It took three straight losses to open the season for the New York Giants to bench veteran quarterback Russell Wilson for rookie Jaxson Dart. The decision was met with hesitation and excitement, but once the clock hit 0:00 on the 22-year-old’s debut, it was only the latter.
Dart’s numbers won’t get confused with Tom Brady, but his 65% completion percentage, 111 passing yards, and two total touchdowns showed enough promise to have Giants fans ecstatic. Unfortunately, that meant fans all but forgot about Wilson, who’s now relegated to backup duties.
Mr. Unlimited’s contract is team-friendly and could be moved rather easily. The team has already come out and said they have no interest in trading the 14-year veteran, but if the phone were to ring, you can bet Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll would listen. Well, they might want to pick up, because Sports Illustrated’s Matt Verderame believes the Russ Bus’ next stop has been identified.
Giants could get stuck with pennies in Russell Wilson trade
In his latest piece outlining one trade every team must make before the deadline, Verderame suggests the G-Men should part ways with Wilson and send him to Atlanta for a seventh-round pick:
"If the Falcons end up dealing Cousins to a team in need of a starter, they can then turn to the Giants and offer a future seventh-rounder for Wilson to be the backup to Penix."Matt Verderame
It's an interesting trade for a couple of reasons:
1. The trade return is hot garbage
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Listen, Wilson clearly isn't the same player he once was, but a seventh-round pick is insulting. Surely there has to be a better offer out there somewhere. Maybe it's as easy as attaching an NY seventh to the 36-year-old to bring in a sixth, but sheesh... that is almost not even worth the phone call.
2. Kirk Cousins would need to be long gone
The Falcons would only make this move if they had already moved on from Captain Kirk... which is a lot easier said than done. He's still on the books for two years and $90 million. Not many teams are lining up and looking to throw assets at that accounting headache.
3. Atlanta would need to be like Wilson > Cousins
Lastly, it would be curious to essentially sub out one veteran quarterback for another for the sake of it. Cousins is likely the better break-glass-in-case-of-emergency option right now, so it'd be shocking if the Falcons replaced him with a worse backup option.
Michael Penix Jr. is their hopeful quarterback of the future, but if there are any hiccups along the way, they might think they have enough talent to win with someone like Cousins... that might not be the case with Wilson.
In theory, this trade just feels like one both teams could ignore. For the Giants, shipping Wilson to the Falcons would basically mean they’re paying $10.5 million for a seventh-rounder — the highest-paid seventh-round rookie in history.
The future Hall of Famer probably understands that he's no longer the starter he once was. He hasn't been causing any off-field drama since the demotion, so this feels like a trade the G-Men should just ignore for now. There are more pressing trades to attend to — such as bringing in a semi-viable Malik Nabers replacement.