Russell Wilson has turned into a kind of once-great baseball pitcher from the 1970s and 1980s. Those players, just like Wilson, spent many successful years with one team but eventually finished by bouncing around the league, looking for any team that would take a chance on them. Wilson was once a cornerstone of the Seattle Seahawks. That seems like a decade ago.
After going to Seahawks owner Jody Allen following the 2022 season and reportedly trying to get general manager John Schneider and then-head coach Pete Carroll fired, the Seahawks essentially fired Wilson and shipped him to the Denver Broncos. The deal turned out to be great for Seattle.
With some of the draft picks Seattle got back from the Broncos, Seattle has chosen cornerback Devon Witherspoon (a two-time Pro Bowler), left tackle Charles Cross, and edge rusher Boye Mafe. The Seahawks fleeced Denver.
Former Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is finishing his career in a sad way
This is especially true as Wilson was told to leave the Broncos after two years. The team was willing to eat nearly $100 million in dead cap not to have Wilson on the team. When he arrived in Denver in 2022, he acted as if he were bigger than the team, even asking for his own office. After the 2023 season, he was brought back to reality.
This meant Wilson had just been relieved of his duties by two teams that, at one time, he seemingly thought he could run as the quarterback. Life can be hard sometimes.
A humbled Wilson joined the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2024, and after beginning the year banged up, became the starter and led Pittsburgh to several wins. Then the proverbial wheels fell off, and Wilson and the Steelers lost their last five games. The quarterback was not welcomed back this offseason, so he eventually signed with the New York Giants.
There was a time when Wilson was seemingly headed toward a potential Hall of Fame career. Now, he cannot find a long-term home as teams appear to have no faith in him being anything but a bridge quarterback to the team’s true long-term QB1. This trend has been cemented in New York.
In the first round of the 2025 NFL draft, the Giants chose quarterback Jaxson Dart after trading back into the first round. Dart is going to be seen as the future QB1 of the Giants, and he might not have to wait long to do that. This is what happens when a quarterback is chosen in the first round.
This means Wilson’s time with New York is likely going to be short, unless he is happy to be a backup to Dart for the rest of his career. His ego probably won’t let him be happy doing so, though, which means 2025 could be Russell Wilson’s final season in the NFL.
One might wonder how things might have turned out for him had he stayed with the Seattle Seahawks. Instead, his last four seasons have been nomadic failures.
