It hasn't even been 48 hours since Russell Wilson signed with the New York Giants and he's already walking around the Big Apple like he owns the place.
Wilson signed a one-year deal worth up to $21.5 million ($10.5 million guaranteed) on Tuesday and spoke with media members for the first time on Thursday, practically announcing himself as the team's starter from
“I expect to be the starter and to be able to come here and rock and roll every day," he said confidently. "I think this team's really looking for somebody to lead them in every way. In terms of the process, in the offseason, during the season, and how we can create a great culture. "
While the only competitors Wilson will have heading into training camp are backups Jameis Winston, who signed a two-year, $8 million deal on Friday, Tommy DeVito and potentially a rookie from the upcoming draft, he's not entirely proven over the past few seasons he's guaranteed starting material.
Russell Wilson's confidence isn't the same as winning
Wilson can be all kinds of confident (he's 4-0 at MetLife Stadium in his career) as much as he wants in public and in the locker room, but at the end of the day he has to win games. By New York's standard, it's going to have to be a lot of games considering the rest of the NFC East Division has passed the Giants by.
NFL Network's Kyle Brandt made a convincing argument on Thursday's Good Morning Football that Wilson's introductory routine with a new team is just a charade that hasn't actually translated to a fresh winning culture everywhere he's landed.
Let’s have an honest conversation about the Giants. pic.twitter.com/d9f1dpLkDC
— Kyle Brandt (@KyleBrandt) March 27, 2025
"Everything he says just has a positive vibe to it. It also at this point has the vibe of familiarity," Brandt theorized, pointing to a montage of Wilson's past introductory press conferences and comments with the Denver Broncos in 2022 and the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2024.
"Maybe it'll end differently. I hope it ends differently," he continued somewhat sarcastically. "It's a speech by numbers ... I don't want to be the Debbie Downer here but guys let's not be so naive to the point where we say 'wow this is great!'"
Brandt also made a great point that New York is paying Wilson less than it did Daniel Jones in 2024 and also less than what the Indianapolis Colts will be paying the former Giants' first-round pick in 2025. He emphasized that Wilson wasn't general manager Joe Schoen's first choice but instead was a consolation prize after the team struck out twice with two other big name QBs.
"Russell Wilson is there because the Giants didn't get [Matthew] Stafford and didn't get [Aaron] Rodgers, and the Giants said 'we gotta get somebody, we gotta have a quarterback,'" Brandt continued.
And he's not wrong at all. New York fans cheered Wilson at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night but come October the great migration of boo birds will likely be in full swing.