The Seattle Seahawks were right to move on from Russell Wilson a long time ago. Maybe he forced his way out of Seattle after trying to get general manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll fired, or maybe there was something else lurking.
Perhaps Seattle knew that Wilson was getting closer to the end of his career, and they simply wanted to rid themselves of an upcoming expensive contract. If so, Schneider might be a true genius.
The truth is that Russell Wilson thought he was bigger than the team and had the right to make decisions that affected everyone. He didn't. He tried the same move with the Denver Broncos after Seattle dealt him there after the 2021 season. He flunked out of the Broncos after two seasons.
Former Seattle Seahawks legend Russell Wilson leading the fall of a new team
After spending a season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the quarterback has landed with the New York Giants. It might have taken New York just one week to realize RW3 is not the player they need to be starting at quarterback.
In Week 1 against the Washington Commanders, Wilson was 17 for 37 for just 168 yards. He also ran eight times for 44 yards. He was pressured a lot, and the reason New York scored just six points is not completely his fault. But the Giants are not going to get better with Wilson at quarterback.
He has always been afraid to throw over the intermediate middle, far too often holding on to the ball too long while he looks for a home run pass. He was great at that with the Seattle Seahawks, but Seattle also had a good defense to back up Wilson's gambles.
In his post-game press conference, current Giants head coach Brian Daboll (someone who will likely lose his job soon) didn't even want to commit to Wilson for being the starter in Week 2. He's right not to do so, either. Daboll's job is on the line as much as Wilson's.
Daboll was asked about possibly starting rookie Jaxson Dart in Week 2, and the coach said, "We're going to get home and look at our game. Yeah, we're just right here after the game. We're talking about after every game...I've got confidence in Russ. We'll go back, evaluate the tape."
That is absolutely not a vote of confidence. But the Giants coach also cannot keep the same plan intact if it clearly isn't going to work. Plus, the starting quarterback is going to get a lot of blame for whatever happens, and Wilson deserves a big share of the fault for what happened against the Commanders.
(Update: Faced with no-win situation, Daboll has since said that Wilson will start in Week 2.)
To make matters more irritating for Seahawks (and Broncos and Steelers) fans, who likely have a bit of PTSD from Russ-speak, Russell Wilson immediately went to his staged and robotic answers. Ultimately, his words are meaningless.
He said after the game, "I thought we competed our butts off. That was a physical game. I thought we left it all on the field. We gave it our all physically. You stand tall in the midst of that game. Battling through it and trying to find a way to win."
The best thing Brian Daboll might do for his football team is change the starting quarterback. Not because Dart or QB3 Jameis Winston is going to be much more productive than Wilson, but players in the locker room don't want to hear Russ-speak. They want to hear the truth. Wilson won't give them that.