The New York Giants made a significant move to address their quarterback situation, trading a 2027 fifth-round pick to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for quarterback JJ McCarthy. With Jaxson Dart sidelined for the remainder of the season, the Giants needed a more dynamic option under center than Jameis Winston, and the former first-round pick out of Michigan fits the bill.

The price was right for New York

A fifth-round pick is the exact price the Giants should have been willing to give up for McCarthy. Anything more than a fourth-round pick would have been a robbery. Teams around the league could probably sniff the desperation from New York after Winston’s performance against the Tennessee Titans, and plenty of franchises were likely praying the Giants would overpay.

The Vikings didn’t have leverage either. McCarthy wasn’t going to play in Minnesota. Kyler Murray was the starter after coming back from injury, and Carson Wentz was clearly the viable backup they wanted to roll with. The relationship between the organization and McCarthy was fractured, and there was no path to anything positive.

Moving on from him while he was still on his rookie contract, for any price, represented a return for Minnesota. A fifth-round pick is solid on their end, and for the Giants, not having to sacrifice anything more than a mid-Day 3 selection allows them to stay competitive without being completely sunk.

If you remove the scope of what the pick could have been utilized for and simply evaluate the long-term value, trading a fifth-round pick for your possible long-term backup behind Dart is an excellent return.

McCarthy fits what Nagy and Roman want to do

JJ McCarthy more physically resembles Jaxson Dart than Jameis Winston does. As much as Winston has been a great leader and locker-room presence, the Giants need somebody who can actually work within the system that offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and assistant Greg Roman want to run.

The Giants built their offense the entire offseason around running the football and using Dart as a runner in creative ways. The Week 1 win over the Dallas Cowboys featured misdirection, opportunities for Dart to turn upfield into open space, play-action concepts, and throws on the run. They couldn’t do any of that with Winston. He is as immobile as he could possibly be, and he is even less mobile now than he was earlier in his career.

Having somebody who can drop in without shifting the game plan on a whim is critical. Against the Los Angeles Rams, the offense sputtered because Winston faced a matchup they weren’t prepared for. McCarthy changes that equation. He’s a good athlete, a capable runner, and he works well in play-action.

The usage will likely mirror what McCarthy did at Michigan. Expect a heavy lean on the run game with Najee Harris and Cam Skattebo carrying the load. When the Giants need McCarthy to throw on third down or in play-action situations, that’s when they’ll ask him to do it. This won’t be a 30-attempt passing game. Passing attempts will probably dip compared to what we saw from Dart (which wasn’t a ton in Week 1 against the Cowboys).

McCarthy hasn’t been great in his NFL career. He’s thrown for 1,600 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions, along with 181 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns. He never felt like he fit what Kevin O’Connell was trying to do in Minnesota, and he always seemed awkward and uncomfortable in his starts last year.

The injury concern is real

The one major concern is McCarthy’s injury history. He had two thumb issues last year, one of which shut him down for the season. The former first-round pick had a concussion in November, a high ankle sprain in September, and a meniscus tear in 2024. He wasn’t particularly injury-prone in college, but he has been extremely injury-prone in the NFL despite a small sample size.

Despite that, the Giants need to utilize him as a runner as much as possible. They need to extract as much value as they can from his best trait: his mobility.

This doesn’t make the Giants a playoff contender

This move doesn’t turn the Giants into a playoff team, and nobody’s takeaway should be that. What it does is bridge the gap. New York’s offense has been atrocious over the past two games with Winston. The Giants aren’t going to sniff what they did with Dart in Week 1. But at the very least, they should get slightly better and be able to win close, low-scoring games through their defense, through running the football, and through controlling time of possession.