On Tuesday, news broke that the New York Giants would be benching Russell Wilson in favor of rookie QB Jaxson Dart. This was not a huge surprise based on how Wilson played in the Giants' Week 3 loss against the Kansas City Chiefs, but it is still a bit surprising to see.
Russell Wilson, on his third team in as many seasons and fourth in five seasons, is now heading to the bench again. The veteran QB was a huge trade piece for the Denver Broncos back in the 2022 NFL Offseason, and all that has happened with Wilson in the years after that trade has been forgettable.
The Denver Broncos swung and missed with Russell Wilson, and this latest benching proves just how bad of a mistake Denver made with the trade.
The New York Giants have stopped the Russell Wilson experience after just three games
The Russell Wilson trade was, for a time there, one of the worst trades in the history of professional sports, period. Fortunately for the Denver Broncos, the Deshaun Watson trade is easily worse, but the Wilson trade is definitely a top-5 all-time bad move in the NFL.
George Paton thought he had something special brewing with Wilson and Nathaniel Hackett, but Wilson looked 'washed up' just a few weeks into the season, and Hackett could not even get out of his first year as the team's head coach.
The harsh truth of the situation is that George Paton and the rest of the Broncos front office made a massive, fireable mistake, but they were able to rebound with the hiring of Sean Payton. On a side note, Sean Payton's work with Wilson in 2023 looks like a flat-out miracle seeing as how poorly he's played in 2024 and now in 2025 with the Giants.
Much of Broncos Country thought they were getting prime Russell Wilson, but he was far from and now might be done in the NFL for good.