The Giants needed a quarterback answer fast after Jaxson Dart was ruled out for the rest of the regular season, and they appear to have found one with a low-cost swing on J.J. McCarthy.
With Dart sidelined, Jameis Winston is set to take over as New York’s starter. That left the Giants looking for more insurance behind him, and according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, they’ve lined up a trade with the Minnesota Vikings for McCarthy.
“The Giants are trading for Vikings' former first-round QB JJ McCarthy, per me @AdamSchefter and @MikeGarafolo,” Rapoport reports.
The price tag is part of what makes this move stand out. Tom Pelissero of The Ringer is reporting that New York is giving up only a 2027 fifth-round pick, which makes this a relatively cheap way to add a quarterback to the room.
McCarthy’s time with Minnesota didn’t go as planned. He missed his entire 2024 rookie season because of injury, then struggled with the Vikings last season. But the Giants are betting on two things that still matter: control and upside.
As a 2024 first-round pick, McCarthy remains under contract on his rookie deal for the 2026 and 2027 seasons, with a 2028 fifth-year option also strongly worth considering. That kind of team control gives New York a longer runway than a typical backup trade.
And there’s still the appeal of what McCarthy showed at Michigan. He had enough going for him in college to get selected in the first round, and the Giants are clearly willing to take the chance that a new setting can help him reset.
For a fifth-round pick, the risk is modest. If McCarthy doesn’t pan out, New York hasn’t burned much draft capital. If he does, the Giants may have found a young quarterback they can develop in 2026 and beyond.
In the end, the logic is pretty simple: McCarthy is young, affordable, cheap to acquire, under control, and still has enough upside to make the move worth chasing.
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Najee Harris Just Forced A Tough Giants Backfield Decision
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Harris also appears further along in his recovery from a major lower-leg injury, which gives the Giants something they have not had much of lately: options. A shared workload could make sense as the season wears on and the team tries to protect both players, but it also sets up a decision about how to balance touches between two backs who are both coming off significant injuries and both showed they can help right away. [Read more 🡒]