Russell Wilson met with the Cleveland Browns this week, and left Berea without a contract. He then headed for East Rutherford, NJ to meet with the New York Giants' front office about their open starting quarterback job.
So, the Browns are effectively in a race to see who can land him first and effectively clear the free agent market of one of the more experienced signal callers this offseason. The Giants are waiting to see what Aaron Rodgers decides to do with his new free time, though, so Cleveland does have an advantage on New York there: they're not waiting on anyone either way.
However, the Browns and Giants are in similarly sad states right now. Cleveland has yet to prove they can be consistent winners in the AFC North over the last several years, while the Giants have been in despair during their post-Eli Manning years. Nothing's been pretty for either franchise. They need this to work, and a solid recruitment effort would go a long way towards that goal.
Well, Daniel Jones, the former Giants starting quarterback who was demoted, placed on their practice squad, then cut from the team, didn't get that memo ahead of his Indianapolis Colts introductory press conference.
Daniel Jones' awkward response to Giants question should leave Russell Wilson with obvious choice
When asked about his time with the Giants, the good and the bad, during his introductory press conference with the Colts, Jones gave a less than ideal response.
"Uh... yeah, I mean I feel like I've learned a lot. You know, I've been uh... you know, we uh... (long pause, grimace on his face) you had some, had some good times, had some not as good times, ultimately didn't win consistently enough. Umm, but, you know, I learned a lot, and uh enjoyed the time in New York, uh, learned a lot from uh, a lot of different people and uh, throughout the process. So, feel fortunate to have had the experience there."
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Sounds like New York shouldn't have, essentially, led Jones down a path towards no development in his six years with the club. And, he should have never been put in this position, as he was never worth a first round pick to begin with.
But, Jones just did the Browns a big favor in their effort to land Wilson. By giving this answer, which doesn't exactly scream confidence oozing towards the Giants' organization's ability to piece together a winner behind a quarterback, he might've just shown that the Browns are actually the better situation for Wilson to land in.
Both teams have their issues. Both are self inflicted. And, truthfully, both rosters are set up for more success than they were in 2024. But, with this attempt at neutrality from Jones that just ends up reading as painful, Wilson should have a good idea of where to land for a decent starting job in free agency.