Russell Wilson's NFL story is well-documented at this point, and his unfortunate fall-off really began with the Denver Broncos back in 2022. Following the 2021 NFL Season, GM George Paton swung for the fences and tried to fix the QB situation.
He traded multiple first and second-round draft picks for Russell Wilson, who was coming off a year with the Seahawks where he threw 25 touchdowns against six interceptions. On paper, his 103.1 passer rating was outstanding, and many did not expect him to already be in a decline.
In 30 starts with the Denver Broncos in 2022 and 2023, Wilson went 11-19 and tossed 42 touchdowns against 19 interceptions. Following 2023, he was cut. Wilson played 2024 for the Pittsburgh Steelers and has been on the New York Giants this year. Well, on Wednesday morning, we may have just seen Wilson's Hall of Fame career come to an end.
Russell Wilson was just demoted, and his NFL career might officially be over now
Russell Wilson finished the game for the New York Giants in Week 10 against the Chicago Bears, but with the team moving on from head coach Brian Daboll, interim head coach Mike Kafka has made the switch to elevate Jameis Winston to the QB2 role.
Winston will be the starter now if rookie Jaxson Dart can't clear the concussion protocol in time:
More changes for the #Giants: Jameis Winston is elevated to No. 2 QB and expected to start Sunday in the event Jaxson Dart doesn’t clear the concussion protocol, per The Insiders.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 12, 2025
Winston was moved ahead of Russell Wilson, as interim coach Mike Kafka informed them. pic.twitter.com/Do4IuTVaWq
This should have been the case from the beginning. Jameis Winston was and is a better QB than Russell Wilson these past few seasons, and it really did not do the Giants any good to play Wilson at all. Heck, this team might currently have a few more wins on their record if they started Dart from Week 1.
On a side note, the Giants might have something special brewing with Dart, and the Denver Broncos did see that first-hand a few weeks ago. As for Wilson, his NFL career may have just come to an unfortunate end - he's going to be a free agent in 2026, and he'll then be set to enter his age-38 season.
Even for a backup QB job, he'd struggle to find work, as he's borderline unplayable at this point, and teams would much rather invest into a younger QB as the backup who at least has some untapped potential. At one point a top-5 QB in the league, the long, successful, but overall weird career of Russell Wilson may have just come to an end.