Russell Wilson's Career Decline Leaves NFL Executives Unconvinced
Russell Wilson is reportedly struggling to comprehend his astonishing decline on the football field just weeks after being released by the New York Giants. The veteran quarterback, aged thirty-seven, moved to New York with ambitions to rediscover his best form following a mixed year with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
A Miserable Season with the Giants
Wilson endured a miserable season with the Giants, who benched him for rookie signal-caller Jaxson Dart as early as September after his dreadful start saw them go zero and three. Dart kept his place as starting quarterback for the remainder of the campaign and showed plenty of promise, despite the team ultimately missing out on the playoffs.
As a result, Wilson failed to earn a new deal in New York and was subsequently released upon the expiry of his one-year contract this month. He is yet to be linked with a new team since leaving the Giants.
Executives Cite Lack of Market Interest
According to esteemed sportswriter Jason La Canfora, one of the reasons the Super Bowl winner is not attracting interest as a free agent is because he cannot grasp how far he has fallen from his peak years. La Canfora claims multiple executives who made moves at quarterback said he was not even a consideration for them, largely due to his toxic Denver Broncos departure and his declining skills.
He also reported that Wilson's great skepticism about his ability to fully grasp being a mentor-type backup has left him without a market. One anonymous NFL personnel executive said, He’s kind of like the forgotten man, right? We weren’t going to do anything with him. He’s a weird fit now. It’s over for him as a starter and I don’t think he sees himself for who he really is.
Statistical Struggles and Recent History
Wilson was inconsistent across his six games in 2025, tossing three touchdowns and three interceptions, while completing fifty-eight percent of his passes for just one hundred thirty-eight point five yards per game. The long-time Seattle Seahawks starter has bounced from Denver to Pittsburgh to New York in recent years but has only recently begun to serve as a backup, with Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin frequently rotating him with Justin Fields and Dart replacing him for the Giants.
During his time in Seattle, Wilson helped the Seahawks defeat the Broncos at Super Bowl XLVIII, before joining the team they beat in New Jersey almost a decade later. After initially enduring the worst season of his career in Denver under Nathaniel Hackett, in which he went four and eleven, he bounced back under Sean Payton in 2023.
Yet in the end his resurgence still wasn't good enough as the Broncos fell seven and eight, with Payton eventually benching him for their final two games. To make matters worse for the franchise, they also handed Wilson a five-year, two hundred fifty million dollar contract extension before he had played a single down in Denver six months after his move from Seattle. He was eventually released in March 2024, leaving them with a record eighty-nine million dollar hit in dead cap charges.
The combination of poor performance, high financial costs, and an apparent reluctance to accept a diminished role has created a perfect storm for Wilson's career prospects. As the offseason progresses, it remains unclear whether any NFL team will be willing to take a chance on the once-elite quarterback, whose future in the league now hangs in the balance.
