It didn’t take long for the New York Giants’ relatively surprising J.J. McCarthy trade to claim its first roster casualty.
According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Big Blue is waiving backup quarterback Jake Haener just days after promoting him to the active roster following Jaxson Dart’s season-ending knee injury. Assuming he clears waivers, the Giants plan to bring the 27-year-old former fourth-rounder right back to the practice squad.
So, after spending all of one week on the 53-man roster, Haener is headed back to where he started the year. Such is life as a third-string quarterback.
Jake Haener move gives Giants some clarity after J.J. McCarthy trade
Haener’s brief promotion was always more out of necessity than anything else. Once Dart went down in Week 2 against the Los Angeles Rams, the G-Men needed another quarterback behind Jameis Winston (since New York only carries two QBs on the active roster). That made Haener the obvious choice after he latched onto the P-Squad following initial roster cuts.
Now, the backup gig belongs to McCarthy.
Haener has already gotten pretty good at packing and unpacking this year. After being released by the New Orleans Saints in January, he signed a reserve/futures deal with the Kansas City Chiefs in February before being waived in May. He then worked out for the Houston Texans and Detroit Lions before finally sticking with the Giants in mid-August, just in time for the preseason.
Haener completed nine of his 10 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown across two preseason games, including a 6-of-7, 101-yard performance against the New York Jets in Big Blue's second exhibition game. It wasn’t enough to crack the initial 53-man roster, with New York opting to carry only Dart and Winston, but it earned him a spot on the JV team.
Now, barring another team claiming him off waivers, that’s where he'll end up again.
More importantly, Garafolo reported that the Giants don’t currently plan on adding another QB to the roster. That’s noteworthy after Jay Glazer reported Sunday that New York could add as many as two following Dart’s season-ending injury.
Apparently, trading a 2027 fifth-round pick for McCarthy was enough for now. But we’ll see what else shakes out over the next couple of days.
Harbaugh has already named Winston the starter for Week 4 against the Arizona Cardinals, with McCarthy presumably getting some time to learn Matt Nagy’s offense from the QB2 slot before even entertaining the idea of pushing him for the starting job -- that feels like a long way off. Meanwhile, Haener can slide back into his QB3 role and continue developing behind both on the P-Squad.
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