The New York Giants might want to slow their roll in thinking they have the quarterback position figured out for the rest of the season, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Fowler ranked the Giants as a “Top Trade Fit” for Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins ahead of the November 10 NFL trade deadline.
“Cousins played well enough through seven games that he has trade value,” Fowler wrote on October 28. “So does his contract, which after being reworked features a $1.3 million base salary. Aidan O’Connell, the Raiders’ QB3, is a former starter who could slide into the primary backup role to Fernando Mendoza if Las Vegas is ready to start the rookie. There are no glaring needs at quarterback leaguewide, but injuries happen every week. The Raiders have not planned to be overly active at the deadline.”
The Raiders are 3-4 and have No. 1 overall pick and 2025 Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza as Cousins’ backup through the first seven games.
“He’s a pocket thrower who wins with timing and ball location,” ESPN’s Matt Bowen wrote. “Cousins can read it out post-snap and play as a ball distributor. He lacks the mobility to make plays outside of structure at a consistent rate, but he can get to the edges on boot concepts, and he fits best in a system that incorporates play-action elements. Cousins has thrown 16 touchdown passes and five interceptions this season.”
Current State of QB for New York Giants
The Giants’ 2026 quarterback plans went out the window after starter and 2025 1st-round pick Jaxson Dart suffered a season-ending knee injury in a Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
They turned to veteran backup Jameis Winston for several games — a stretch in which they also traded with the Minnesota Vikings for 2024 1st-round pick J.J. McCarthy.
McCarthy, who battled a wide variety of injuries over his first two NFL seasons, including missing all of his rookie year, has been a revelation for the Giants over the last two games. Inserted with just over 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter and trailing 34-10 to the New Orleans Saints in Week 6, McCarthy led his team back and came within one play of tying the game in a 34-27 loss.
McCarthy got his first start in Week 7 against the Houston Texans and led the first-place Giants to a 27-21 overtime win.
Kirk Cousins Battled Giants as NFC East QB
Giants fans know Cousins well from his time as the Commanders‘ quarterback.
Cousins, who has $321.6 million in career earnings, was a 4th-round pick (No. 102 overall) by the Commanders in the 2012 NFL draft and was the team’s full-time starter from 2015 to 2017.
Cousins led the Commanders to the playoffs in his first year as a starter in 2015 and made his first of 3 career Pro Bowls in 2016 before signing a 3-year, $84 million free-agent contract with the Minnesota Vikings in 2018.
Cousins signed a 4-year, $180 million free-agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons before the 2024 season — just one month before the Falcons selected quarterback Michael Penix in the 1st round (No. 8 overall) of the 2024 NFL Draft.
ESPN Urges Giants to Explore Trade for $180 Million QB