The New York Giants have followed up their big Week 3 win over the Tennessee Titans by making a move at the quarterback position, as they acquired J.J. McCarthy in a trade with the Minnesota Vikings. In exchange for McCarthy, the Giants sent a fifth-round pick in the upcoming 2027 NFL Draft the other way.
With Jaxson Dart out for the year, the addition of McCarthy will provide some stability for New York at the quarterback position. However, just because the team acquired McCarthy doesn’t mean he will automatically start, as the team is planning to utilize him as its backup behind Jameis Winston moving forward.
Giants Make J.J. McCarthy Their Backup Quarterback After Big Trade
The Vikings selected McCarthy with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, but he never came close to turning himself into the sort of franchise quarterback that the team was looking for. McCarthy missed his entire rookie season with a meniscus injury, and when he actually played in 2025, he was essentially the worst quarterback in the league (140/243, 1,632 YDS, 11 TD, 12 INT).
McCarthy competed with Kyler Murray for the starting job over the summer, but he never really seemed to have a shot at beating him out for the gig. The writing was truly on the wall for McCarthy, though, when Carson Wentz was named the backup quarterback behind Murray instead of him.
With Dart done for the year, acquiring more depth at the quarterback position felt like a necessity at the very least. Questions about Winston’s abilities under center have emerged, but he proved in Week 3 that he can lead this team to wins. With that in mind, McCarthy is going to be backing up Winston for the time being, as the team did not feel comfortable with Jake Haener being his backup for the rest of the year.
The Giants’ addition of JJ McCarthy is viewed as a move to bolster the backup position behind Jameis Winston, not to supplant him,” NFL insider Jordan Schultz shared in a post on X. “New York did not feel confident in its options behind Winston and could not afford to go another 15 games without upgrading at QB2.”
Will J.J. McCarthy Play for the Giants in 2026?
McCarthy still has quite a bit of potential, so acquiring him isn’t a bad piece of business for the Giants. Even with his injury woes, Dart is still New York’s quarterback of the future, but if it can build McCarthy up behind the scenes, it could potentially trade him for a better return than a fifth-round pick in the future.
For now, though, McCarthy’s main goal involves getting familiar with New York’s playbook. If Winston gets hurt or struggles on the field, the Giants have a guy worth turning to in McCarthy, but for now, they don’t seem too interested in throwing him into the fire. As a result, Winston will continue leading the offense as it prepares for its Week 4 clash against the Arizona Cardinals.
Giants’ J.J. McCarthy Plan Revealed After Vikings Trade