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    "original_url": "https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7640753\/2026\/09\/28\/new-york-giants-jj-mccarthy-vikings-trade-reckless\/?emc=edit_ufn_20260930&nl=from-the-times&segment_id=227293",
    "parsed_content": "Say this for John Harbaugh: He\u2019s not afraid to take a swing. The New York Giants coach demonstrated that Monday by trading a 2027 fifth-round pick to the Vikings for quarterback JJ McCarthy.The Giants didn\u2019t spend much time dwelling on the devastating news that starting quarterback Jaxson Dart is out for the season with a knee injury. After a second straight uninspiring showing from veteran backup Jameis Winston, the Giants made an aggressive move to acquire McCarthy.Why the Giants acquired J.J. McCarthy from the VikingsCharlotte CarrollOn the surface, it seems like a worthwhile swing on a quarterback who was deemed talented enough to be selected 10th in the 2024 NFL Draft by the Vikings. Add in what was surely a glowing recommendation from Jim Harbaugh, who coached McCarthy to a national championship at Michigan in 2023, and it\u2019s easy to understand the QB\u2019s appeal to John Harbaugh.The problem is that\u2019s mostly where the highlights end. McCarthy missed his entire rookie season after tearing his meniscus in the 2024 preseason opener. He was named the Vikings\u2019 starter in 2025 and led an impressive comeback win over the Bears in his debut. But he suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 2 that sidelined him for five games. He returned to start four games before missing one week with a concussion. Then he made three more starts before suffering a hairline fracture in his throwing hand, against the Giants in Week 16, which sidelined him for another game.The Vikings went 6-4 in McCarthy\u2019s 10 starts last season, but that was hardly due to his effectiveness as a passer. He completed 57.6 percent of his passes for 163.2 yards per game with 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Out of 33 quarterbacks who qualified last season, McCarthy finished last in completion percentage, last in interception rate and last in passer rating (72.6).\n \n \n \n \n What You Should Read Next\n \n \n \n \n J.J. McCarthy trade grades: Did Vikings capitalize on Giants\u2019 desperation?\n \n \n McCarthy never mastered Vikings coach Kevin O\u2019Connell\u2019s user-friendly offense, so it\u2019s fair to be skeptical he can find success in New York.\n \n \n \n \n \n It was clear the Vikings were through with McCarthy, as they brought in Kyler Murray this offseason. Murray won the starting job early in training camp, and McCarthy was relegated to third string behind veteran journeyman Carson Wentz. That\u2019s how a top-10 pick becomes available for a fifth-round pick in under three years.\u201cHe\u2019s a talented guy,\u201d Harbaugh said. \u201cThere\u2019s just no doubt about it. He\u2019s talented. He was a top-10 pick for a reason. There\u2019s plenty of good tape, even in the NFL, out there. I know he didn\u2019t hold onto that job in Minnesota, and that\u2019s why he\u2019s available.\u201dThe Giants spent extensive time evaluating McCarthy during the 2024 pre-draft process. They determined he wasn\u2019t worthy of the No. 6 pick, and instead took wide receiver Malik Nabers. That was obviously the correct decision. But among the reasons the Giants shied away from McCarthy were concerns about how he\u2019d handle the New York market. The stakes are different as a player coming in as a midseason trade instead of a top-10 pick, but those concerns don\u2019t just disappear.Clearly, the Giants believe they can rehabilitate the 23-year-old. But it will be a challenge. It was emphasized throughout the offseason that this is an incredibly complex offense to learn. The growing pains displayed by Dart early in training camp are evidence of that \u2014 and it makes his injury that much more painful since he seemed to have developed a mastery of the system in the season-opening win over the Cowboys.Harbaugh has committed to starting Winston against the Cardinals on Sunday. It\u2019s unclear how much longer the leash will be if he continues to look so unsettled. Winston did enough to guide the Giants to a 12-7 win over the Titans on Sunday in miserable conditions. But he\u2019ll need to be much better to lead New York to more wins \u2014 and to hold onto his starting job.\u201cOur design is to win the next game. Our design is to be 1-0 next week,\u201d Harbaugh said. \u201cAnd any other conversation \u2014 you could ask me who\u2019s going to be the starting quarterback next year or five years, I don\u2019t know. But I do know we\u2019re going to be playing the Cardinals in six days, and that\u2019s how it works. All the other conversation isn\u2019t going to help us beat the Cardinals, so it\u2019s irrelevant.\u201dRegardless of Winston\u2019s performance, the Giants had to add a backup option with more experience than Jake Haener, who has 39 career attempts. But if Winston hadn\u2019t looked so skittish, it\u2019s fair to wonder if the Giants would have taken a more conservative route than trading a fifth-round pick for a wild card like McCarthy.The options are never great when a team loses its starting quarterback two weeks into the season. Jimmy Garoppolo wouldn\u2019t have generated much excitement, but the veteran has a long track record of passable quarterback play. Most appealing, Garoppolo is a free agent, so he wouldn\u2019t have cost anything beyond his salary, assuming the 34-year-old is still interested in playing.Will Levis and Joe Milton would have been even greater dart throws than McCarthy, but since both players are on practice squads, they also wouldn\u2019t have cost any draft capital to acquire. Poaching 40-year-old Josh Johnson, who had three stints with Harbaugh in Baltimore, from the Bengals\u2019 practice squad would have been another safe backup option.That the Giants took a relatively big swing on McCarthy signals doubt that Winston is capable of leading the team for the next 14 games. The Giants gave Winston a two-year, $13 million extension on Sept. 6, so they clearly were confident in him not long ago.\u201cYou need another quarterback in our situation, and you wanted to go get the very best quarterback you could get, which is what we did,\u201d Harbaugh said when asked about giving up an asset for McCarthy. \u201cThat\u2019s the thinking. Anything else beyond that, I\u2019m not really comprehending the question, I guess. But that\u2019s it. That\u2019s very simple.\u201dIt\u2019s easy to dismiss the value of fifth-round picks by pointing to players drafted in that round who don\u2019t pan out. But a poor draft track record is shaky grounds to justify dumping picks. The depth of the roster comes from hitting on those picks, which is why Harbaugh was so enthusiastic about acquiring a 2027 sixth-round pick for offensive lineman Daniel Faalele and a 2028 seventh-round pick for offensive lineman Josh Ezeudu late in the preseason.Top Plays from Titans @ GiantsAs it stands, the Giants have just five picks in 2027: their first-, second- and third-round picks, plus two sixth-rounders. They dealt their fifth for McCarthy, their fourth to move up for wide receiver Malachi Fields in this year\u2019s draft and their seventh as part of the Darren Waller pick swap with the Dolphins. The Giants are also projected to secure a compensatory pick, although it\u2019s not clear if that will be a fourth- or fifth-rounder.In the most optimistic world, McCarthy could play well enough this season that the Giants could flip him to recoup similar draft capital to what they surrendered. As it stands, they have Dart, Winston and McCarthy under contract for 2027. Winston will carry a $7.3 million cap hit in 2027, which is the highest in the league among veteran backups. McCarthy will have a $3.8 million cap hit in 2027.It shouldn\u2019t be a surprise that the 64-year-old Harbaugh is keeping his foot on the gas after the Giants\u2019 2-1 start. But there should be a realistic understanding of the team\u2019s ceiling without Dart. Giving up a mid-round pick, especially after losing star outside linebacker Brian Burns to a torn ACL on Sunday, seems like a rash move unless McCarthy is significantly better than he was in Minnesota.\nDan Duggan is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the New York Giants. He previously covered the Giants for two years for The Star-Ledger. He has also worked for the Boston Herald.Follow Sep 30, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports termsPlay today's puzzleWhat did you think of this story?MEHSOLIDAWESOME",
    "published_at": "2026-09-28T21:57:58+00:00",
    "author_name": "Dan Duggan",
    "site_name": "The Athletic",
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    "ai_headline": "Why the Giants acquired J.J. McCarthy from the Vikings",
    "ai_simplified_title": "Giants Acquire JJ McCarthy from Vikings in Reckless Trade",
    "ai_excerpt": "The New York Giants traded a 2027 fifth-round pick for quarterback J.J. McCarthy after starting QB Jaxson Dart's injury. This move comes despite McCarthy's poor rookie season performance and injury history with the Vikings, raising questions about the Giants' desperation and the value of the trade.",
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