After New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart suffered a season-ending injury, the team pivoted and acquired former first-round pick J.J. McCarthy from the Minnesota Vikings.
McCarthy was in a quarterback competition earlier this offseason with Kyler Murray, who joined the Vikings in free agency, but was demoted to the team’s third-string quarterback after losing the competition.
McCarthy, who was coached by John Harbaugh’s brother Jim at Michigan, made sense for New York as a potential quarterback target and the teams agreed to a trade a few weeks ago. While Jameis Winston quieted doubters and those who pushed for McCarthy to replace him as the Giants’ starter, there remains no certainty about what New York will do at the quarterback position for the rest of the season.
Now, one insider has revealed the exact reason why the Giants made the move for McCarthy, while also rostering Jaxson Dart and Jameis Winston.
Insider Reveals Reason New York Giants Traded for J.J. McCarthy
While appearing on Locked on Giants, NFL insider Jordan Schultz said regarding the trade for J.J. McCarthy, “Dart’s the guy, and they want him to be the guy for the next decade. There was a misconception, I think, nationally about the McCarthy trade. They did not trade for J.J. McCarthy to supplant Jameis Winston. They traded for him because the price had dropped significantly.”
Schultz added, “Jim and John Harbaugh had multiple conversations about the type of person and player he can be. As he explained to me, John Harbaugh loved [McCarthy’s] hockey background, his toughness, and much of the winning he did at Michigan. But he’s not going to be the starter.”
Despite this, Schultz does not expect McCarthy to replace Winston this season. He said, “That would really surprise me. If Jameis were to play really badly in a couple of weeks in a row and they lost two in a row, I think it’s a different conversation. I don’t really expect that to happen. Not only did they sign Jameis, but they extended him, and they gave him real money in a two-year extension. And that was, I think, a manifestation of how they feel about him, knowing that if he did need to start and play, he could win them football games.”
It appears that despite some expecting McCarthy to be the team’s starter down the road, that was not the reason New York made the trade. Instead, they viewed McCarthy as a solid asset for Minnesota’s asking price. Whether the Giants would have made the trade had Dart not gotten injured is unclear.
J.J. McCarthy’s Role
During Week 5, McCarthy saw the field briefly for the Giants. Regarding his role on the team, Schultz said, “I think McCarthy will play at some point, but I’m thinking more of a supplemental role.”
Head coach John Harbaugh said of the team’s package that featured McCarthy at quarterback, “We’re in a situation now where it’s by any means necessary. So we’re all on board for whoever, however. That’s what we’ve got to do. We’ve had guys bring [everybody we can], to whatever extent we have to. Sometimes it’s gonna work. Most of the time, it’s gonna work, we hope if we’re gonna get to where we want to go, and sometimes it’s not. So, we had a chance in a couple of those to make big plays. One of them got called back because of the formation. We had an illegal motion, so gotta clean some of that stuff up.”
Insider Reveals Real Reason Giants Made J.J. McCarthy Trade