The New York Giants entered Week 2 with a ton of optimism regarding their 2026 season, but it all went out the window once Jaxson Dart suffered a serious knee injury.
Dart has not yet been ruled out for the rest of the 2026 season, but the Giants are expecting him to miss an extended amount of time. In the meantime, it’ll be tough to replace a quarterback who had 2,272 passing yards, 487 rushing yards and 24 total touchdowns as a rookie.
“It’s not an ACL [injury], but the MRI told a different story than the Giants were initially expecting. There was more damage than what the evaluations onsite showed. Sources are telling us there are a few timelines on the table – none of them good,” NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo said. “One of them is season-ending for Jaxson Dart.”
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images.
So how can the Giants potentially save themselves from misery this season? During this Wednesday’s episode of “Get Up,” Mike Greenberg suggested the Giants pursue J.J. McCarthy in a trade.
“J.J. McCarthy, in theory, could come to the Giants, play well and then have trade value somewhere else,” Greenberg said.
As of right now, McCarthy is the No. 3 quarterback on the depth chart for the Minnesota Vikings.
Before Greenberg made this trade suggestion Wednesday, Giants author Gary Myers mentioned McCarthy as an option for Harbaugh’s squad.
“If Jaxson Dart is done for the year, I think the Giants should trade for Vikings third-string QB J.J. McCarthy,” Myers wrote on social media. “GM Joe Schoen considered him w/6th overall pick in 2024 (they took Malik Nabers). McCarthy helped Jim Harbaugh win national championship in 2023 and he loves McCarthy. John and Jim often sign players with a history with each other. Probably would cost only mid-round pick and Giants could run same RPO offense they were using with Dart that is not suited to Jameis Winston. If McCarthy plays well for Giants, can build up his value to trade him after season or supplant Winston as Dart’s backup. Low-risk move. McCarthy has been huge disappointment in Minnesota but he’s only 23 years old, a few months older than Dart.”
McCarthy had a rough 2025 season with the Vikings, completing 57.6% of his passes for 1,632 yards with 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. With that said, it’s tough to call him a clear upgrade over Jameis Winston.
What McCarthy would give the Giants, however, is a bit of an unknown at quarterback for the remainder of the season.
