The Giants spent the day after their win over the Titans dealing with two very different kinds of news: a quarterback addition that at least gives them a path forward, and a season-ending blow on defense that strips away one of their most important players.
New York acquired J.J. McCarthy from Minnesota, and the move immediately set off the usual post-trade debate about cost, upside and what it says about the front office’s earlier decisions.
ESPN gave the Giants a C grade, while also taking aim at the way the team handled the Winston situation. The argument there was simple: it made sense to chase a better answer at quarterback with so much season still left, but it also raised questions about why Winston was extended right before the season if the team was going to move on this quickly.
The McCarthy deal came with another practical benefit, too. Minnesota had already pushed him down the depth chart after he couldn’t beat out Wentz, and the view from the reporting was that his value was only going to keep slipping if he stayed in that spot.
The Giants got him for a fifth-round pick while also clearing a few million from his remaining 2026 and 2027 compensation. There’s still uncertainty at quarterback in 2027, but that would have been true either way.
Yahoo Sports called it the one quarterback trade that actually offered some hope, though not a guarantee of anything. That’s the catch with McCarthy: the move has a chance to work, and that already separates it from most of the other options that were out there.
Many of those choices were short-term fixes, and many came with the obvious red flags of players who were either unemployed or available by trade for a reason. McCarthy’s place in Minnesota also says plenty.
He was the third quarterback option on a team that sits last in the NFL in total yards, passing yards and first downs, which is a reminder that this is no sure thing for the Giants.
The roster shuffle didn’t stop there. With McCarthy arriving, the Giants are waiving Jake Haener and plan to bring him back on the practice squad.
Haener had been elevated to the active roster on Saturday after Jaxson Dart suffered a long-term knee injury last Monday night. The Giants will keep only two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, and Haener, 27, joined the team in August after spending time with the Chiefs during the offseason program.
If the quarterback move brought a little hope, the defensive news was a gut punch. Brian Burns is out for the year after John Harbaugh confirmed a torn ACL and surgery.
Burns was more than just the Giants’ best edge rusher. He was the emotional center of that defense, the kind of player teammates lean on because he feels every snap and every mistake.
That was on display last season after the Giants blew a late lead to the Broncos, when Burns sat in his locker stall in full uniform and cried. He’s the sort of presence that teammates respond to, which is why he had been voted captain the last two years. On the field, he backed that up with 16.5 sacks a season ago and the kind of impact that made him feel irreplaceable.
The injury leaves the Giants in survival mode on that side of the ball, and the concern goes beyond one season. The Athletic noted that the same questions the Giants carried into this year - about Dart, Cam Skattebo and Malik Nabers, along with the maturity of Dart and Skattebo - were mostly answered in less than two games, and not in the way the team would have wanted. Those concerns, the report added, are still hanging around and will follow the Giants into 2027 as well.
On the field, the Giants’ 2026 Week 3 win over Tennessee was built on defense, the run game and mistakes by the Titans. Bleacher Report graded Jameis Winston a D, but also made clear that he did enough to keep the Giants from losing the game.
New York leaned on a ground-and-pound approach and a strong defensive showing, while Tennessee didn’t put together a drive longer than three plays until its seventh offensive possession. Winston’s job was to avoid the costly mistake, and he did that.
There was also a strong individual response from rookie linebacker Arvell Reese, who followed up a rough outing with a game-high 13 tackles against the Titans. Reese said, “After a loss, you always want to self-reflect and see what you could be doing better,” and added, “So I just self-reflected on that and came out this weekend with a chip on my shoulder. And that’s really how I approach every game, but after a loss, you’re always chasing wins.”
Elsewhere, Jason Pierre-Paul floated a Giants reunion after the Burns injury, posting “@Giants what’s up” on X. The 37-year-old played three games for the Buccaneers last season after being away from football for nearly two years, and he signed with Tampa Bay’s practice squad in December 2025 before being activated late in the season.
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For New York, the move leaves the receiver room leaner and a little more defined, with only three wideouts now on the 53-man roster. Beckham is expected to look elsewhere rather than land on the Giants practice squad, so this now becomes one more roster reset for a team still sorting out how it wants to piece together its passing game moving forward. [Read more 🡒]