It was no secret that the New York Giants were looking to add to their quarterback room following Jaxson Dart’s season-ending knee injury. With names like Jimmy Garoppolo, Justin Fields, Gardner Minshew, and Mac Jones being floated around, landing on J.J. McCarthy might come as a relative surprise.
According to Tom Pelissero, Big Blue acquired McCarthy from the Minnesota Vikings on Monday morning in exchange for a 2027 fifth-round pick, giving head coach John Harbaugh another option behind Jameis Winston and giving the former No. 10 overall pick a much-needed fresh start after his time in Minnesota went sideways... or diagonal... backward... who knows.
It’s an interesting move for a team that sits at 2-1 despite losing its starting quarterback and Brian Burns in back-to-back weeks. There's no telling how this will go, so let’s sort through who came out of Monday’s surprise-ish trade feeling a little happier and who probably could’ve done without it.
3 winners and 4 losers from Giants’ J.J. McCarthy trade
Winner: J.J. McCarthy
It’s difficult to find anyone who needed a change of scenery more than McCarthy, whose career in Minnesota went from promising to borderline nonexistent insanely fast.
The 23-year-old had fallen all the way to third on the Vikings’ depth chart behind Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz, leaving him with virtually no path back onto the field without an injury, likely two ahead of him. For a guy drafted 10th overall only two years ago, sitting around waiting for someone else to get hurt wasn’t exactly going to help his career.
Now, McCarthy gets another shot with a team that could realistically need him sooner rather than later. Winston remains the starter, but after watching him throw for 229 yards, zero touchdowns, and one interception across essentially two full games in relief of Dart, the door is hardly welded shut.
Winner: Giants' running backs
Big Blue spent the offseason building an offense around a mobile quarterback and a ground-and-pound rushing attack, and losing JD6 threatened to wreck that game plan considerably.
Famous Jameis can still hand the ball to Cam Skattebo, Najee Harris, Tyrone Tracy Jr., and Devin Singletary, but he doesn’t bring the same mobility that helped make New York’s rushing attack more difficult to defend with Dart under center. McCarthy isn’t an exact replica of the former Ole Miss star, but his athleticism at least gives OC Matt Nagy more rushing ability if he ever takes over.
After Skatt needed 20 carries to grind out 60 yards against Tennessee, anything that can make defenses think about something other than stacking the box would be welcomed.
Winner: Quarterback controversy
Harbs named Winston his Week 4 starter right after Sunday’s 12-7 win over the Titans, seemingly putting to bed whatever QB controversy could’ve existed following Dart’s injury.
Then the G-Men traded a fifth-round draft pick for McCarthy not one day later.
Jaboo should be the starter against the Cardinals, but his hold on the job beyond Sunday looks a little less secure. Every ugly interception or under-throw or touchdown-less afternoon will inevitably bring the McCarthy conversation with it, which should make the next couple of weeks interesting to say the least.
Loser: Jake Haener
Backup QB Jake Haener waited all offseason to find a home, earned a spot on New York’s practice squad after a strong preseason, and finally got promoted to the active roster with Dart out for the year. His reward was roughly one week on the 53-man roster before McCarthy sent him right back where he started.
The G-Men are waiving Haener with the intention of bringing him back to the practice squad if he clears, so he isn’t necessarily going anywhere. Still, any chance he had to establish himself as a legitimate backup option disappeared the second New York made the move.
Loser: "Nine"
McCarthy’s move to New York might finally kill off the “Nine” nickname that’s turned into more of an internet punchline than anything else, and that might be for the best. Isaiah Likely already wears No. 9 for the Giants, so J.J. gets to leave the number and the meme behind in Minnesota. I like to call that winning by losing.
Loser: Jameis Winston
Harbs has already made it clear that Winston is the starter for the foreseeable future, but McCarthy’s arrival puts significantly more pressure on the 32-year-old to start producing.
There was no legitimate threat behind Winston when he took over in Week 2. Haener was nothing more than emergency depth, meaning the former No. 1 overall pick could struggle through a couple of games without constantly looking over his shoulder.
That might no longer be the case after New York surrendered one of their limited 2027 draft picks for another QB. As long as they keep winning, Winston’s numbers won’t matter nearly as much. But if the offense continues struggling to score and those ugly performances start turning into losses, it might be time for the 12th-year signal-caller to start panic-sweating with McCarthy and his untapped potential behind him.
Loser: Giants' 2027 draft cupboard
A fifth-round pick is hardly an outrageous price for a third-year QB who went 10th overall just two drafts ago, but the G-Men weren’t exactly swimming in 2027 draft picks before the trade.
New York is now down to five selections: its own picks in Rounds 1, 2, 3, and 6, plus Jacksonville’s sixth-rounder from the Daniel Faalele trade. That leaves GM Joe Schoen without a pick in the fourth, fifth, or seventh rounds as things currently stand, so the McCarthy gamble does make an already-light draft class a little lighter.
If McCarthy turns things around in New York, nobody will care about the fifth-rounder. Heck, once Dart's cleared, they could even send him to another team for some more draft capital. For now, it’s another asset Schoen no longer has at his disposal.
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