The New York Giants lost quarterback Jaxson Dart to injury in Week 2 against the Los Angeles Rams, and if the signal-caller lands on short-term IR or worse, the Giants will need to sort out their quarterback depth in a hurry. 

Adam Schefter reported Tuesday afternoon that tests on Dart’s left MCL injury were “worse than initially thought” and a season-ending knee surgery could be on the table. 

Jameis Winston is the obvious starter in Dart’s absence, and there are reasons to feel good about that. The locker room loves him, he can push the ball downfield, and he showed what he can do in pinch-hit duty over the last several years. The real question is who backs him up.

Jake Haener is on the practice squad and would need to be elevated, but is he really the answer as the No. 2? Probably not. That opens the door for the Giants to look elsewhere, and there are a few names worth running through.

The curveball: Will Levis

Here’s one that is easy to connect the dots on geographically, if nothing else. Will Levis just signed to the New York Jets practice squad, meaning he is literally in the same building at MetLife Stadium. The Giants could sign Levis off the Jets’ practice squad directly to their 53-man roster if they wanted to.

There is also a coaching connection, which is actually a bad thing for Levis. Giants quarterback coach Brian Callahan was the head coach in Tennessee when Levis had and lost his opportunity to be the franchise quarterback. That relationship, though, is precisely the reason this one does not make much sense. Callahan’s staff just spent a year and a half with Levis, and there are many other options worth exploring before bringing him into the building. The stylistic similarities between Levis and Dart as run-game-oriented quarterbacks are real, but Dart has a higher ceiling, and the coaching staff’s familiarity with Levis is not the selling point some might think it is.

The realistic addition: Gardner Minshew

If the decision is made to shut Dart down for the season with surgery and IR, the Arizona Cardinals have a quarterback just sitting in no man’s land. Arizona drafted Carson Beck in the 3rd round and has Jacoby Brissett as the veteran starter. Gardner Minshew is the odd man out.

The Cardinals need to find out what they have in Beck at some point, and carrying both Brissett and Minshew does not make long-term sense. The Giants could grab Minshew as a backup behind Winston, which is an immediate upgrade over Haener in terms of depth.

Is Minshew going to challenge Winston for the starting job? No. And frankly, he is not particularly good. But nobody is proposing a replacement for Winston as the Giants’ starter if Dart is out the rest of the year. The entire exercise is about finding someone better than Jake Haener to back up Jameis. Minshew checks that box, and as a bonus, a locker room with both Jameis Winston and Gardner Minshew would be one hell of a reality show.

The intriguing trade target: Spencer Rattler

This is the real No. 1 option. If the Giants can get their hands on Spencer Rattler, they should jump at the opportunity.

The New Orleans Saints replaced Rattler with 2025 second round pick Tyler Shough last season in Week 9. Was it incredible winning football from Rattler? No. But at the time, it did not feel bench-worthy based on what the Saints had shown. Rattler has tools. He is young. He has not yet fully accepted the “backup quarterback” label the way someone like Mac Jones has after bouncing around since losing his starting job in New England.

The question is what the Saints would demand in a trade, and whether they would be willing to part with their second quarterback behind Shough. New Orleans also has Zach Wilson, which complicates the picture. If Tyler Shough goes down, are the Saints comfortable with Wilson as the backup?

The case for the Saints to trade Rattler is simple: the only reason to keep him is if you are not sure Shough is your guy. And while it has been just shy of a full season’s worth of football from Shough, he looks really solid. Liquidate that asset and turn it into value.

The counterargument is just as strong. The Saints are in a winnable NFC South division, and through two weeks, six of the 32 starting quarterbacks across the league have gone down with injuries. That list includes Tua Tagovailoa, Kyler Murray, Sam Darnold, Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and now Jaxson Dart. In a division you can stumble into and win, trading away your quarterback depth is a tough sell.

Winston is the guy for 2026, and that is fine

For Giants fans wondering if the answer is really just Jameis Winston for the rest of the season, most likely yes. And that is not the worst thing in the world. When Dart went down late last year, Winston came in and threw for 200 yards in a 7-point loss to the Green Bay Packers. He followed that with 366 yards and 3 touchdowns in an overtime loss to Detroit, 34-27. He can sling it, he can keep the Giants in games, and the roster will rally behind him. This is not a Caleb Williams situation where the Bears might be rolling Case Keenum out there with Tyson Bagent in concussion protocol. Winston gives you a real chance every Sunday.