The Minnesota Vikings are heading into Week 3 with a chance to open 3-0 for the first time since 2024, and only the sixth time since 2000, if they can knock off the 0-2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
They’ll have Kyler Murray back in the lineup after the 29-year-old first-year Viking missed Week 2’s win in Chicago. Murray was concussed on the 11th play of Minnesota’s opener against the Green Bay Packers.
Behind him, Carson Wentz will serve as QB2, with the 33-year-old NDSU alum stepping in after Murray went down. JJ McCarthy, the 2024 first-round pick, will be inactive as QB3 and only available in an emergency in Tampa.
That kind of depth-chart slide has kept McCarthy out of the spotlight lately, but the conversation around him picked up again on Tuesday for a very different reason. Veteran NFL reporter Gary Myers suggested the New York Giants should call the Vikings and explore a trade for McCarthy after news that their starter, Jaxson Dart, may be lost for the season with a knee injury suffered in Week 2.
“If Jaxson Dart is done for the year, I think the @Giants should trade for Vikings third-string QB J.J. McCarthy.
GM Joe Schoen considered him w/6th overall pick in 2024 (they took Malik Nabers). McCarthy helped Jim Harbaugh win national championship in 2023 and he loves McCarthy.
John and Jim often sign players with a history with each other. Probably would cost only mid-round pick and Giants could run same RPO offense they were using with Dart that is not suited to Jameis Winston.
If McCarthy plays well for Giants, can build up his value to trade him after season or supplant Winston as Dart’s backup. Low-risk move.
McCarthy has been huge disappointment in Minnesota but he’s only 23 years old, a few months older than Dart.”
Myers’ point about age lines up with the numbers. Dart is only a few months younger than McCarthy, even though Dart went No. 25 overall in 2025 after McCarthy was taken No. 10 overall by Minnesota in 2024.
Their NFL tracks have gone in very different directions. McCarthy has started just 10 games and has completed 57% of his passes for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. A knee injury in his rookie year wiped out that season and, as the source notes, clearly slowed his development.
Dart, meanwhile, has already logged 16 NFL games and 14 starts. He’s completed 64.9% of his passes and has thrown for 2,522 yards, 18 touchdowns and five interceptions.
The Giants’ interest in McCarthy is hardly new. They reportedly considered him seriously during the 2024 draft before choosing Malik Nabers at No. 6 overall.
And this wasn’t even the first time this summer they came up as a possible landing spot. In late August, Jason La Canfora had already mentioned New York as a team that could have interest in trade talks for McCarthy if Minnesota made him available at the right price.
With Dart’s status now in doubt, the idea of the Giants revisiting that conversation suddenly looks a lot more real than it did a month ago.
In Other News...
Bengals Just Created A Depth Chart Battle Fans Should Watch
Following the Bengals Week 2 win, a few reserve players made a much louder case for themselves than most backups usually do. Defensive ends Cedric Johnson and Cashius Howell both turned in disruptive snaps with pressures and sacks, while on offense Erick All Jr. and rookie Colbie Young logged meaningful playing time in a game plan that leaned into heavier personnel and multiple tight end looks.
For a team always trying to squeeze more out of the bottom of the roster, that kind of usage matters. It suggests Cincinnati is not just mixing and matching for one week, but also testing whether some of these newer faces can push into bigger roles and maybe force a little movement on a depth chart that had seemed fairly settled. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Enter Week 3 With The AFC North Suddenly In Flux
Two weeks into the season, the AFC North already looks far different than it did when the schedule opened. Cincinnati has moved into the division lead, while the rest of the neighborhood has been busy reshuffling itself. Cleveland answered plenty of early criticism with a win over Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh stumbled against New England, and Baltimore slipped from its perch after a late-game loss, leaving the standings tighter and less predictable than usual.
For the Bengals, that kind of early volatility matters because every divisional game now carries extra weight, and the coming matchups could quickly harden or blur the order again. Coaches and analysts around the division are already framing the next stretch as a test of who can steady themselves fastest, and Cincinnati sits in the middle of that conversation with an opening to build on its position if it can take advantage of the opportunities ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Jonathan Allen Is Giving Bengals Fans Another Reason To Believe
Jonathan Allen has quickly become more than just a new face on the Bengals defensive line. Since arriving in Cincinnati, he has settled in as a key contributor both in the huddle and on the field, giving the group a sturdier look early in the season. Before the matchup with the Texans, he also set the tone with a pre-game speech that seemed to carry real weight once the game started.
Allen backed up the message with production, finishing with a sack and multiple tackles for loss while continuing to grade well in pass-rush work. For a Bengals defense that has needed more consistency up front, his early impact has offered a tangible reason for optimism, and a reminder that his value may extend well beyond the box score. [Read more 🡒]