Jaxson Dart capped off a promising preseason tonight. While Brian Daboll continues to reaffirm Russell Wilson‘s starter status, calls for the rookie to receive the call will be plentiful in the coming weeks.
While Daboll has (via ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan) labeled Dart as developing and Wilson his starter, Jameis Winston is also rostered. The Giants gave Winston a two-year, $8MM deal days before signing Wilson. Some in the team’s building preferred Winston to Wilson during free agency. But the former No. 1 overall pick hovers in a gray area for now, making it worth wondering if the Giants would consider moving on early.
Assistant GM Brandon Brown attempted to shoot that down, saying this week (via the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy) Winston is “a New York Giant” and noted the 11th-year passer wants to stay. This reinforces what NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo had heard about this situation previously. Moving past some early-career off-field trouble, Winston has become something of a character as he has traveled the league. The 2024 Browns fill-in drew interest from the 49ers and Chargers on Day 1 of the legal tampering period. It took until March 21 for Winston to sign, however.
The Giants having both Winston and Wilson would stand to represent overkill behind Dart (if/once the rookie takes over this year), though the team’s QB reserves obviously became an issue a few times this decade. It would be perhaps a slight surprise if all three of New York’s top passers remained on the roster by season’s end — especially if Dart proves ready by then. Winston being signed to a two-year deal would give the Giants a multiyear Dart backup and/or a player to reevaluate trading in 2026.
A report earlier this month pegged the Giants in being OK leaving the first-round rookie on the bench for the full season. Based on the rate at which Round 1 QBs play as rookies (and considering Wilson’s post-Seattle struggles), it would be shocking if Dart did not play this season. After a 32-for-47, 372-yard, three-touchdown preseason, the Ole Miss product certainly helped his cause for early-season playing time. Would that inevitable promotion then move Wilson, rather than Winston, to the trade block?
An unquestioned starter between beating out Matt Flynn in 2012 and being benched in Week 17 of the 2023 season, Wilson will generate an interesting Hall of Fame debate down the road. He is tied to a one-year, $10.5MM deal ($10MM guaranteed). The Giants also face the NFL’s toughest schedule, and that docket includes road games against the Commanders and Cowboys before Chiefs and Chargers home tilts. Although a reprieve (via the Saints) comes in Week 5, the Giants go Eagles-Broncos-Eagles after that.
It is possible the team will want Wilson to navigate that schedule early, but with Daboll and GM Joe Schoen on hot seats, an understandable temptation to play the QB they drafted will probably emerge. With Tommy DeVito perhaps headed for the practice squad (or potentially elsewhere) next week, how the Giants proceed with Wilson and Winston before the November 4 deadline will be an interesting QB storyline to monitor. Wilson has changed teams thrice since 2022; how likely is it that he moves again before season’s end?