New York Giants may be setting up for a hard Jaxson Dart conversation after latest JJ McCarthy news
New York needed quarterback depth after losing Jaxson Dart to a season-ending injury, and the cost was just a fifth-round pick — but the long-term implications for the Giants could be far more complicated.
The Minnesota Vikings are trading quarterback JJ McCarthy to the New York Giants for a 2027 fifth-round pick, giving the Giants a young quarterback option after losing starter Jaxson Dart to a season-ending knee injury in Week 2.
New York rolled with Jameis Winston in a Week 3 win over the Tennessee Titans, but the Giants clearly felt they needed to raise the ceiling at the position. McCarthy, a former top-10 pick, now heads to a Giants roster coached by John Harbaugh with offensive weapons like Cam Skattebo, Isaiah Likely, and wide receiver Malik Nabers already in place.
The trade is a low-cost gamble for a franchise navigating a brutal situation. A fifth-round pick rarely produces a meaningful contributor, so the investment is negligible. The real question is what happens next.
JJ McCarthy was never a slam dunk
For people who have followed me over the years, I was never a JJ McCarthy guy. As a prospect, I did not love him. I do not like what I have seen from him so far in the NFL.
The Vikings were clearly done with McCarthy, and it was obvious as far back as training camp that this was heading toward a split.
That said, for a fifth-round dart throw, this is a fine move. Name your favorite team’s fifth-round pick from two seasons ago. You probably cannot do it because those selections rarely hit.
The Giants are not banking their future on McCarthy. They are banking on him being better than Winston, and that is not a bar that is particularly hard to clear.
What Giants fans should be rooting for
The simplest path forward for this franchise is McCarthy looking competent without looking spectacular. If he can do what he did with the Vikings last year, where the winning was there but the passing incompetency was still pretty clear (albeit better than Winston), that is the sweet spot.
That outcome accomplishes a few things.
First, McCarthy becomes a tradeable asset. The Giants spent a fifth-round pick to acquire him. If he plays well enough to generate interest from another quarterback-needy team, they can flip him and recoup value.
Second, it provides clarity on the draft. If McCarthy keeps the Giants competitive enough to finish with the 12th or 15th pick, they are out of range for the top quarterbacks anyway. That takes a difficult decision off the table entirely.
And third, it gives the organization confidence to go back to Dart. He got hurt early. It was a catastrophic knee injury, but he will have had a full year to heal. The Giants liked what they were seeing from Dart before the injury. He will have been in the meeting rooms, practicing all spring and summer. Going back into next season with Dart as the starter becomes a comfortable decision if the rest of the roster proved it can compete.
The Jaxson Dart conversation is not going away
This is not me saying McCarthy is going to come in and take Dart’s job. I do not think that is going to happen.
Jaxson Dart is a significantly better player than JJ McCarthy. But the durability concerns with Dart are real and need to be addressed honestly. It is the same conversation that exists with the Michael Penix Jr. situation. You need to be able to trust your quarterback to be available every Sunday. If he cannot stay on the field, hard conversations need to happen.
Depending on how the rest of this season unfolds, the Giants will either feel comfortable betting on Dart staying healthy, or they will determine that the baseline play from this system was good enough to attack the quarterback market in a different way. Those conversations are inevitable at some point this offseason.
John Harbaugh is not tanking
One thing that should be very clear about this move is that it reflects the coaching staff’s mentality. John Harbaugh is not looking at this season and saying, “Let’s go 5-12 and figure it out in the offseason.” That is not who he is. That is not his resume. He is going to try to win every football game, and he needs a quarterback who gives him a better chance to do that than Winston did.
The Giants defense has looked like a contending unit through three weeks. Skattebo, Likely, and Nabers give the offense legitimate firepower. This team had a chance to compete for the division with Dart healthy.
That window may have closed, but McCarthy at least gives Giants fans a reason to show up and watch football every week. And in a season that went sideways fast, that is something worth building toward.
