The Denver Broncos pulled off a blockbuster trade for Russell Wilson a couple years ago. This offseason, as a street free agent, Wilson only took a couple meetings. Those two teams will play each other on Monday night, the Pittsburgh Steelers starting him, the New York Giants facing him.
After meeting with the Giants, who have Daniel Jones at quarterback, Russell Wilson signed with the Steelers. Pittsburgh then traded 2022 first-round pick Kenny Pickett, which many believe was prompted by his being told he would not start.
Early reports suggested that the Giants were unwilling to commit to Russell Wilson starting, but rather competing with Daniel Jones. And most believe the Steelers did give Wilson assurances of starting, though it took until Week 7. This week, Giants head coach Brian Daboll was asked about their interest in the former Pro Bowl quarterback.
“Yeah, we’re beyond that”, he said, starkly, clearly not wanting to address the Giants’ prior interest. “But I will say this with Russell [Wilson]. He’s a good football player. He’s been a good football player for a long time. Did a heck of a job coming back last week against the Jets, created explosive plays to [George] Pickens. Since 2018, he’s one of the higher explosive-play quarterbacks, 20-plus[-yard] plays. Won a Super Bowl. Was in another Super Bowl. Got a lot of respect for him as a person and a player”.
At the time, the New York Giants were publicly committing to Daniel Jones. But the Steelers were also publicly committing to, at least, their quarterback room. While they talked about challenging Pickett, they also claimed to have “full faith” in him. Then they signed Russell Wilson.
For the Giants, Jones suffered a torn ACL last year, so they also had an injury situation to consider. They acquired Drew Lock, but Lock confirmed that they told him Jones would start. And they also reportedly made no promises to Wilson about starting during an “exploratory” meeting. There are contemporary reports that the Steelers also made no promises.
Daniel Jones is 150-of-240 this season for 1,442 yards with six touchdowns to four interceptions. He has 184 rushing yards and two fumbles. And the Giants are 2-5, whereas the Steelers are 5-2. Russell Wilson, of course, is only 1-0, making his first start last Sunday. In their last game, the Giants pulled Jones at the end of a blowout loss.
Jones admitted he wasn’t happy about coming out of the game. This week, however, the Giants made assurances about his status, including from the owner. “Yeah, I would say we’ve had conversations”, Daboll said. “Those would be private conversations, and our focus is on getting ready to play Pittsburgh”.
But I wonder what conversations they had about Russell Wilson. It’s impossible to know the truth of the matter. And at this point, it’s water under the bridge. We will see on Monday, though, if Wilson can make the Giants regret not pushing harder for him.
