The Minnesota Vikings traded quarterback J.J. McCarthy to the New York Giants on Monday for a 2027 fifth-round draft pick.
Why they made the move
Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart is out for the regular season after having knee surgery last week, and backup Jameis Winston's ceiling has quickly revealed its limitations through two uninspiring appearances in which he's failed to lead New York into the end zone. First-year coach John Harbaugh, whose brother Jim coached McCarthy at Michigan, can still establish a foundation for the future, and it's important to address the QB uncertainties while there's enough time.
The Giants are 2-1, and while their odds of making the playoffs without Dart, as well as star pass rusher Brian Burns -- who is believed to have torn his ACL on Sunday -- don't seem great, it's clear Harbaugh is not ready to throw in the towel on the 2026 campaign.
Meanwhile, the Vikings traded up to select McCarthy in the first round in 2024, but he never got off the ground due to injuries and performance inconsistencies. After Kyler Murray won the QB competition early in training camp, McCarthy's days in Minnesota were numbered when the Vikings made Carson Wentz the backup over McCarthy.
Giants trade grade: C+
It's a tall order for any quarterback to join a team after the regular season's start, especially one without much experience. McCarthy never mastered Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell's user-friendly offense, so it's fair to be skeptical that the QB will find proficiency with the Giants while learning a new scheme on the fly.
Of course, McCarthy was a first-round pick for a reason, so it's at least plausible the Giants are a better fit for his game. The Giants scouted McCarthy heavily during the 2024 pre-draft process before taking wide receiver Malik Nabers with the sixth pick instead. That was before Harbaugh's time in New York, of course, but general manager Joe Schoen was with the team, so he should be very familiar with the pros and cons of McCarthy's game.
McCarthy certainly wouldn't be the first high pick to flame out with his original team and find success elsewhere. And if Winston doesn't improve, the Giants have another quarterback who brings some semblance of hope for the future.
Vikings trade grade: B-
General manager Nolan Teasley, who Minnesota hired in June, didn't draft McCarthy, so it was time to assess McCarthy's value to the organization. Did he make more sense as a backup who could still one day develop into a starter, or was it time to end the project and flip him for a pick?
Unless McCarthy played -- and played well -- this season, his trade value was going to keep depreciating. Next offseason, he likely would have fallen into the pick-swap category. By moving him in-season, Teasley capitalized on another team's desperation.
In the end, McCarthy ended up being a bust of a pick for the Vikings, but they didn't let him become a total sunk cost. Instead, they got what they could and moved on from a player who was an extreme long shot to live up to the draft price.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
