Former Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy will be looking for a fresh start with the New York Giants after the trade on Sept. 28.
Minnesota received a 2027 fifth-round pick in exchange for McCarthy, and now the question will be whether the former first-round pick sees the field in New York this season. Nonetheless, several variables could make that happen.
One is that Jameis Winston keeps playing at a subpar level, which he has done through two games after taking over for starting QB Jaxson Dart, who is out for the rest of the season. The other is how long it will take for McCarthy to learn the Giants‘ offense.
NFL insider James Palmer shared his outlook on when McCarthy could be ready to see the field for New York; now that doesn’t mean he will.
“When does he play? That’s one of the things that everybody’s very curious about,” Palmer said in a Sept. 29 video from his X account. “He’s arriving, taking that physical, most likely on the practice field for the first time [on Sept. 30], and then he’ll start learning this offense.
“I’m describing some characteristics of it that are similar to the strengths that J.J. McCarthy has. So he will start to get his feet wet. The last thing you want to do is just throw him out there without learning and understanding everything.
“… I would say he’ll be ready Week 7, Week 8, Week 9. If Jameis Winston is playing really, really well, you’re not going to make the switch. I think the timeline for this is really down to just two things. It’s how quickly J.J. McCarthy picks all of this up, and it’s how Jameis Winston is playing.”
J.J. McCarthy Made Sense for the Giants for Style Perspective
Moreover, in the same video, Palmer said one reason McCarthy made sense for the Giants is that the former Vikings QB is mobile and New York’s offense is designed for a mobile QB, since that’s one of Dart’s strengths.
“The other part is playing style,” Palmer added. “That played a big part because Matt Nagy and that entire offensive staff spent the entire offseason coming into town with John Harbaugh and putting into place an offense that was designed around a quarterback who is mobile, a quarterback who can use his legs, a quarterback who can kind of throw on the move.
“Those are things that Jaxson Dart was great at, and those are things that J.J. McCarthy can do as well. That’s why you see oftentimes there are a lot of similarities in some buildings between the backup and the quarterback’s strengths in this.”
Former Vikings QB Could Be Big Insurance for New York
If McCarthy plays this season and shows more of the positives he had in Minnesota than the negatives, the Giants will have major insurance behind Dart, given that their starter has had injuries in his first two seasons in the NFL.
“Then you have to protect yourself in the short term and maybe even beyond that with a move like getting a quarterback like McCarthy, who has upside and talent to be picked at the top of the draft,” Palmer said. “Jaxson Dart has missed 17 of a possible 34 games in his career. You need to protect yourself moving forward as well.”
Giants Issued Clear J.J. McCarthy Outlook After Trade With Vikings