After the New York Giants lost starting quarterback Jaxson Dart to a season-ending knee injury, new coach John Harbaugh declared that the team was weighing "all options" at the position.
Less than a week later, that statement proved to be more than bluster.
On Monday, Sept. 28, the Giants agreed to a trade with the Minnesota Vikings, acquiring J.J. McCarthy in exchange for a 2027 fifth-round pick.
With the deal, New York added a starting-capable option for keeping its offense afloat if veteran fill-in Jameis Winston continues to struggle. Meanwhile, the Vikings officially close the door on a player who quickly fell out of the franchise's good graces following his turbulent lone campaign at the helm.
But which team fared better in the deal? Here's
how each graded:
Giants' J.J. McCarthy trade grade: B-
On its face, obtaining the former No. 10 overall pick with two years left on his rookie contract for a mid-Day 3 selection seems like good business.
Of all the signal-callers the Giants could have acquired, McCarthy seems the least like a pure caretaker option. His pro track record, however, has been far from sterling. Not only have injuries severely inhibited his development, but his ball placement and decision-making were erratic enough to cost him his QB1 label after just one year at the helm.
Might he be the league's next salvage success story at his position?
In landing with a team facing a serious void behind center, this might have been the best possible short-term outcome for McCarthy. Harbaugh surely has both some intel and reason for belief in the former Michigan standout, who flourished under his brother, Jim Harbaugh. The Giants won't ask him to play the role of immediate savior, with Harbaugh having insisted last week that Winston would remain the team's starter even upon the addition of one or more additional passers.
Given Winston's struggles and rather wild accuracy, though, it hardly seems out of the question that McCarthy would at some point get his turn to show what he can do. Coordinator Matt Nagy might need to adjust the ask of a young quarterback who's far less likely to be a true catalyst than Dart was. Stringing together long drives and converting third downs repeatedly as Dart did in the opener might seem like a stretch for McCarthy, who's struggled with his consistency since entering the NFL. But Nagy might be able to harness McCarthy's ability to make plays on the move. Compensating for the team's lack of weaponry, however, might be difficult.
While New York could have afforded itself a higher floor with a more proven entity available on the market, such a move would have amounted to resignation of a lost season if Winston can't keep the offense at a workable level. McCarthy probably won't have a career renaissance in the span of a dozen or so games, but he at least provides some semblance of hope for an organization that has to evaluate its pieces and figure out where to go from here. The cost can't be fully written off – the Giants now only have five picks in next year's draft – but it's still rather modest.
Given where McCarthy is poised to begin his career with Big Blue, it's entirely too early to entertain any notion of him turning things around for himself or the offense. But beyond signing Jimmy Garoppolo, the Giants' alternative options weren't very inspiring, either.
Vikings' J.J. McCarthy trade grade: C+
In their public remarks on their struggling young signal-caller, both coach Kevin O'Connell and new general manager Nolan Teasley tried to remain upbeat when assessing McCarthy. The team's actual handling of him, however, proved much more revealing of their feelings.
Though Teasley earlier in September maintained McCarthy's "story is not written," the Vikings seemed to all but close the book on him with a demotion to the third string. That revealed what long seemed clear: O'Connell and Co. couldn't trust McCarthy.
The decision not to cut bait when setting the 53-man roster seemed less like a vote of confidence and more a matter of not wanting to come out completely empty-handed from an investment that went bust. A fifth-round pick isn't much of a return, but that likely speaks to the muted interest in McCarthy overall.
Given the injury troubles that have plagued both Kyler Murray and backup Carson Wentz – neither of whom is signed beyond this year, with the former unable to be franchise-tagged – Minnesota could see its already murky outlook at quarterback become even muddier. But if the organization was truly done with McCarthy, it was best to separate and no longer pay lip service to the notion of him ever playing a significant role again.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: J.J. McCarthy trade grades as Giants, Vikings swing QB deal
