SEPTEMBER 24: As should be expected given Dart’s first-round pedigree, Daboll confirmed (via the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy) the intention is for Dart to start for the rest of the season. Wilson will be the confirmed backup, with Daboll adding (via Dunleavy) he made the call to bench the 14th-year veteran.
The Giants proceeded this way with Daniel Jones after he replaced Eli Manning in Week 3 of the 2019 season, and they made a full-on transition to Manning in Week 11 (in place of Kurt Warner) of the 2004 slate. With Wilson on a one-year contract and the Giants at 0-3, this change will give Dart a long runway to develop in Daboll’s offense.
SEPTEMBER 23: Following another sub-par performance from Russell Wilson in Week 3, questions were again raised about the possibility of a quarterback change being made by the Giants. Head coach Brian Daboll left the door open to Jaxson Dart taking over during his Monday remarks. 
It appears that will indeed be the case. Dart is expected to receive the nod for Week 4, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. This will be the first-round rookie’s first start in the regular season and presumably bring about an end to Wilson’s time atop the depth chart moving forward. After starting for three weeks, Wilson will handle backup duties, Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network add.
New York sits at 0-3 on the year and a matchup with the 3-0 Chargers is next on the schedule. That led many to predict Wilson would remain atop the depth chart for one more game before what should be a much more manageable contest against the Saints in Week 5. Indeed, Dianna Russini of The Athletic reports conversations took place about waiting one more week before making the switch. Instead, Dart will get the nod against Los Angeles.
The Chargers rank fourth in the NFL in points allowed and eighth in total defense. They will thus represent a strong challenge for Dart as he takes on first-team duties on Sunday. Regardless of how things go in that game, though, Daboll and Co. are set to commit to the 22-year-old moving forward. With the Giants’ coaching staff and general manager Joe Schoen widely known to be on the hot seat, the expected move to Dart at some point in the season has been a major talking point in 2025.
Given today’s news, that transition is now set to take place before the first month of the campaign is even in the books. Dart impressed during the spring as well as training camp and the preseason, leading to a report earlier this month that he could ascend to the QB1 role earlier than expected. Nevertheless, it appeared after Week 1 that New York’s preference was to keep Wilson in place as the team’s starter as long as possible.
That stance appeared to be a sound one when Wilson threw for 450 yards during a high-scoring overtime loss to the Cowboys in Week 2. However, the Giants’ Sunday night loss to the Chiefs produced a return to Wilson’s previous form (and that of the offense in general). With improvement sorely needed moving forward, Dart will now take charge.
Wilson – who was added on a one-year deal featuring $10MM guaranteed this spring – has struggled mightily on third down and in the red zone. The Giants rank 31st in the league in both categories (h/t Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer), something which has driven this decision but also represents another illustration of Wilson’s decline. The 36-year-old did not manage to duplicate his Seahawks success during a two-year run in Denver (which saw him benched late in Year 2). 2024 saw the Steelers experiment with Wilson and Justin Fields at the QB spot, but things did not go according to plan.
Fields handled starting duties until Wilson was healthy from a summer calf injury; not everyone in the Steelers’ building agreed with the switch. Head coach Mike Tomlin kept the Super Bowl winner in place through the remainder of the campaign, though, a period which included a four-game losing streak to end the regular season and then a wild-card loss. Wilson’s market was strong enough to include interest from multiple teams, but it came as little surprise he accepted a short-term gig in New York despite the team’s need of a long-term QB investment.
After taking Abdul Carter third overall, the Giants traded back into the first round to select Dart. The USC and Ole Miss alum saw his production increase with each passing campaign, and he drew praise for his athleticism and efficiency in college. On the other hand, questions linger about Dart’s ability to acclimate to the NFL game in a more complex offense. That process will begin very early in his rookie campaign.
There you go. You have a perfectly capable backup in Winston to allow you to ease Dart in, instead you throw Dart in there to get eaten alive. They should trade Winston to the Bengals or someone who would use him.
I suspect Winston will get traded.
I would rather trade Wilson to the Bengals and hold onto Winston since he’s signed a 2 year deal.
Exactly. They are going to ruin Dart for the first year’s of his career with this decision. Why did they even sign Winston if you are gonna leave him as a third string QB?
If the Giants weren’t going to give Winston a chance to do anything but be the 3rd QB, they should have just kept Tommy Cutlets.
Im sure Jameis is better on the sidelines to try and learn from than Tommy Devito. They also got winston and wilson before drafting Dart, so theres that too. They can also get something for Jameis in a trade to the Bengals for example rather than DeVito just being bad and unwanted.
@Fan- They signed him because they didn’t know they would be able to draft Dart. That’s what happens with free agency before the draft.
Yeah but they could have traded him after the draft. They openly said they wouldn’t and that he’s their backup.
Regardless, this is a move by a desperate coach and GM who are willing to ruin a young QB in a last ditch effort to save their jobs.
I’m sure teams weren’t lining up to trade for Winston given how his INT rates have soared the past three seasons (4.3, 6.4, and 4.1% respectively) after somewhat stabilizing. He’s now more than prove that his 2021 1.9% INT rate season is the outlier, while his 30 INT 2019 season (4.8% INT rate) was not. He’s also entering his age 31 season and is a known commodity, so the upside is gone. Maybe he would have returned a 2027 7th but why bother? Hang on to him in case Dart/Wilson get hurt.
Daboll is in desperation time already. Other, teams would take a more ‘ease him in’ approach.
So Dart is starting 2 weeks later than I predicted back in May. Schoen and Daboll probably won’t get the miracle they need to stay employed but attempting a Hail Mary is still better than maintaining the status quo which was getting them nowhere.
You’re gambling Dart’s future on the two clowns running the show. Mara should have made it explicit that Dart was to sit his rookie year.
If you’re not going to play the guy his entire rookie year why even bother to draft him? There could be better prospects available the following year.
Ask the Packers…
I’d ask Bearmeat but after his Packers embarrassing defeat to the Browns he has made himself scarce…lol.
Dart’s future is with another organization. After Daboll and Schoen are fired at the end of what will be a 3-14 or 4-13 season, the next HC and GM will want to draft and groom their own QB, not the one inherited from the previous, failed regime.
Gee, letting a regime on the hot seat draft a QB meant a slow start would push them to put him in faster than planned. Who could possibly have seen that coming?
I’m shocked! Shocked I tell you!
This is a mistake. I don’t mind it because it’s better for the birds in the long run, but just in general this is a mistake.
So…you’re telling me that you don’t have the Giants’ best interests at heart?
I mean, I am a big fan of the Giants in a few years from now when they decide not to resign Abdul Carter and Howie sweeps in and steals him too.
I mean sure start him if you want him sacked 4 times and throw for 150 yards.
Well, he certainly can’t put up that stat line on the bench.
Cue the flashing sign from “Airplane!”
“Okay, Panic!”
Jets fans want a penalty flag thrown here because the “Airplane” references belong to them 🙂
And if any group of fans is quite used to seeing penalty flags frequently thrown, it’s the Jets.
The Giants actually lead the league in accepted penalties through Week 3. Defense #1, offense #6, overall #1.
Somehow that doesn’t shock me, but thank you for the correction.
coach on the hot seat rushes the development of his raw talent in order to save his job. I don’t think this formula has ever worked before. starting guys before they are ready risks solidifying bad habits. But I guess we shall see.
It’s an obvious desperation move but I don’t think the idea is any crazier than thinking a QB taken with the last pick in the draft (Brock Purdy) could end up earning a salary of $265MM.
A big difference in going with Dart is he can make things happen off script while Russ no longer provides that. He also can move around a little better, which is badly needed behind four below average to bad O-linemen. At least Thomas can protect his blind side. Still risky. Hopefully he does well.
If Dart starts the rest of the remaining 14 games that will give the organization somewhat of an evaluation. If Dabboll and Shoen are fired the new regime can evaluate Dart. Maybe they don’t like him and go in a different direction. Especially if they only win 2-3 games. Either way this past offseason keeping the regime and taking a QB just didn’t make sense if they were on the hot seat to begin with.
That’s on John Mara and Steve Tisch. New York’s richest woman Julia Koch is becoming a part-owner of the Giants and she’s not going to accept the culture of entitlement that’s set in all too often.
All Future 1st Round QBs … REFUSE to sign with a tri-state franchise.
Hell to the nah
To the nah nah nah
Ain’t nothing wrong with Philly.
Philadelphia is beautiful and full of history.
It also predominately smells like pee.
But it IS constantly sunny there.
Yeah. That’ll fix it.
Wilson had his chance last night to show the nation he should still be NYG QB1. He flunked. 0-3 is a real mood killer.
It gets better: Giants sign ex-Falcon PK Younghoe Koo to the practice squad. Graham Gano injured his groin (again) in the pre-game warmup on Sunday night and that caused problems for the Giants’ kicking game.
Just let Russ cook already. This is the fourth franchise in a row that refuses to let Russ cook.
They let Russ cook. What he did was unleash the dragon. That’s because Wilson is the modern-day Rex Grossman.
Giants fans crying for Dart like he’s the 2nd coming of Christ haha think it’s been bad under Wilson wait As Dart says hold my Beer
Russell Wilson will be requesting a trade in 3..2…1..
Offer him to Cincy for Yoshi
This Giants regime seems determined to fail.
Thank you!
With Love,
All Giants opponents DC’s.