The New York Giants do not have the luxury of making just one bet on a quarterback this offseason, so they're likely to make at least two.
New York picks third overall in the upcoming NFL draft and is expected to pursue Cam Ward of Miami or Shedeur Sanders of Colorado if either, or both, falls past the Tennessee Titans at No. 1 and the Cleveland Browns at No. 2.
But the draft doesn't begin until late April, while free agency opens in mid-March. Because there is no guarantee that Ward or Sanders will be available, or that either will be the player to step onto the field immediately as a rookie and save the jobs of head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen, the Giants will need to sign a veteran next month.
Specifically, they will need a quarterback who can help them win games right away.
Enter Russell Wilson of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who had a solid season that nevertheless tailed off toward the end. However, Pittsburgh's five-game losing streak to end the campaign, which included a loss in the first round of the playoffs, was far from the QB's fault alone.
The Giants have a star wide receiver in Malik Nabers who is better than any pass-catcher the Steelers fielded in 2024, yet another reason New York can justify taking a swing on Wilson if he's willing to sign a short-term deal.
Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports predicted on Feb. 20 that the Giants will ultimately ink the nine-time Pro Bowler to a one-year contract worth $20 million in the coming weeks.
"His days of dominating the highlight reel as the dual-threat star of the Seattle Seahawks are long gone, but Wilson at least flashed some of his trademark deep-ball touch midway through 2024," Benjamin wrote. "He's clearly still a functional play-action passer, but without the elusiveness of his youth, it's hard to see anyone betting on him as more than a one-year rental, and even then, he'll likely need to compete for the job."
