J.J. McCarthy is getting a fresh start. The New York Giants are diversifying their quarterback options. The Minnesota Vikings are cutting bait, though could soon be fishing for another signal-caller.
That pretty much sums up the state of affairs after the Vikes and G-Men agreed to a trade Monday, Sept. 28, Minnesota sending McCarthy, its first-round pick just two years ago, to the Giants in exchange for a Round 5 selection in next year’s draft. McCarthy must still pass a physical before the transaction becomes official.
As with most trades, the ramifications could have quite a ripple effect, so let’s look at the apparent winners and losers of this season’s first significant swap:
WINNERS
J.J. McCarthy
He’d already lost the QB1 gig in the Twin Cities and didn’t seem
especially appreciative of Kyler Murray’s presence during the offseason – and that was before the Vikings declared Murray the winner of the positional battle early in training camp … and later promoted Carson Wentz over McCarthy for the backup job. Now McCarthy goes to a New York team that had the look of a legitimate contender after Jaxson Dart and Co. comfortably handled the highly hyped Dallas Cowboys on opening night. The knock on McCarthy coming out of Michigan – he helped lead the Wolverines to the national title in 2023 – was that he was more so a spoke in the wheel than the hub. But with a new supporting cast that includes WR Malik Nabers, RB Cam Skattebo, TE Isaiah Likely and an offensive line that could be solid, McCarthy could fit in well here as a ball distributor whenever his number is called.
John Harbaugh
After coming to grips with the reality that Dart likely won’t be back this season after his knee was majorly compromised in Week 2, the Giants’ first-year coach now has a young, Dart-adjacent option beyond stationary, 32-year-old fill-in Jameis Winston. New York has yet to find the end zone since Dart suffered his injury in the first quarter of the blowout loss to the Los Angeles Rams a week ago. And Harbaugh surely got a good read on McCarthy given he played for younger brother Jim at Michigan.
Kyler Murray
Back in the saddle for the Vikings’ Week 3 win at Tampa on Sunday, if maybe a touch rusty two weeks after suffering a concussion in the opener, the top pick of the 2019 draft now has a clear pathway to put Minnesota’s QB1 role on lockdown … if he wants. With a no-tag clause inserted into his one-year contract, numerous options should be open to the two-time Pro Bowler in free agency next year if he flourishes in coach Kevin O’Connell’s offense … as Kirk Cousins, Sam Darnold and a few lesser lights did before him.
Sam Darnold
He blossomed into a Pro Bowler in 2024, sliding into the Vikings’ QB1 role when McCarthy suffered a season-ending knee injury in his first NFL preseason. An apparently misguided Minnesota front office failed to slap a franchise tag on Darnold after he threw a career-high 35 touchdown passes and posted a 14-3 record in his lone season with the franchise. The rest, of course, is history … though maybe the Seattle Seahawks repaid the Viking by grooming their next general manager (Nolan Teasley).
Joe Schoen
The Giants GM has endured his share of professional slings and arrows – many perhaps deserved – but buying a lottery ticket on McCarthy at this price, whether it was mostly his call or Harbaugh's, seems like a well-calculated roll of the dice to potentially salvage a season for an otherwise promising squad.
LOSERS
Jaxson Dart
The best competitors don’t shy away from pressure. But Dart, one of the Giants’ first-round picks in 2025, now faces another obstacle on his road back from reconstructive knee surgery. McCarthy, 23 (as is Dart), has a similar skill set – yet maybe lacks Dart’s devil-may-care approach on the field – and now has this season and next, contractually anyway, to make his own case to be the next face of this franchise. And if McCarthy gets onto the field and thrives this season, why would the Giants bring Dart back for the playoffs, even though that remains a (remote) possibility, per Harbaugh? Dart should simply focus on getting healthy. But it's hard to imagine this trade doesn’t add another layer of motivation – and possibly fuel – as he embarks on his rehabilitation.
Jameis Winston
He signed a two-year, $13 million extension earlier this month. But hard to imagine the Giants pulled the trigger on McCarthy to simply let him ride the pine while the 32-year-old Winston plays – particularly given the offensive results in his first two appearances.
Daniel Jones
He was the Giants’ quarterback of the future before Dart. He might have been the next Darnold in Minnesota, joining the Vikings as a backup in 2024 after requesting his in-season release from the Giants. Unfortunately – probably? – Jones jumped to the Indianapolis Colts last year, taking the opportunity to throw to Alec Pierce instead of Justin Jefferson … or not throw to Alec Pierce, as it were. Oops?
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah
Abruptly fired as Minnesota’s GM in January after four seasons on the job, the Vikings didn’t specifically cite Adofo-Mensah’s personnel decisions for his ouster. However, his heavy reliance on analytics produced four largely forgettable drafts – though he was never going to escape his decision to take McCarthy 10th overall in 2024 … or the subsequent one to let Darnold leave for nothing. Teasley’s determination that he didn’t want McCarthy, nor was likely to do better than a fifth-rounder in return for McCarthy’s services, further darkens the pall over Adofo-Mensah’s tenure. He’s now the VP of personnel and strategy for the San Francisco 49ers, with whom he rose to prominence in league circles, but it's hard to envision a scenario where Adofo-Mensah gets another shot to build his own team.
Kevin O’Connell
The Minnesota head coach’s reputation as a quarterback whisperer wasn’t sufficient to catalyze or even salvage McCarthy’s development. And while the Vikings seem unlikely to miss a third-string passer, O’Connell – as good a start as his undefeated squad is off to – will likely face another wave of uncertainty next spring, given Murray could bolt if he performs at the level that would incentivize the team to re-sign him. If not? Then the Vikings, who seem unlikely to land anywhere near the top of the 2027 draft – one expected to have a bountiful QB crop – might have to get creative to find their next starter and might have to evaluate the likes of Mac Jones or Daniel Jones (again) as another quick-fix measure rather than targeting Texas’ Arch Manning or Oregon’s Dante Moore.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: J.J. McCarthy trade winners and losers include Jaxson Dart and a fired GM
