There’s little doubt that the league no longer views Russell Wilson as a no-brainer starter. And Wilson too has taken that kindly. At 37, he wants to stay in New York, considering he didn’t request a release despite getting demoted to QB3 by the Giants last season. As an unrestricted free agent since March, he didn’t headline any report concerning teams having interest in signing him. That changed this past week.
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There’s momentum building with two major highlights: One that would see him continue as a backup in the NFL and an another that could see his playing career come to an end. For the former, there have been ongoing conversations with the Jets about Wilson serving as a potential backup to Geno Smith before the NFL Draft, but any or all progress on the matter was temporarily halted to allow the team to focus on their draft process. Monday evening came and Wilson visited them but there’s no deal in sight yet. At best, Wilson is firmly locked in the backup-at-best phase of his football career and considering highest-paid quarterbacks rarely serve as understudies, it makes a lot of sense to explore life beyond football. The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand has a fresh update on that.
“Russell Wilson is in deep discussions to go into television, which could mark the end of what is likely a Hall of Fame career as an NFL quarterback, sources briefed on the talks told The Athletic,” Marchand reported on Friday. “The NFL Today, CBS’s Sunday pregame show, is considered the favorite as the two sides have had lengthy talks.”
The idea of Wilson moving into broadcasting has been around since last season during his time with the Giants. In fact, Wilson has already had prior exposure with the network in guest roles over the years, including during a Giants bye-week last season after Jaxson Dart took over as their starting quarterback. This time, however, if a deal is finalized, Wilson would step into the role vacated by Matt Rya who left CBS to become president of football for the Falcons. The current CBS lineup includes host James Brown alongside analysts Nate Burleson and Bill Cowher.
As of now, the network has not publicly commented on the discussions. But things work out, Wilson, who seemingly wants to remain in the New York area, could work for them from its Manhattan studio.
The timing is notable. The development comes shortly after former Steelers and Wilson’s head coach Mike Tomlin joined NBC’s Football Night in America. Whether Wilson follows a similar path into television remains uncertain. What is clear, though, is that amid the speculation about a new role, Russell Wilson has reportedly visited the Jets about a potential backup role, adding another layer to the growing uncertainty about his future in 2026.
How tables have turned: Geno Smith Sanctions His Former QB1’s Visit
Geno Smith spent three seasons as Russell Wilson’s backup with the Seattle Seahawks before taking over as the full-time starter in 2022. Now, there is a scenario where that dynamic could flip. Since acquiring Smith in March, general manager Darren Mougey has been exploring the market for a veteran backup quarterback.
Before the draft, the Jets held discussions with Wilson and scheduled a post-draft visit to keep their focus on the draft process. Once the 2026 NFL Draft wrapped up, they followed through, hosting Wilson while head coach Aaron Glenn evaluated the quarterback room alongside Smith.
According to reports, Smith spoke positively about his time with Wilson in Seattle during the 2020-21 season, when he served as the backup. That familiarity adds context, though it does not confirm anything yet about Wilson’s role in 2026. Still, there appears to be mutual interest as the Jets consider adding experience behind their starter.
“After those comments at the owner’s meetings, we got back, and we kind of spoke as a group and talked about it, and that landscape really hasn’t moved much,” Mougey said at the owners’ meetings, addressing the QB room. “And we felt good about that at that time and didn’t anticipate it moving, so it felt like, ‘OK, let’s go into the draft. Let’s see where we come out. We will reconvene and say, OK, now let’s look at the landscape. Let’s look at the picture. Let’s have some good discussions about what we know we have now coming out of the Draft and kind of further evaluate it.’ So, we’ll see in the coming weeks.”
