Mounting frustration that has brimmed for years appears to be at the surface for Seattle Seahawks star Russell Wilson. And the New York Giants could stand to gain plenty from it.
NFL insider Jordan Schultz, formerly of ESPN and Yahoo! Sports, reported that Wilson would be willing to waive his no-trade clause for one of three teams: the Denver Broncos, New Orleans Saints, or the Giants.
The 33-year-old Wilson has expressed his dissatisfaction with the direction that the Seahawks have been moving in over the last few years. While they sit in dead-last in the NFC West at 4-8, Wilson himself has continued to take plenty of punishment having been sacked 26 times in just nine games this season.
Since his rookie season in 2012, no quarterback in the NFL has been sacked more than the 420 times Wilson has been taken down. It’s an astonishing 69 more than the player who is second-place on that list, Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons.
It has taken a toll on his game, especially this season. While dealing with a finger injury, Wilson is averaging just 226.9 yards per game — his lowest output since the 2018 season.
It remains to be seen what the Giants’ level of interest would be if Wilson does force a trade out of Seattle, but there are moving parts that will make this a storyline to watch this offseason.
General manager Dave Gettleman is expected to leave his post with the Giants after four unsuccessful seasons in which he failed to build a legitimate NFC East contender. One of his headlining draft picks in quarterback Daniel Jones (No. 6 pick in 2019) has yet to show that he can be the true successor to Eli Manning while injury issues have plagued him during his first three professional seasons.
A new front-office regime might not believe in Jones, making the Giants one of the more prominent teams looking for a quarterback this offseason.
As it stands, they’re slated to have two top-10 picks in a 2022 draft — they possess their own pick and that of the Chicago Bears — that doesn’t boast a deep quarterback class behind Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett and Ole Miss’ Matt Corral.
Should the Giants not want to try and develop a quarterback while they still possess a solid collection of offensive weapons (Saquon Barkley, Kenny Golladay, Sterling Shepard, Kadarius Toney), Wilson would be a quick fix under center.
