Even though his time with the New York Giants was brief and largely disappointing, Russell Wilson certainly brought his veteran leadership.
Wilson signed a one-year, $10.5 million deal with the Giants last offseason to be their bridge quarterback after Big Blue drafted Jaxson Dart with one of their first-round draft picks at 25th overall.
Even though the veteran was tapped as the team’s starter to begin last season, Wilson and the rest of the Giants’ offense, for that matter, struggled mightily, with the exception being that offensive explosion against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2 in what ended up being a crushing 40-37 overtime loss.
Big Blue began the 2025 campaign at 0-3 with Wilson at the helm, resulting in Dart being named as the team’s starter. Dart seemingly brought new life and a jolt of excitement to the Giants, even though the wins weren’t there, as the G-Men finished this season with a disappointing 4-13 record. But after Dart’s promising rookie season, big things are certainly expected out of the 22-year-old in 2026, with Wilson perhaps one of the reasons why a sophomore jump feels imminent.
Jaxson Dart praises Russell Wilson’s leadership during his rookie season
Before the Giants’ regular-season finale against the Cowboys in January, Dart, in an interview with Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, detailed Wilson’s leadership throughout his rookie year and praised the Super Bowl-winning quarterback as a mentor to him since he was drafted:
“I was definitely curious, too. But from the moment I got here, Russ has been nothing but just an amazing person, a great teammate, a really good mentor,” Dart said. “He really cares about football, like he has an obsession, an addiction to the game. He just wants to win, and he’ll do whatever that takes as a teammate, whether he’s on the field or off the field.”
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Throughout his first year in the NFL, Dart showed some awfully impressive flashes that Giants’ fans have long been waiting for out of the quarterback position. In his 12 starts in 2025, the former Ole Miss Rebel had 2,272 passing yards with 15 touchdown passes, including nine rushing scores to just five interceptions.
Even though Dart showed his aggressiveness as a running quarterback, as he was checked out for a concussion five times in 10 games, thanks in large part to choosing not to slide, resulting in him missing two games because of a concussion, that will certainly be something he and the Giants will work on during the offseason, especially with a new head coach in John Harbaugh in town.
So even though Russell Wilson’s tenure in North Jersey will not be looked back on fondly, fans may owe Wilson a bit of their gratitude as he certainly played a key role in Jaxson Dart’s ascension, with the chance of him being one of the league’s most exciting young quarterbacks for years to come.