Giants Veteran QB Dilemma: Russell Wilson or Aaron Rodgers, Who’s the Better Fit?
The New York Giants are completely up in the air at this point about who should fill their starting quarterback position. New York is in the midst of trying to decide if they should pursue a veteran quarterback or if they should just start brand new with a quarterback from the draft. They have plenty of options to choose from, but they are very much up in the air about what they are going to do and who they want to pick up. The Giants met with veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers and will be meeting with Russell Wilson on Friday, and all of the conversations between Rodgers and the Giants have gone well, as they now await their meeting with Wilson tomorrow. The question that remains at hand is who would be the better option out of these two to make the cut for the team? They do also have a quarterback draft pick, but that also remains in question as to who they would want to pick up and sign with. They could have Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders, or anyone else that they could get their hands on during the draft. They already have Tommy DeVito returning for another season.
Rodgers has been playing in the NFL for what feels like forever at this point. This Super Bowl Champion has been playing since 2005. He was selected by the Green Bay Packers as the 24th overall pick in the first round. He was considered a top-tier pick. At this point in his career, he pretty much knows his way around the league. His stats show a record of 5,369 completions on 8,245 attempts. Rodgers has also thrown for 62,952 yards during his 20-year NFL career. He has a gun slinger arm that still works but it’s used on very rare occasions due to his age at this point. Rodgers has also thrown 116 interceptions during his career. Rodgers is considered to be one of the oldest quarterbacks in the league at this point at the ripe age of 41. If the Giants pick him up, this could go either way for them. They could have a great season with Rodgers or they could fall to where the New York Jets were at 5-12 last season. It wasn’t a good look for them. This former MVP also struggles to pass a physical at this point in his career. This would not be a smart move for the Giants to pick him up, but if they take him on for a year until they find someone, that’s okay too.
Wilson has his options open. He is seeking out any team that has an opening for a quarterback position. This quarterback is not only talking to the Giants but is also talking with the Cleveland Browns. He has been playing in the NFL for over 12 years and has brought the heat for each one of the teams that he has played for. He has played for three different teams, the Seattle Seahawks, the Denver Broncos, and last season he played with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now, this Pro Bowler is back in free agency again.
Wilson’s career in the NFL started in 2012 when the Seattle Seahawks drafted him in the third round as the 75th overall pick for that year. He has been selected to the Pro Bowl nine times and has one Super Bowl win back in XLVIII. Wilson is considered to be one of the greatest dual-threat quarterbacks of all time around the league. Wilson has a 64 percent completion rate, having recorded 46,135 yards, and has scored 350 touchdowns. He has also had 111 interceptions during his years of playing in the league, as he enters his 14th NFL season.
I think the choice is pretty clear on who the Giants need to go with. Wilson has had a pretty decent career and so has Rodgers. However, Wilson has more left in the tank than Rodgers does moving forward. That’s not only because of his age, it's because Wilson still puts his legs to use and he can do everything that a quarterback is supposed to, run the ball, pass the ball, and move it down the field. Not that Rodgers can’t do any of that at this point, but there are so many things that are stopping him physically. It would hurt the Giants more if they picked him up.
However, the Giants are still looking to pick someone up in the draft for this year. They need to start fresh, no matter who they can put into the quarterback position. They just need to make the right choice and not wait until it’s too late. If they make that decision, then they are going to pull from the bottom of the barrel and end up like they did last season, several losses with interchangeable quarterbacks every week. Not a good look for any team. The Giants just need to get the negotiations right and prove that they have the team that the perfect quarterback should play for.
