Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy is back to being QB3 with the return of Kyler Murray. Nonetheless, over the past few days, McCarthy’s name has been in trade speculation as starters have gone down with injuries.
One potential trade destination is the New York Giants, and despite getting the win in Week 3, Jameis Winston didn’t perform well for a second straight game. Winston was 14-for-22 on his pass attempts for 118 passing yards and a passer rating of 77.5.
Moreover, Winston was sacked three times in the win over the Tennessee Titans. As a result, FOX Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano believes that if Winston can’t turn his performance around, then the Giants need to pursue a QB, including McCarthy.
“Both Jameis Winston (stepping in for the injured Jaxson Dart) and Marcus Mariota (in for Jayden Daniels) won on Sunday, but only one team left feeling good about its backup QB,” Vacchiano wrote in a Sept. 28 article.
“Mariota was stellar against a strong Seahawks defense (19 of 31, 183 yards, 3 TDs). Winston was shaky against a bad Titans team (14 of 22, 118 yards). Daniels is expected back in the next couple of weeks, but with Dart out for the season, the Giants are planning to bring in another veteran QB to at least push Winston.
“The speculation centers on free agent Jimmy Garoppolo, Chiefs backup Justin Fields and Vikings third-stringer J.J. McCarthy. The Giants were originally just looking for Winston insurance. But if his play doesn’t improve, they might be looking for someone to step in and start as soon as they’re ready.”
Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy Would Be Intriguing Option for Giants
Recently, in his Sept. 26 notebook, The Ringer’s NFL insider Tom Pelissero shared whether McCarthy would be a potential trade option for the Giants.
“McCarthy is an intriguing option,” Pelissero wrote. “The Giants extensively scouted him and the rest of the 2024 quarterback class before deciding to wait and take Dart in 2025. While injuries derailed McCarthy’s time as QB1 in Minnesota, he was 6-4 as the starter last season. He has the athletic ability to run some of the QB movement concepts from Nagy’s playbook that figure to be largely dormant while Winston is in the lineup.
“McCarthy is still in the third year of his rookie deal, making him a relatively low-cost option, with total 2027 compensation of about $3.775 million guaranteed. He played for Jim Harbaugh at Michigan. And at age 23, he’s less than four months older than Dart.”
Would the Giants Be Better Off With J.J. McCarthy?
Meanwhile, on the Sept. 23 edition of “Get Up,” host Mike Greenberg noted that the Giants would be better off having McCarthy on their roster.
“J.J. McCarthy, in theory, could come to the Giants, play well, and then have trade value somewhere else,” Greenberg said. “He could still be Jaxson Dart’s team. J.J. McCarthy would have to play really well for you to start considering, well, maybe we actually consider him over Jaxson Dart.
“That would be a better problem to have than I’m staring at 15 unwinnable games… I’m not moving on from Jaxson Dart if I’m the Giants. I think that kid is fantastic.”
Last season, in what was technically his rookie season after missing all of the 2024 campaign, McCarthy had a passer rating of 72.6 with 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions in 10 games, per StatMuse.
Giants Get Clear Message Amid Speculation on Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy