The New York Giants' vibes took a hit once quarterback Jaxson Dart went down with what turned out to be a seawson-ending knee injury early in their Week 2 game against the Los Angeles Rams. Backup Jameis Winston is the starter moving forward, but head coach John Harbaugh let it be known they were planning on adding a quarterback.
Little did fans know that the Giants were going to take a gamble to improve their quarterback depth. Multiple reports indicated on Monday that the Giants agreed to a trade with the Minnesota Vikings to acquire quarterback J.J. McCarthy. In exchange, the Giants handed the Vikings a 2027 fifth-round pick.
So, two years later, the Giants bring in the former quarterback prospect they were linked to before ultimately passing on him in favor of wide receiver Malik Nabers.
Giants were heavily linked to J.J. McCarthy in 2024 NFL Draft process
Back in 2024, the Giants were in the running to draft a quarterback to replace Daniel Jones. But, they held the sixth overall pick, and the likes of Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Drake Maye were all expected to be off the board by the time they were on the clock. So, McCarthy was a quarterback that could be in play for them.
During the draft process in 2024, SNY's Connor Hughes said there was buzz that McCarthy was potentially the player the Giants wanted in the first-round. Before the NFL Draft, McCarthy revealed on The Rich Eisen Show that he had spent the most time with the Giants during the pre-draft process. There was plenty of smoke that the Giants could very well pass on one of the top position players available for McCarthy.
That ultimately didn't amount to anything, as the Giants drafted Nabers with the sixth overall pick. McCarthy ended up on the VIkings four picks later. When it came to it, both head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen believed that Nabers was the better fit and that moving forward with Jones as quarterback was their plan.
Now, both Nabers and McCarthy are teammates in New York.
Giants take gamble on trading for J.J. McCarthy
The Giants opted against getting a proven veteran at quarterback and opted to bring in McCarthy, who struggled to develop his game to become a success in the pros. His case isn't necessarily helped by the fact that he struggled with Kevin O'Connell as his head coach. It's well known in the NFL world that O'Connell is one of the better coaches when it comes to helping out quarterbacks.
As Vikings starter last season, McCarthy threw for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions while completing 57.6-percent of his passes through 10 games. Additionally, McCarthy went 6-4 as the starter.
The Vikings brought in Kyler Murray this offseason to essentially compete wit McCarthy for the starting gig. It turns out that the competition was short-lived, as the Vikings named Murray the starter rather quickly, while McCarthy got pushed down the depth chart to third string. It was a matter of when, not if, he would be traded.
All it took was for the older brother of his former Michigan head coach to get him out of Minnesota. For now, he will be the backup to Winston. McCarthy will be able to run the RPO offense the Giants was running with Dart if he does get a chance to start this season. However, expect the team to prioritize running the football, much like he did at Michigan.
Two years after passing on McCarthy, he is now in New York. Granted, it took a Harbaugh to convince the Giants to bring him in as quarterback help.
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