Throughout a fascinating, often scintillating, often perplexing, now-circuitous NFL career, Russell Wilson has always been where his feet are … even if his head frequently seems to be in the clouds. Eternally upbeat, Russ always seems to view that proverbial glass as brimming over – and maybe that’s inevitable when you’ve crafted your own “Mr. Unlimited” persona as an alter ego.
Yet the boundaries Wilson rarely acknowledges have typically been apparent to much of the football world.
There was the time his interception in the final minute of Super Bowl 49 wrested defeat from the jaws of victory for the Seattle Seahawks, ending their bid to win consecutive titles. Wilson was sure they’d be back on the Super Sunday stage and maybe even fulfill some of their dynastic projections at the time. But it never happened, a locker room rift with Wilson at its center accelerating the demise of the Legion of Boom era.
Then there was the time he trademarked the phrase “Let Russ Cook” during the 2020 campaign, effectively co-signing the pleas of Seattle fans who wanted him to have more offensive freedom despite then-coach Pete Carroll’s preference to adhere to a ball-control philosophy for three quarters – at least. But neither the Seahawks nor Wilson have won a playoff game since, his relationship with the franchise souring to the point that he was a member of the Broncos by 2022.
Ah, yes … Denver. Wilson headed east to the Rockies in search of a second ring that would be wholly divorced from his NFL roots in the Emerald City, where the Seahawks’ lone Lombardi is often (and rightly) credited mostly to its historically good LOB defense. Wilson, naturally, wanted to win big for the Broncos, who surrendered a boatload of draft capital to acquire him before subsequently granting a five-year, $243 million extension.
You know the rest. After arriving as the presumed post-Peyton Manning savior, bringing his own support staff into the facility and punctuating every interview with ‘Broncos Country, Let’s Ride’ – a bit which Wilson remained committed to uncomfortably deep into a 5-12 season that rookie head coach Nathaniel Hackett didn’t survive to completion – this horse was beaten to death in so many ways. Wilson was released a year later, at great salary cap cost, after coach Sean Payton went into “Let’s deride” mode as it pertained to his QB’s play and style before eventually benching him (which was at least partially a financial decision).
Last season with the Pittsburgh Steelers? It was obvious to many (me included) that Wilson, now 36, had enough left in the tank to help them to another nine- or 10-win regular season, and that was probably about it – Justin Fields clearly the better option if the team wanted to actually invest at the quarterback position rather than go the patchwork route. Despite Fields’ encouraging six-week start while Wilson recovered from a training camp calf injury, coach Mike Tomlin clearly disagreed – with me? – and pivoted to Wilson, that decision initially appearing inspired but ultimately proving the naysayers correct even as Wilson remained publicly confident that Pittsburgh was a Super Bowl-caliber squad … even as it melted down prior to entering the postseason smelter.
So what is my point?
You might think it’s to cook Russ – he agreed to join the New York Giants on a one-year deal Tuesday evening – as he enters the 14th season of his NFL career. (And it’s completely fair to wonder how Wilson’s approach to interviews and social media plus his sometimes awkward and cringey shtick play in the hyper-aware Big Apple – where everything is amplified – given how much it was parsed in much smaller NFL markets. Also, you totally forgot when he announced a 2019 record-setting contract extension with the Seahawks … while in bed … shirtless … with his wife, Ciara … after midnight … even on the West Coast. So yeah.)
But no.
This is where the scales get (somewhat) balanced, and I remind you that he is a 10-time Pro Bowler, a championship-certified quarterback who’s started 17 playoff games, a guy who’s prevailed in 130 of his 216 NFL appearances (a remarkable winning percentage of .604). His 99.8 career passer rating ranks fifth in league history.
Do I think, with one season to re-establish himself, Wilson will take a Giants team – one that will probably be fortunate to finish third in the NFC East – to the postseason? No, not so much. But that’s not really the point this time.
Aside from Daniel Jones’ 2022 outlier, the Giants have been saddled with sub-par quarterback play since Eli Manning was in his prime a decade ago – and even he had his share of misadventures. Wilson should provide a measure of stability if he can continue to replicate his career-long statistical norms, which he did in Pittsburgh last year and, frankly, even in Denver in 2023. Sure, he and coach Brian Daboll will have to blend the parameters of the playbook with Wilson’s penchant for freelancing and thriving outside of structure – but isn’t that what Daboll did while coaching Josh Allen in Buffalo? Wilson is also generally pretty good at safeguarding the ball, which Jones (and even Manning) wasn’t.
Yet that may all be secondary.
Manning was notorious for his insipid public approach as the face of the franchise (even if that was at odds with his far more playful and beloved reputation in the locker room). Just about every time Jones was at the podium, he appeared as if he’d just embarked on a colon cleanse.
Wilson isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, which was well documented in Seattle. He’s also very much the cup of tea many of his past teammates have preferred. His sunny disposition online and in the public eye – and, presumably, in the Giants’ building – should be a welcome, and likely needed, change of pace for an operation that’s endured so much football misery since it last won the Super Bowl 13 years ago. And like Manning and Jones before him, Wilson is quick to praise teammates, whether or not they deserve it, and equally willing to shoulder blame, whether or not he deserves it.
And even if his earnest approach isn’t necessarily infectious, his experience and professionalism should be boons – however temporary – to a young team with promising young players like Malik Nabers, Tyrone Tracy, Andrew Thomas and Theo Johnson (and that’s just on the offensive side). New York should also allow Wilson to make a much bigger philanthropic footprint while enabling him to slake his non-football interests and maybe even grease the skids to his post-NFL endeavors.
Wilson can be a spectacular, flawed, mesmerizing, frustrating player. That was the case in Pittsburgh last year – and very much true during his Tarkenton-esque prime in Seattle. That should not only play well on New York’s back pages, it should also make the Giants relevant and entertaining anew – possibly even competitive but minus the expectations that followed Russ to Denver and, to a more muted extent, Pittsburgh. Maybe Wilson winds up being the optimal bridge to Shedeur Sanders. Maybe Wilson winds up being the optimal bridge to Arch Manning. Whatever the case, it’s actually hard to imagine things going worse for Big Blue than they already have in recent years.
So best to embrace some of Wilson’s banal optimism and start fresh in 2025 for an organization that really has nowhere to go but up after tying for the league lead with 14 losses in 2024. At least one of Wilson’s new teammates, receiver Darius Slayton already has, noting on X that his new quarterback’s Super Bowl triumph 11 years ago occurred at MetLife Stadium.
Better yet, Slayton advised: “Giants country…..Lets Ride”
For better or worse.
But – channeling Russ here – undoubtedly for the better. Go, G-Men.
All NFL news on and off the field. Sign up for USA TODAY’s 4th and Monday newsletter.
This post appeared first on USA TODAY
