The Giants took a swing on J.J. McCarthy, and early returns have made the price look awfully light.
When New York dealt for McCarthy to fill in for the injured Jaxson Dart, the reaction was split. Plenty of people wondered whether a former first-round flameout could really steady a team that wasn’t expected to do much before the season. Two games in, though, the answer looks pretty clear.
Yes. The answer is yes.
McCarthy has been excellent in his first five quarters with the Giants, and the fifth-round pick New York sent to Minnesota to land him already feels like a tiny price to pay. The deal looks even better now that Baltimore’s move for Jacoby Brissett is on the books.
The Ravens sent a 2027 fourth-round pick and a 2028 seventh-round pick to the Arizona Cardinals for Brissett and a 2027 fifth-round pick. That trade was announced earlier in the week, then made official Friday.
On paper, that means the Giants actually gave up more value for McCarthy than Baltimore did for Brissett. But the bigger story is what each team is buying.
Brissett is 33, and he was just benched for Gardner Minshew. He’s not about to turn into an above-average quarterback overnight.
The realistic expectation is that he’ll be a bottom-five quarterback the rest of the way and a useful backup in 2027. Baltimore is simply trying to keep its season from sliding completely off the rails.
McCarthy is a different kind of bet. He could easily outplay the cost of that fifth-round pick, and he may already have done it.
If he keeps performing the way he did against the Texans, rival teams could be willing to pay a second-round pick for him in an offseason trade. That kind of showing would even force people to ask whether he should replace Dart, though that conversation is nowhere near serious right now.
For the Giants, the math on the trade is simple. A fifth-round pick, especially one made by Joe Schoen, is basically a dart throw. Most of those selections never turn into much at all, and almost none become a quarterback you can actually start.
That’s why New York would make the deal again without hesitation.
In his first start of the season, McCarthy completed more than 70% of his passes and threw for 253 yards. He also hit several throws that reminded everyone why he went in the top 10 of the 2024 draft. He didn’t throw a touchdown, but the Giants still got the win anyway.
What makes it even more striking is how quickly it happened. McCarthy did it just a couple of weeks after arriving in a new system with new pass-catchers. That kind of setup usually takes time, and there’s a good chance he keeps getting better as the season goes on.
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