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.
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John Pecks Rough Tigers Start May Be Hiding Something Important
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Tigers Have 4 Under-The-Radar Roster Cases Fans Should Be Watching
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None of those cases is settled yet, and that is what makes them worth watching over the winter. The Tigers offseason will help determine how many openings are truly available, while health and late decisions will matter just as much as what these four have already shown, leaving each player with a chance to turn a strong year into a more permanent place in the plans. [Read more 🡒]