Russell Wilson beat the Giants on a Monday night in October 2024. He might still be joining them for 2025.
Per multiple sources, Wilson remains on the Giants’ radar screen — even after the signing of Jameis Winston.
It came up because, frankly, we removed the Giants from the list of teams looking for veteran quarterbacks. In response to our assessment that the Giants won’t be pursuing another veteran signal-caller, one source explained that Winston was signed to be the backup quarterback. And that Wilson should not be ruled out.
“They are as much/more looking for a veteran starter than the Browns, definitely more than Vikings,” the source said.
The source added that the Giants technically remain in the mix for Aaron Rodgers, but that it currently “seems unlikely” he’ll go there. (Or, even more technically, stay there.)
Regardless, the Winston deal (at $4 million per year) isn’t a QB1 contract. We thought it meant Winston will be the bridge to a younger guy. He might end up being the understudy to another veteran.
And that veteran still could be Russell Wilson.
With quarterback Jameis Winston joining the Giants, the group of teams looking for veteran signal-callers is shrinking.
It’s down to three obvious teams: Steelers, Browns, and Vikings.
Others could be looking for veterans, too. But those are the main three.
And the most obvious candidates are Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Joe Flacco, Ryan Tannehill (apparently), and Carson Wentz, who has been linked to the Browns.
Also, don’t rule out a potential Kirk Cousins trade.
Rodgers looms over everything, but as the Winston signing shows some teams are willing to move on. And with the Browns not linked to Rodgers at all (for now), they can move on Wilson or Wentz or whoever they want.
Regardless, the carousel is still spinning. And some big names are still waiting. Or keeping us waiting. Or some of both.
UPDATE 12:00 p.m. ET, 3/23/25: In response to this item, we’ve heard from multiple sources that the Giants remain in play for Russell Wilson.
They were teammates at LSU. They’re now the two highest-paid receivers in the NFL.
So how do the contracts signed by Justin Jefferson of the Vikings and Ja’Marr Chase of the Bengals compare?
As it relates to new-money annual average (an often flawed way to value contracts), Jefferson is at $35 million per year and Chase is at $40.25 million. (Given the bloated final year of the deal, Chase’s real new-money APY is more like $38.728 million.)
Here are some other apples-to-apples comparisons of the two contracts.
Regarding full guarantees at signing, Jefferson has $88.743 million through Year 1, $95.743 million through Year 2, and $110 million through Year 3. Chase has $73.9 million through Year 1, $103.9 million through Year 2, and $112 million through Year 3.
Remove the per-game roster bonuses from the calculations, and Jefferson’s numbers are $87.723 million, $94.723 million, and $108.98 million. For Chase, they’re $72.9 million, $101.9 million, and $109 million.
The injury guarantee at signing is $110 million for Jefferson and $109.8 million for Chase.
On cash flow, the numbers favor Chase. Through Year 1, Jefferson is at $38.063 million and Chase is at $41.16 million. Through Year 2, Jefferson is at $69.993 million and Chase is at $75 million. Through Year 3, Jefferson is at $95.743 million and Chase is at $105 million. Through Year 4, Jefferson is at $125.743 million and Chase is at $138 million. Through Year 5, Jefferson is at $159.743 million and Chase is at $182.816 million. (Again, Chase’s final year is bloated.)
Removal of the per-game active roster bonuses makes things considerably tighter, since Chase has $5 million tied to being able to suit up and play. Jefferson’s number is roughly $2 million.
Both deals are very strong. While Chase’s deal is better on all metrics, it’s not dramatically better. And the cap doesn’t reflect the low-hanging, oft-misleading new-money APY gap.
The Giants are done waiting on Aaron Rodgers.
With Rodgers visiting Pittsburgh on Friday, the Giants have signed veteran quarterback Jameis Winston. Winston has confirmed the NFL Media report.
He joined Tommy DeVito as the only two quarterbacks on the Giants’ roster. They’ll surely add more, possibly through the draft.
Winston recently visited the Giants, along with veterans Russell Wilson and Joe Flacco.
The first pick in the 2015 draft, Winston spent five years with the Buccaneers, four with the Saints, and one with the Browns. He has 105 regular-season appearances with 87 starts. His record as a starter is 36-51.
Winston has thrown 154 touchdown passes, with 111 interceptions.
He has become an engaging and colorful personality. He might be the kick in the ass the Giants need.
The move most likely removed the Giants from the running for Aaron Rodgers, limiting his option to the Steelers, maybe the Vikings, and possibly retirement.
The Vikings need a veteran quarterback. And they’re reportedly talking to one who hasn’t played since January 2024.
The Vikings are in communication with Ryan Tannehill, reports Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports.
As we hear it, the Vikings consider Tannehill a potential option. However, no deal has been discussed. Tannehill, we’re told, is very happy in Nashville. He has made nearly $200 million during his career.
The 36-year-old Tannehill never signed with any team in 2024. As we explained in September, was being “very selective” about his next destination. He would need to have a compelling opportunity to move his family.
The eighth overall pick in the 2012 draft (which also produced Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson, Nick Foles, and Kirk Cousins), Tannehill spent seven seasons with the Dolphins and five with the Titans.
Tannehill and current Vikings QB1 are represented by the same firm. That would make things awkward, to say the least, is the Vikings were to take the position that Tannehill has a chance to start, in order to get him to move his family to Minneapolis.
Aaron Rodgers has previously spent time in Pittsburgh, usually in three-hour chunks at the local football stadium. He spent twice that amount of time on Friday, visiting with the local team.
Via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, Rodgers visited the Steelers’ facility for roughly six hours on Friday. Schefter calls it a “positive visit,” and says the two sides will “stay in touch.”
The development remained tightly under wraps until Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette caught wind of it. After he reported it, others mobilized to confirm the news — because it’s never good enough to trust someone else’s reporting, apparently.
The fact that Dulac reported it means someone from the Steelers leaked it. Which could have been a test by Rodgers to see whether the S.S. Rooney has leaks. Indeed, Rodgers has complained in the past about leaks with the Jets.
But every team has leaks. And the fact that Rodgers visited Pittsburgh is something that wouldn’t have remained silent, given the reporting obligation to the league office. It would have been (and eventually will be) on the daily list of transactions. (It didn’t make it to the Friday report.)
The visit by all appearances doesn’t alter Rodgers’s timeline. He’s currently in no hurry to make a decision. We’ve heard that the delay has occurred in large part at the advice of his agent, David Dunn.
No one truly knows what Rodgers wants to do. It’s possible if not probable that he doesn’t know. Steelers, Giants, wait to see whether the Vikings come around, retirement, or wait for a quarterback on a Super Bowl contender to suffer a serious injury.
An expectation emerged that he was ready to go. The Steelers made their offer. And then it all fizzled out.
So the wait continues. Through it all, it’s unlikely there will be any announcements. Just developments. A visit here. A visit there.
And then at some point he’ll sign a contract. Or he won’t.
Some (hand raised) have criticized quarterback Aaron Rodgers for taking his time in picking a new team. As one source explains it, however, Rodgers is simply being a good client.
Rodgers’s agent, David Dunn, has been encouraging Rodgers to be patient. Patience can become leverage. Leverage can improve offers.
As we understand it, the Steelers have had an offer on the table for nearly two weeks. It hasn’t been sweetened, yet. It could be, in theory.
Ultimately, Rodgers will do whatever he wants. In 2023, for example, he gave up more than $35 million in compensation from the Jets — to the dismay of the firm that gets paid a percentage of what he makes.
If Rodgers wants to take the pending offer, he can. If he wants Dunn to counter, Rodgers can make that directive.
For now, it’s the Steelers or the Giants. The Vikings are out, for now. And possibly for good. The Steelers are in. And with Rodgers literally in Pittsburgh, the Steelers have the first crack at signing him.
Well, well, well.
The news that the Vikings wouldn’t be signing quarterback Aaron Rodgers “at this time” sparked a report that Minnesota’s lack of current interest won’t impact Rodgers’s timetable. As reported by Adam Schefter of ESPN.com on Wednesday, Rodgers remains “in no rush at all.”
And while he might not be in any rush to sign a contract, he has paid a visit to Pittsburgh. Via Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Rodgers is currently at the Steelers’ facility.
Dulac calls the development “an indication that a deal could be forthcoming.” Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports that “no deal at this time is close.”
Regardless of what happens, this is the first official free-agent visit of Rodgers’s entire career. At this point, who knows what happens next?
Minnesota’s reported lack of interest was promptly clarified to explain that plans could change later in the offseason. And, initially, Rodgers seemed to be content to wait for the Vikings to conclude that Rodgers will be a better option for 2025 than J.J. McCarthy.
Now, Rodgers is at least doing some due diligence. The next step remains to be seen.
Ryan Kelly’s departure from Indianapolis as a free agent this offseason was notable enough to elicit a statement of gratitude from Colts owner Jim Irsay and the Vikings center discussed his decision to switch teams on Thursday.
Kelly made four Pro Bowls while spending the first nine years of his NFL career with the Colts and he told reporters that he had long envisioned spending his career in one place. He said there was “no major event” that led him to change his mind, but that he began to feel “it was just time to move on” as he got closer to the end of his contract with the team.
“It was time for me to maybe check out what else is out there and move on and have a new perspective in this career,” Kelly said, via Stephen Holder of ESPN.com. “So, yeah, I can’t say there’s a specific event. I’ll miss the guys in the O-line room and I’ll miss a bunch of people there. But, in my heart, I just knew it was time to move on and I kind of felt that way over the last year and a half.”
Kelly noted that he snapped the ball to 13 quarterbacks during his time with the Colts and the current hope in Minnesota is that he will only be snapping to J.J. McCarthy during his time in a Vikings uniform.
The calliope has stopped for the NFL’s game of musical chairs. Multiple teams had been waiting for Aaron Rodgers to pick a seat, any seat.
If he’s not going to do it any time soon, at what point does the chase for chairs continue without him?
The Steelers and Giants are seemingly waiting for Rodgers to make a decision before making moves with other veteran quarterbacks. Caught in the wash of Rodgers’s delay are players like Russell Wilson, Joe Flacco, Jameis Winston, and (if a trade is possible from the Falcons) Kirk Cousins. With the Vikings reportedly not signing Rodgers “at this time” and with Rodgers potentially waiting to see whether J.J. McCarthy performs well enough during the offseason program to keep the Vikings from breaking glass in event of emergency, will the Steelers and Giants keep waiting, too? Or will they move on?
It’s more imperative for the Giants, who currently have one quarterback on the roster — journeyman who has yet to do much journeying Tommy DeVito. They desperately need someone, anyone on whom they can pin even a portion of their hopes for 2025. (They’ve brought in Wilson, Flacco, and Winston for visits in the past week.)
The Steelers have two quarterbacks on the roster: Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson. Rudolph performed well down the stretch for the Steelers in 2023, after the soft benching of Kenny Pickett (and before Rudolph wanted more than the Steelers were inclined to pay). Thompson, like Rudolph, has once started a playoff game in Buffalo. The Steelers seem to be in better position to let it ride through the draft than the Giants.
It’s also possible the Steelers and/or Giants could add a veteran with the understanding that, if Rodgers comes calling at some point down the road, the veteran will be sent packing. That will make the terms of any contract even more important; the fully guaranteed money at signing, or lack thereof, will shine plenty of light on whether the veteran is at risk of being thrown overboard if/when Rodgers shows up.
There’s also a chance that, if/when Rodgers decides to take a job with one of the team to which he has been linked, no jobs will be open. He surely understands this fact, and he seems to be willing to accept the risk that the chairs will be filled — and won’t be tipped over and emptied — if/when he finally decides to make his move.
On Wednesday’s PFT Live, I complained about Rodgers seemingly waiting to make his choice. It now seems that he’s strategically waiting for whether he’ll have a chance to choose the Vikings. Which, if true, raises a key question for the Steelers and Giants.
How long are you going to sit around and wait for Rodgers?
