The New York Giants were rumored to be making calls all across the NFL in search of some quarterback help, and they've supposedly found their move. On Monday, the club agreed to a trade with the Minnesota Vikings to land former first-round pick J.J. In exchange, New York is sending out a 2027 fifth-round pick.
This all comes after the Giants lost starting quarterback Jaxson Dart for the rest of the season due to a knee injury he suffered in Week 2. While initially thought to not be too serious, further examination showed the injury was more severe, and Dart has since undergone surgery that'll put him on the shelf for the rest of the year. That stretched New York's quarterback depth very thin, with Jameis Winston the only other quarterback on the active roster at the time of Dart's injury.
Winston got the start in Week 3's win over the Titans on Sunday, with Jake Haener backing him up after being elevated from the practice squad. Despite squeaking out the victory, Winston wasn't sharp and completed just 14 of his 22 passes for 118 yards and no touchdowns. It's unclear whether McCarthy will come in and usurp Winston as QB1, but it does give the Giants another option, adding someone with 10 career starts under his belt.
This deal puts to bed McCarthy's humdrum tenure in Minnesota. During the 2024 NFL Draft, the Vikings moved up to the No. 10 overall pick to select the Michigan product as their QB of the future. That investment never saw returns, as a knee injury erased his entire rookie season.
Then, as they turned the keys over to him in 2025 and allowed Sam Darnold -- who led them to a 14-3 record the previous year -- to leave in free agency, McCarthy struggled mightily. Last season, the team finished with a 9-8 record (6-4 in McCarthy's starts) and missed the playoffs. That led the Vikings to sign Kyler Murray this offseason, and the veteran was named the starter in the early days of training camp.
After McCarthy was relegated to QB3 behind Carson Wentz, the writing was on the wall. He had no future in Minnesota, and a departure -- like we've seen here -- was inevitable. With this deal now executed, let's figure out who came out on top.
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