Russell Wilson Met with New York Giants before Steelers

Free agent quarterback Russell Wilson met with the New York Giants before his Friday trip to Pittsburgh to meet with the Steelers, according to a report by Adam Schefter of ESPN.

Wilson was spotted at Newark Airport in New Jersey on Thursday, on his way to Pittsburgh to meet with the top Steelers brass. Before that, according to Schefter, he had what was termed to be an exploratory meeting with the Giants.

The Giants have a difficult quarterback situation, as former first-round pick Daniel Jones has three years left on a four-year, $160 million contract, but Jones struggled to a 70.5 passer rating in 2023 before neck and knee injures forced him to miss the remainder of the season.

The Giants got better play out of veteran backup Tyrod Taylor (89.1 passer rating) and undrafted rookie Tommy DeVito (89.2) than they did Jones last season, opening up questions about what to do with the future of the position.

New York holds the sixth pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, but if general manager Joe Schoen wants to take a quarterback, he may be looking at the fourth-best option in Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, as the top there are expected to be taken with the first three picks.

Wilson’s salary situation would also be beneficial to the Giants, who can’t get out from under Jones’ contract. A post-June 1 release of Jones would net the Giants no salary cap savings in 2024 and add a significant dead cap hit to the 2025 rolls.

Wilson has a $39 million guaranteed salary from the Denver Broncos for the 2024 season. Any amount he is paid by another team is reduced from the total that Denver owes, so he is expected to play for near the minimum this coming season.

With multiple teams now in the mix for Wilson, the competition will come down to which organization he feels provides him the best opportunity, and what teams are willing to commit to him contract-wise beyond the 2024 season.

In addition to the Steelers and Giants, the Las Vegas Raiders are also expected to be interested in Wilson’s services.