Russell Wilson, Giants meet as Aaron Rodgers option seems increasingly unlikely

Pat Leonard, New York Daily News on Mar 14, 2025

Published in Football

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NEW YORK — Russell Wilson visited the Giants on Friday in East Rutherford, N.J., as the Aaron Rodgers option continued to fade into murkier view.

No one can say for sure what Rodgers, 41, will choose as he deliberates on his next move between the Giants, Steelers, Vikings and retirement.

But some sources believed as of Thursday night that Rodgers to New York seemed unlikely. Others believed the free-agent visits of Joe Flacco and Wilson were confirmation that the Giants were leaning the same way.

And The Athletic reported Friday that Rodgers first was giving Minnesota time to discuss whether they wanted to make him a Viking.

Everyone who speaks on Rodgers’ future qualifies their information or belief with some version of the phrase “but you never know with him.” And his house in New Jersey makes the Giants the most convenient fit. So any change or shift or about-face is still possible.

On Friday, however, Wilson was the quarterback physically in the Giants’ building, visiting as a free agent for the second straight year, with a chance to be the team’s Week 1 starter in 2025.

And if Wilson doesn’t sign, this Giants quarterback search could take some wild turns in the days ahead: to Jameis Winston, Cooper Rush, back to Flacco and who knows where else.

Not that signing Wilson would guarantee a promising 2025 for the Giants, either.

The 10-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion has a 23-32 record as a starter in his past four seasons: one in Seattle, two in Denver and one in Pittsburgh.

But head coach Brian Daboll raved about him last fall before the Giants lost to Wilson’s Steelers head-to-head. And Wilson could have been New York’s quarterback last season if they hadn’t committed to Daniel Jones for one more year.

“I will say this with Russell: He’s a good football player,” Daboll said last October. “He’s been a good football player for a long time. … Since 2018 [he has been] one of the higher explosive-play quarterbacks. … Won a Super Bowl. Was in another Super Bowl. Got a lot of respect for him as a person, as a player.”

Wilson’s one year in Pittsburgh at least went better than his prior two seasons in Denver after a blockbuster trade away from Seattle.

He replaced Justin Fields in Week 7 after missing the early part of the season with a calf injury. And he went 4-0 in his first four starts and 6-1 in his first seven games as a Steeler, throwing 12 touchdown passes to only three interceptions in that stretch.

On the flip side, Wilson and Pittsburgh then lost five straight games to close the season. Defenses caught on to Arthur Smith’s initially effective plan and slowed Wilson’s offense down to a crawl.

And the Baltimore Ravens ran the Steelers out of the building in the NFL’s wild-card playoff round, 28-14, going up 21-0 and outgaining Pittsburgh 308 yards to 59 by halftime.

This was a concerning reminder of why the Broncos had cut Wilson outright the year prior in the middle of a five-year, $242.6 million contract.

Denver benched Wilson in 2023 before he could suffer an injury that would have triggered a $37 million injury guarantee for 2024, then released him and ate a huge dead cap hit. The Steelers then only had to pay Wilson a $1.2 million base salary to sign him for the season.

Ironically, the Giants then did the same thing with Jones last fall: benching him and eventually granting his release to avoid triggering a $23 million injury guarantee.

Now they’re in the market to possibly sign Wilson to try to help them win games in 2025, while also potentially mentoring a rookie QB if Joe Schoen picks one in April.

As of Friday, though, there were still more questions about the Giants’ quarterback situation than there were answers.

Depth signings continue

The Giants continued their non-quarterback free-agent business on Friday, agreeing to terms with 49ers special teams linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles and depth defensive tackle Jeremiah Ledbetter, both on one-year deals.

Flannigan-Fowles, 28, is a special teams player who can serve as a backup linebacker on defense. He played a career-high 20% of San Francisco’s defensive snaps last season in addition to his teams’ duties.

Ledbetter, 30, played more than 40% of the Jaguars’ defensive snaps with three starts last season.