NY Giants to Cut Ties With Russell Wilson as Jaxson Dart Wins QB Battle, Insider Predicts

All offseason long, Brian Daboll kept hammering the same line: “Russell Wilson is our quarterback.” Well… not anymore after the Giants‘ faithful screamed, “We want Dart,” in the Week 3 loss to the Chiefs. Three games in, three straight losses, and before September even wrapped up, reports say Wilson’s already getting the hook.

Come Week 4 against the Chargers, the Giants are rolling in with rookie Jaxson Dart, per The Athletic. Which naturally raises a question: What’s next for the 36-year-old veteran? He’s been a journeyman for the past few years. Denver, Pittsburgh, New York, he’s been there. Now what? Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk believes the Giants should move on from Wilson if they want Dart to lead the offense.

“If you want Jaxson Dart to be the man, you don’t want Russell Wilson around,” Florio said in a conversation with Chris Simms. “I mean, that’s the other side of it. It’s not just what does Russell want. What should the Giants want, right? And the Giants should want, I think, to move on from Russell Wilson.” Simms, on the other hand, agreed with Florio, as he noted, “Well, maybe they will.”

It’s been an up-and-down start for Wilson in 2025, with flashes of promise sandwiched between rough outings. At least, that’s what the first three weeks taught us. Week 1 was ugly. Not only couldn’t Wilson complete half of his passes, but he couldn’t even find the end zone in the season opener.

Week 2 was phenomenal, where he showed flashes of his old deep-ball magic, throwing for 450 yards and racking up three TDs in an overtime loss to the Cowboys. But then again, Week 3 came out flat against the Chiefs. Wilson threw a pick, and the crowd immediately erupted with “We want Dart.” Dart came in for a few snaps; the crowd roared. Wilson returned, and the boos poured down again.

But overall, Daboll’s decision to bench Wilson wasn’t just because of fan pressure. The offense hasn’t been effective when it really matters. Specifically, the Giants are second-to-last in the league (31st) in two critical areas: Red zone scoring and third-down conversions. The results? It’s too early to predict whether the Giants will move on from Wilson completely or not. But it’s officially the beginning of the Jaxson Dart era in New York.

The Giants expect their first win from Jaxson Dart

The first-round rookie has only seen a handful of snaps in the first three games this season. But on Tuesday, September 23, Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported that the Giants are benching Wilson and starting Dart in Week 4 against the Chargers at MetLife Stadium.

Starting Dart this early wasn’t Daboll’s original plan. According to reports, the team initially aimed to give Dart the Week 5 start. But after a rough 22-9 loss to the Chiefs, chatter started picking up that Daboll might roll with Dart a week sooner. On Wednesday, the head coach made Dart’s promotion official.

“I did it,” Daboll said, per The Athletic. “Not going to get into the specifics. I think it’s the right thing for our football team, and that’s why I’m doing it.” In his fourth season with an 18-35-1 record and already down three games this year, Daboll believes Dart might be the spark the Giants need to finally get a win against the Chargers and moving forward.

“I don’t think any rookie QB is ever just ready to play,” he said. “You put him in there because you think that he’s done enough to show you that he can go out there and compete, and he’s done that every step of the way. That’s why I made the decision.” That said, the expectations from Dart heading into Week 4 are palpable. Will he secure the first win for the Giants? That remains to be seen.