Russell Wilson

Brian Daboll Not Committing To Russell Wilson For Week 4

September 22nd, 2025 at 11:30pm CST by Sam Robinson

Even as Russell Wilson exited Week 2 with the NFL’s top passing yardage total, boos rang out at MetLife Stadium during the Giants’ Sunday-night loss. Some cheers emerged for Jaxson Dart as well. A large sect of Giants fans may be close to seeing the desired QB switch occur.

Brian Daboll shut down reporters’ inquiries into the Giants’ quarterback situation postgame, and on Monday, the fourth-year HC still refused to back Wilson for a Week 4 start. Daboll’s staff is “evaluating everything” when asked about a potential Wilson-for-Dart move.

“Yeah, I’m not saying who’s starting or who’s not starting,” Daboll said, via ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan. “I’m just saying we’re evaluating everything right now. We’re going through the tape from [Week 3], and we’re evaluating every position right now.”

This catch-all answer certainly falls in the heart of the coach-speak lexicon, but as Raanan points out, Daboll’s response is similar to the one he gave before the Giants benched Daniel Jones last November. The Giants benched Jones following a loss to the Panthers in Germany, but they had a bye week to make that move — one that featured salary implications. New York’s bye this season does not arrive until Week 14, and no real salary issues are at play with Wilson.

When Dart is deemed ready, he almost definitely will be plugged into the starting lineup. Wilson has long been a placeholder, and even as false hopes of the potential Hall of Famer holding off the first-round pick throughout the season were floated, it was difficult to expect the starter — especially as Daboll and GM Joe Schoen reside on hot seats — to stave off a challenge from a player this power structure traded up for in the draft. While this would certainly be considered a quick hook, Daboll and Schoen would seemingly not want to go down without at least seeing what their overdue investment can do.

After all, Daboll and Schoen moved closer to the chopping block after a failed trade-up effort (for Drake Maye) led to Jones being given one more chance. As expected, that backfired as the Giants started 2-8. Ditching all their QBs from last season once Tommy DeVito was waived, the Giants rebooted around two vets (Wilson and Jameis Winston) mentoring Dart. The Giants have not made Winston, who is on a two-year contract (with Wilson on a one-year pact), available in trades.

The Ole Miss alum has been used as a package player over the past two weeks, working as a rushing option — with no pass attempts yet. Dart leapfrogged Winston on Big Blue’s depth chart before the season began, and rumors about an earlier-than-expected debut loomed after a rough Wilson Week 1 outing. The former No. 1 overall pick being given a chance before Dart would generate confusion at this point, though the high-variance passer being plugged in to provide a spark should not be entirely dismissed due to having made 87 career starts.

Daboll specified New York’s passing attack was the top area in need of improvement, Raanan adds. That is an interesting stance to take considering Wilson’s 450-yard performance in Dallas, but long-range interceptions have become a problem for the 14th-year passer. Two such misfires occurred against the Chiefs, inviting the prospect of Wilson being benched ahead of the Giants’ Week 4 game against the Chargers. While the Bolts have proven to feature a formidable defense, a Dart debut in New Orleans in Week 5 has always loomed as possible. Sunday could be Wilson’s last stand as an NFL starter.

Viewed as a player who needed some developmental time behind Wilson, Dart impressed during the preseason. Wilson has also changed teams three times since 2022 and needed to wait for Aaron Rodgers to rule out the Giants before receiving a chance. At this rate, the former Super Bowl winner may join Eli Manning as one of the more interesting Hall of Fame cases in recent NFL history; a starting job would seemingly be hard to come by for the declining vet (37 in November) come 2026. Should the Giants hold off on benching the 202-start player or go with the rookie in Week 4?

HC Brian Daboll, DC Shane Bowen On Hot Seats?

September 19th, 2025 at 10:23pm CST by Ely Allen

Coming into the season, rumors were already hinting that Giants head coach Brian Daboll‘s seat was starting to heat up with pressure to win. An 0-2 start to the year has done nothing to cool things off, and according to Tony Pauline of sportskeeda, defensive coordinator Shane Bowen may be starting to feel the heat, as well. Pauline’s sources claim that both coaches are “hanging on by a thread.”

Daboll started his career as a head coach on a strong note, going 9-7-1 in 2022 — good for 3rd in the NFC East and a wild card spot in the playoffs, where his team defeated a 13-4 Vikings squad before falling to the Eagles. The next year, a season-ending injury to Daniel Jones derailed New York’s offense, while the defense, despite a high efficiency on third downs, struggled as the sixth-worst unit in the NFL. The resulting 6-11 record led the Giants and then-defensive coordinator Wink Martindale to part ways.

Bowen came in to replace Martindale, fresh off three seasons in the same role in Tennessee. In his first season with Big Blue last year, Bowen’s defense showed improvement, ranking 21st in scoring allowed and eighth in passing yards allowed. In 2025 so far, no defense has given up more yards through their first two games. If things don’t change soon, both Bowen and Daboll could find themselves in danger of becoming the first coaching casualties of the young season.

So, how might things change? Pauline’s sources point to the quarterback position. Unfortunately for starting passer Russell Wilson, despite his 450-yard Week 2 performance, the fate of his starting role could be tied to the security of Daboll and Bowen’s jobs.

Per Pauline, if an expected rout by the Chiefs takes place this weekend at the Meadowlands, rookie first-round quarterback Jaxson Dart may find himself running on the first-team offense as soon as next weekend, when the Chargers come to town. If the presumed bad result against the Chiefs doesn’t boost Dart to the starting role in time for Los Angeles, Pauline’s sources claim Dart should be starting in time for a Week 5 trip to New Orleans at the latest.

If a change at quarterback is as guaranteed as they seem to be implying, it may behoove the team to make the move sooner, rather than later. While the Saints would, perhaps, be a softer test for Dart, the stretch of games immediately following sees matchups with the Eagles (twice), Broncos, 49ers, Bears, Packers, and Lions, who all could make life tough for a first-year starter. With that in mind, it may be smart to get Dart incorporated into the starting lineup with as much time to get up to speed as possible.

Of course, this is all speculation at the moment. Currently, Daboll’s fate is in the hands of Wilson, who led the Steelers to a playoff appearance just last year. Things haven’t gone according to plan so far, but Daboll may view Wilson’s experience as his best chance at turning around the season. If things continue to go poorly, though, showing potential for improvement behind a younger arm may be his only chance at saving his job. As for Bowen, his job may be fully dependent on the defense’s ability to turn things around against a grueling upcoming slate of games.

Giants Prefer To Keep Russell Wilson In Place As Starting QB

September 13th, 2025 at 9:25pm CST by Adam La Rose

Throughout the offseason, questions have lingered about how long Russell Wilson will remain atop the Giants’ quarterback depth chart. The Super Bowl winner will get the nod for Week 2, but Jaxson Dart looms as a replacement option.

Wilson and the Giants’ offense endured a highly unproductive outing during a season-opening loss. Head coach Brian Daboll confirmed the 36-year-old will start tomorrow against the Cowboys, although it was reported this week Dart’s strong summer performances could accelerate the timeline for him to take over. Indeed, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports Dallas has prepared a defensive package in case the first-round rookie sees time on Sunday.

The Giants’ preference, though, would be to keep Wilson on the field as much as possible. Per Fowler’s colleague Adam Schefter, there is “no sense of urgency” on the part of the Giants to make a quarterback change. That stance is especially understandable with left tackle Andrew Thomas in line to miss tomorrow’s game. It would come as little surprise if New York waited until the veteran blindside blocker was healthy to consider starting Dart.

After selecting edge rusher Abdul Carter third overall, the Giants traded back into the first round to select Dart. The Ole Miss product was the second signal-caller off the board, and he entered the NFL with upside based on his college production but questions about his ability to quickly acclimate to the pro game. With Wilson and fellow free agent addition Jameis Winston in place, Dart could afford to sit for a large portion of the campaign. On the other hand, of course, Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen are on shaky ground with respect to their job security.

With pressure no doubt mounting as it pertains to a change on the sidelines and/or in the front office, Dianna Russini of The Athletic confirms (subscription required) Dart taking over at some point is “on the table.” He has a number of supporters within the organization, per Russini. That could lead to a QB change relatively soon depending in large part on how Wilson performs.

On the open market, Wilson took a one-year pact, meaning his future will be linked to his ability to remain atop the depth chart and deliver consistent play under center. Thomas coming back into the fold would be a key development, but in any case the possibility of Dart receiving the reins will continue to make for an interesting storyline to follow.

Giants Could Play Jaxson Dart ‘Sooner Than Later’

September 11th, 2025 at 9:58pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Russell Wilson‘s Week 1 struggles have naturally led to calls for the Giants to start first-round pick Jaxson Dart in Week 2.

Head coach Brian Daboll reaffirmed Wilson’s starting status for Week 2 with the goal of keeping him under center for the foreseeable future. However, repeated poor performances will only intensify the pressure to let Dart take over the offense.

The Giants seemed poised to resist, for now. They made it clear throughout the offseason that they didn’t feel the need to start Dart right away. Instead, Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka have prioritized his long-term development by keeping him on the sidelines until the coaches are satisfied with is progress, per ESPN’s Dan Graziano.

A strong preseason from Dart may have “expedited the process,” according to Graziano’s colleague, Jeremy Fowler, making it likely that the rookie plays “sooner than later.” The Giants named Dart the backup quarterback to enter the season, signaling their comfort with putting him on the field on game days if needed. Daboll and Kafka also installed a specific package of offensive plays for Dart, though none were used in Week 1.

As a result, it seems more likely that New York would give Dart a chance before going to Jameis Winston. Winston was designated as the team’s emergency third quarterback in Week 1, meaning that Wilson and Dart would both have to get hurt for him to enter the game.

The Giants may also be cautious of playing Dart behind a Giants offensive line that allow pressure on 48.9% of Wilson’s Week 1 dropbacks, per Next Gen Stats (subscription required). Left tackle Andrew Thomas is still working his way back to full health, so the team may not want to throw Dart to the wolves until Thomas is ready to protect his blind side.

Giants Not Making Jameis Winston Available In Trades

August 21st, 2025 at 10:57pm CST by Sam Robinson

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?

Giants Willing To Let Jaxson Dart Sit Throughout Season?

August 8th, 2025 at 9:45pm CST by Sam Robinson

First-round quarterbacks almost never sit throughout their rookie seasons. The Packers have, of course, executed two such plans since 2005; select other teams have also kept Round 1 QB prospects on the bench — just not many.

The Chiefs did not turn to Patrick Mahomes until Week 17 of his rookie year, and that came in a meaningless season-ender while Alex Smith prepared for a wild-card game. In the rookie-scale contract era (2011-present), some of the other players not to be called upon as non-injury-driven starters as rookies — Trey Lance, Paxton Lynch, Jake Locker — did not pan out. Teams, though, regularly pay lip service to the old-school watch-and-learn method — one that benefited Mahomes in the 2010s and Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers, Carson Palmer and Chad Pennington in the aughts.

Selecting Jaxson Dart 25th overall (via trade-up with the Texans), the Giants are in an interesting spot. Their refusal to draft Michael Penix Jr., J.J. McCarthy and Bo Nix — after a Drake Maye-based trade-up effort failed — last year preceded a 3-14 season and a dire QB need forming. The team settled on Russell Wilson as its bridge option, as plans to draft one of the scrutinized 2025 passers — after a Cam Ward-based trade-up failed — were well known. The Giants landed on Dart, the second QB drafted, thanks to a push from Brian Daboll.

Daboll has proclaimed Wilson as his starter at multiple junctures, but the potential Hall of Fame quarterback is now on his fourth team in five years. The 36-year-old option also readies to face what is, based on last year’s win totals at least, the NFL’s toughest schedule. The Giants would buck a well-established trend by letting Wilson play ahead of Dart all season, but Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano indicates the team would be “completely fine” if this happened.

Of course, this reality would likely require Wilson to keep the Giants in the playoff hunt. It would be a bit of a stretch to expect the Giants, whose regime is on the hot seat thanks to backing Dave Gettleman‘s preferred QB option (Daniel Jones), to keep Dart benched for too long if it becomes clear they are not a viable playoff contender. How the team handles Wilson and Jameis Winston at the trade deadline in this scenario would be worth monitoring closely as well. Currently, Dart is stationed behind both on New York’s depth chart.

Gettleman had said in 2019 the Giants were OK with the Chiefs model, but the team benched Eli Manning for Jones two games in. Given Wilson’s journey since a 2022 blockbuster trade ended his Seattle stay, it will be a tough ask to prevent Daboll from promoting a player he essentially handpicked.

As detailed in our Giants Offseason In Review piece, the Daboll-Joe Schoen duo not making their own QB investment from 2022-24 would stand to influence Dart’s timeline — especially if Wilson struggles against a tough schedule early. Though, it will be on the Giants’ staff to determine how close the Ole Miss prospect is to game-ready.

Wilson played effectively for the Steelers last season, following a 26-touchdown pass/eight-interception 2023 bounce-back year in Denver. But neither team wanted him back. The Broncos paid a record-smashing dead money sum to ditch Wilson, and the Steelers preferred a few options — Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, Justin Fields — over their primary 2024 starter.

This came after a difficult finish to Pittsburgh’s schedule brought five straight losses to close a season that began 10-3. Wilson ranked 21st in QBR in Pittsburgh and 22nd in Denver over the past two seasons; that would be an upgrade for New York, but calls for Dart figure to be loud if the Giants start slowly.

Giants Expect Andrew Thomas For Week 1; No Restrictions For Malik Nabers

July 23rd, 2025 at 2:41pm CST by Sam Robinson

Andrew Thomas went down with a Lisfranc injury in mid-October and did not participate in the Giants’ offseason program. The All-Pro tackle has now begun training camp on the active/PUP list. While that is a camp-only designation that does not prevent Thomas from participating in regular-season games, his rehab continues.

That said, Brian Daboll did not confirm at minicamp Thomas would be ready for training camp. The fourth-year Giants HC now is offering a positive update on his top offensive lineman. Daboll expects (via the New York Post’s Paul Schwartz) Thomas to be ready by Week 1. That would be a welcome development for a Giants O-line counting on its anchor, a player who has missed much of the past two seasons.

Thomas, who saw a nagging hamstring injury sideline him for seven games in 2023, opted for surgery after the Lisfranc issue surfaced last year. He missed 11 more contests, not giving the Giants a good early return on their summer 2023 extension. Initial expectations for Thomas pointed to a return to full strength by OTAs. The adjusted timetable keyed a more cautious approach, one that produced a revised buildup during the offseason program and a return during camp.

Alarm bells would blare if Thomas cannot resurface at some point during camp, but for now, the Giants are not sounding them. Until Thomas comes back, free agency addition James Hudson is in place as the Giants’ first-string left tackle.

The other significant injury situation in New York has involved Malik Nabers, but the team has its No. 1 wide receiver ready to go. Nabers did not participate in the Giants’ offseason program due to a toe injury. When the Giants opened training camp, though, Daboll confirmed (via Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano) the former first-round pick has no restrictions.

Nabers’ injury dates back to his time at LSU, but it has not caused him to miss a game in college or the NFL. The LSU product did indicate an eventual surgery could be necessary, via The Athletic’s Dan Duggan, but he is at work as Russell Wilson prepares to hold off Jaxson Dart this year. (Daboll reiterated Tuesday, via ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, that Wilson is the Giants’ unchallenged starter at camp’s outset.) Wilson said this offseason Nabers helped attract him to New York; it will be interesting to see how long this partnership lasts, as Dart’s debut will be a regular talking point.

Rounding out some Giants injury news, left guard Jon Runyan Jr.‘s rehab work was not confined to the ankle issues that required surgery. The 2024 free agency addition also underwent a shoulder procedure, Duggan notes. Runyan suffered a separated shoulder during training camp last year but played through it. Two seasons remain on Runyan’s three-year, $30MM contract.

Russell Wilson Wants To Play Another ‘5-Plus’ Years

July 16th, 2025 at 10:53am CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Giants signed Russell Wilson to a one-year deal this offseason, indicating that they do not see the 13-year veteran as a multi-year proposition under center.

If his contract wasn’t enough, the Giants’ selection of Jaxson Dart in the first round hammered the message home: Wilson will be starting in New York for a limited time only.

Wilson seems to be in a similar situation to that of Sam Darnold last year in Minnesota. If he plays well, he will likely be priced out of New York with a first round pick waiting in the wings; if not, he won’t be re-signed, certainly not for starter-level money. However, Wilson is significantly older than Darnold; entering his age-37 season, he is likely done with multi-year deals altogether.

As a result, 2025 is Wilson’s last chance to prove himself as a starting quarterback after an underwhelming three seasons since leaving Seattle. He intents to play another “five-plus years” into his early 40s, according to Sports Illustrated’s Connor Orr. But, if he can’t succeed in New York this year, he will likely be relegated to a backup role in 2026 and beyond.

Wilson also told Orr that his ability to extend plays and connect with pass-catchers downfield is an important measure stick of how his game ages. That will be an especially crucial skill behind a Giants offensive line that struggled to protect the pocket in 2024.

Some Giants Personnel Preferred Jameis Winston To Russell Wilson

July 2nd, 2025 at 7:32pm CST by Ben Levine

Russell Wilson remains penciled in as the Giants QB1, even after the team used a first-round selection on Jaxson Dart. However, if anyone was going to unseat Wilson from his unofficial starting gig, it’d likely be another notable name on the depth chart.

As Paul Schwartz of the New York Post writes, there are some inside the franchise who preferred Jameis Winston to Wilson. Specifically, the Winston proponents were focused on how the two acquisitions “came off in their visits” with the franchise before putting pen to paper.

To Wilson’s credit, he’s been putting in work on building a rapport with his new teammates. Per Schwartz, the QB has gone into “overdrive” as he tries to build relationships with his new squad. The veteran also drew praise for his showing at spring practices, although he’ll obviously only be judged on his performance during the regular season.

The two veterans signed within a week of each other, but the Giants have made it clear all along that Wilson will lead the depth chart and Winston will serve as the QB2. Wilson, of course, brings the track record and recent starting experience. The former Super Bowl champ has continued to start in his post-Seahawks career, including stints with the Broncos and Steelers. He’s only gone 17-24 over those three seasons, and it’s fair to wonder how short of a leash he’ll have in New York as Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen remain on the hot seat.

Winston doesn’t bring the same recent starting experience as his new teammate. Since leaving the Buccaneers after the 2019 season, the former first-overall pick has started only 17 games across five years. He went 5-2 with the Saints in 2021, but he’s since gone 3-7 in his last 10 starts. While Winston seemed to temporarily curb his turnover issues in New Orleans, he’s seen his interception rate come in at 4.4 percent over the past three years.

Both options are relatively uninspiring, especially for a Giants regime that’s on the brink of losing their jobs. Dart represents the unknown, and on most squads, it wouldn’t be surprising for a coach to eventually give their rookie a shot. In New York, it sounds like Dart may have to leapfrog two veterans if he has any hope of starting in 2025.

Russell Wilson Asked Broncos For Fully Guaranteed Deal, Irked NFLPA Boss By Accepting Less

June 24th, 2025 at 9:15pm CST by Sam Robinson

The NFLPA’s grievance aimed at proving NFL owners colluded to prevent other teams from matching the Browns’ fully guaranteed Deshaun Watson extension did not produce a win. A ruling by an independent arbitrator earlier this year did not find sufficient evidence to determine collusion definitively occurred.

But an investigation from veteran reporter Pablo Torre revealed a trove of information regarding some recent quarterback negotiations and the fallout they produced. The Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast’s report addresses the Cardinals’ 2022 Kyler Murray talks and the Ravens’ first wave of Lamar Jackson negotiations. It also delves into the Broncos’ seminal discussions with their then-hopeful long-term QB solution.

While the NFLPA could not ultimately prove collusion, the investigation featured System Arbitrator Christopher Droney concluding (via Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio), “There is little question that the NFL Management Council, with the blessing of the Commissioner, encouraged the 32 NFL Clubs to reduce guarantees in veterans’ contracts at the March 2022 annual owners’ meeting.”

Based on the blowback Jimmy and Dee Haslam received from owners upon agreeing to an ultimately disastrous Watson extension (five years, $230MM fully guaranteed), little doubt existed about owners’ desire to prevent such a deal from happening again. A key chapter in this saga occurred in Denver during Russell Wilson‘s summer 2022 extension talks.

Wilson arrived in Denver as the franchise’s biggest swing during a near-decade-long effort to find a long-term Peyton Manning replacement. The Broncos had tried free agents (Case Keenum), early-round draft choices (Paxton Lynch, Drew Lock) and lower-level trade acquisitions (Joe Flacco, Teddy Bridgewater) but did not see any of them become the primary starter for more than a season. Former seventh-rounder Trevor Siemian made the most starts for the team between its Super Bowl 50 victory and the conclusion of the 2021 season. Enter Wilson, whose trade to Denver emerged hours after Aaron Rodgers — a multiyear Broncos target after the future Hall of Famer had listed the team as an acceptable destination amid a standoff with Packers management — agreed to stay in Green Bay.

Through Torre and Florio’s pursuit, the NFLPA’s collusion case is now public (via Florio). A notable section of the case covers Wilson testimony indicating he requested a fully guaranteed seven-year extension from the Broncos that covered around $50MM per year. That would have covered around $350MM and reminded of a baseball contract. Wilson’s agent, Mark Rodgers, has otherwise repped MLB talent. The camp also drove hard bargains in Seattle during 2015 and 2019 negotiations; the Seahawks not wanting to partake in another round of re-up talks helped influence the trade.

Rodgers had just moved the QB market to $50MM per year via his March 2022 Packers extension, but that complex deal had been, as it turned out, designed to be traded rather than fully bringing the market to the $50MM-AAV place. It took until Jalen Hurts‘ April 2023 extension to move the barrier beyond $50MM on a long-term deal, as the Broncos and Wilson agreed on an accord just south of that place.

Wilson and the Broncos agreed on a five-year, $245MM pact in September 2022. The team’s ownership change, approved in August 2022, delayed an extension from becoming final. Wilson viewed the Broncos as “getting cold feet” regarding a fully guaranteed deal after acquiring him.

Communication uncovered via the investigation indicate Rich Hurtado, the Broncos’ VP of football administration and chief negotiator, emailed GM George Paton a series of talking points ahead of the latter’s meeting with incoming CEO Greg Penner. In the email, Hurtado said he believed the Broncos held leverage in Wilson talks and that he could not foresee another team going to the fully guaranteed well the Browns did with Watson.

Watson held unique leverage due to four finalists (the Browns, Falcons, Panthers and Saints) having agreed on trade terms with the Texans. Cleveland won out, after previously being eliminated, due to the whopping guarantee proposal. Wilson was tied to one team, and the Broncos — via the QB’s Seahawks deal (four years, $140MM) — had their new centerpiece player signed through the 2023 season. The franchise tag, which has been a key tool in efforts to limit players during its three-plus-decade history, also served as a tool the Broncos could have used down the line.

Another notable nugget from the Wilson sector of the report involves a Penner handwritten note questioning why the Broncos needed to force the issue with Wilson in 2022. The incoming boss cited the two years remaining on the Seahawks-constructed deal as a reason the Broncos did not need to extend him immediately. Paton had also informed Wilson’s agent a Watson-level guarantee was a “nonstarter.”

In an email sent from Penner to two other members of the Broncos’ ownership group, Penner said Paton informed him the Broncos’ final proposal, regarding guarantees, was “far less than Watson,” and addressed the “benchmark” it set for the rest of the NFL regarding future negotiations. Penner also stated, when forwarding one of the Broncos’ Wilson offers to some in the Broncos ownership ranks, nothing in the deal “other owners would consider off market.”

At the time, the Broncos were believed to want to beat the QB market to the punch by extending Wilson in 2022. Wilson’s concerning play that season made that a poor decision. Wilson received $124MM fully guaranteed — a number still relevant to the Broncos due to the $84MM-plus dead money bloodbath that ensued because of the declining QB’s March 2024 release — but that number checking in so far south of Watson’s $230MM irked then-NFLPA president J.C. Tretter.

In texts with former NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith on July 8, 2024, Tretter lampooned Wilson (via Torre) for not pushing harder for a fully guaranteed Broncos deal. “Instead of being the guy that made guaranteed contracts the norm, he’s the guy that ruined it for everyone,” Tretter said.

This exchange came after Tretter’s time as NFLPA president had ended; the union elected linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin as its new leader on March 8, 2024. Lloyd Howell succeeded Smith on June 28, 2023. (However, Howell had named Tretter as the NFLPA’s chief strategy officer by that point.) It is not exactly shocking to learn an NFLPA power broker was upset at a player not setting an impactful precedent — one that could have given other marquee players a gateway to land NBA- or MLB-style fully guaranteed contract structures — but Torre reports one of the texts referred to Wilson as a “wuss” for failing to do move his effort past the goal line.

Leadership referring to one of its players as such is obviously notable due to the responsibility the union holds. Part of the reason this document did not surface until now stemmed from Tretter not wanting this text exchange to be made public, Torre reports, citing NFLPA sources. This text exchange also impacted the collusion case as a whole, as Torre adds owners used Tretter’s Wilson remarks as evidence no ownership collusion took place.

Wilson did not live up to the trade return the Broncos sent the Seahawks, but the potential Hall of Fame passer has done incredibly well regardless of that two-year stint or failing to land a fully guaranteed Denver deal. Wilson has earned more than $313MM in his 13-year career. The Broncos are still carrying $32MM in dead money from Wilson’s post-June 1 cut, which came after he and the team feuded over a failed Paton effort to move his guarantee vesting date from 2024 to 2025. Wilson did step up in a precedent-setting effort on this front, a move that also protected him from potentially losing money.

Denver has moved on, via its Bo Nix draft investment, while Wilson signed with the Giants in late March. The Broncos would have tumbled into in a Browns-like abyss had they agreed on the QB’s short-lived full guarantee quest. Had the early Wilson momentum for a fully guaranteed extension — amid a desperate period for the Broncos at quarterback — succeeded, Nix probably is elsewhere. Like the Browns with Watson, the Broncos would have been unable to realistically move on due to the dead money consequences on a fully guaranteed deal.

The AFC West franchise succeeding in not matching the Browns’ guarantee structure for Wilson also helped future teams avoid such commitments, as a host of $50MM-per-year (and one $60MM AAV, via Dallas) contracts have been agreed to without coming close to Watson’s guarantee number since the Wilson-Broncos talks wrapped.

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