to Wilson? NFL analyst Chris Simms has a brutally honest answer.
Simms says this isn’t a game-changing move — it’s a desperation play for the Giants.
“I mean, hey, it’s insurance on top of insurance with Russell Wilson. CYA, right? Cover your a**. That’s what it feels like here,” he said on an episode of Pro Football Talk.
Simms further argued that the Giants signing Wilson doesn’t signal confidence — it signals uncertainty: “You look at the contract, you go, ‘Okay, Russell Wilson’s getting a little bit more, there’s a little bit more of a splash on top.’ I guess he’s the starter, but not by so much that you just feel like he’s got it locked and loaded for sure over Jameis Winston.”
The fact that Wilson is joining a quarterback room with Winston and Tommy DeVito — two players known more through memes online than their playmaking abilities — says a lot about where the Giants stand right now. And while Wilson is the presumed starter, Simms highlighted the elephant in the room.
“I can’t lie, Mike—on top of that, it makes me wonder… are the Giants (truly) out on taking a quarterback at pick number three?”
If Wilson is truly the answer, the Giants won’t need to entertain drafting a quarterback with their top pick. Simms’ skepticism, however, goes beyond roster decisions — he’s not even convinced Russell Wilson is the right fit for the job.
“Honestly, I would have been more excited if Jameis Winston was going to be the starter over Russell Wilson. That’s just my honest feeling,” Simms admitted.
Why? Because the analyst simply believes that Wilson’s play style is outdated and uninspiring.
“Russell plays conservatively. I think sometimes he plays just to keep it close, not to lose the game. And then it’s too late when he finally starts being aggressive. Like, ‘Here I come throwing go-balls and back-shoulders.’ And those are some of my issues.”
So, don’t be surprised if the Giants select Shedeur Sanders at No. 3, further bolstering the QB room. The Colorado prospect could also learn the ropes under two seasoned veterans.
Unsurprisingly, Simms isn’t the only analyst who feels Russell isn’t the answer. ESPN’s Bart Scott strongly believes that the Giants have once again gotten their quarterback strategy wrong. Hilariously enough, he argued that even Rodgers would have been the wrong pick by the team, signaling major strategic deficiencies in New York’s back end.
“I don’t think—like I said—if they had brought in Aaron Rodgers, I didn’t think they were going to have a great season. And, you know, Vegas agrees with it,” Scott pointed out. “It’s tough when you have a regime that’s fighting for their existence, but then you also have to do what’s good for the team in the long haul as well. So they’re stuck between a rock and a hard place.”
For now, Russell Wilson provides more stability than Winston and DeVito. But stability isn’t the same as success—and no team knows this better than the Giants. So if Schoen & Co. aren’t careful, they could find themselves once again at square one next season, still searching for the quarterback they’ve been missing since Eli Manning. Whether they’ll have the job to continue the search remains another question.
