New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart is sidelined for the entirety of the 2026 season, after undergoing surgery to repair he's severely injured left knee. For the most part, he'll be focused on rehab and getting right for 2027. Although there is a small chance that Dart would return for the playoffs, should the Giants qualify.
Russell Wilson left in May to become a broadcaster, leaving 32-year-old Jameis Winston as the only credible quarterback on the roster. No offense to Jake Haener, but he was a practice squad QB for a reason. The Giants had to go out and get somebody, obviously, and that somebody was JJ McCarthy, acquired from Minnesota in exchange for a fifth round pick.
That may seem like a pretty low price for the 10th overall pick in
the 2024 draft, but a fifth rounder actually means more to the Giants than it does to your typical team, as they are rather low right now, when it comes to stockpiled future draft picks.
McCarthy leaves a QB room in Minnesota where he saw himself demoted to third string, beyond offseason acquisition Kyler Murray (currently out injured) and journeyman veteran Carson Wentz.
The Vikings QB depth chart probably also set an unofficial record for "draft capital," as McCarthy's 10th overall status accompanied Murray's #1 overall selection in 2019 and Wentz's #2 overall status in 2016. However, Kevin O'Connell and company gave up on him after just 10 games, which conveys just how strongly they believe that drafting him was a mistake.
Now he gets to start over in Gotham, and given how much season is ahead of, it is very likely that he'll be starting at some point. With McCarthy, the major knock has always been that he is much more a beneficiary of the talent around him than he is the guy who actually makes it happen.
That was painfully obvious in college, as that Wolverines team won a national title with the running game, defense and well, sign-stealing. Maybe McCarthy can re-create the same magic with Big Blue that he head with Go Blue, as the Giants have plenty of elite weapons in place for him to work with (Malik Nabers, Cam Skattebo, Isaiah Likely etc.)
He'll just have to once again be the distributor, and let people do their thing. McCarthy's new head coach, John Harbaugh is of course the brother of Jim Harbaugh, McCarthy's college coach. That has to count for something, in terms of an advantage of some sort. He's also the same age as Dart (23) and with a very similar skill set.
So don't totally accept the idea that McCarthy came to the Capital of the World just to ride pine. According to reports, Dart remains NYG's QB of the future, and we have no reason not to believe them. But what if McCarthy takes the position by the scruff of the neck and develops into a star?
At the very least, it will be interesting to see how the Giants manage Dart moving forward. One man with a lot of bona fides to speak about Dart's situation is Eli Manning.
Like Dart, his college team was Ole Miss and his NFL team the Giants. Prior to the 28-6 blowout at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams (the game in which Dart got injured) Manning spoke about how Dart had displayed an improved penchant for playing in the game in a way that minimizes the risk of taking huge hits. (It is important to mention that Dart got injured on a classic, standard drop back passing play, and not during a sequence that is excessively prone to taking a big hit)
“I’m tracking his slides for sure, Jaxson Dart,” Manning said in an exclusive with Ratings.org. “We want to make sure he’s getting out of bounds. If he’s at the sideline, if he’s in the middle of the field, go down.
"Don’t take these hits. I think he’s proven his toughness to this team, to the ownership, to the fans."
It certainly seems ironic now, given how serious Dart got hurt, just a few days after these remarks, and those that follow, were published.
"Now you gotta prove that you’re willing to do what’s best for the team, and that’s stay in the game, stay healthy, and so that was one week he didn’t go into the blue tent, so that’s progress," Manning added.
"We’re on the right path and on the right track, and he is athletic, he has the ability to run.
"He’s a good runner, so you want to use that skill set, and if it’s one of those things where if he shows, ‘Hey, I’m willing to run and get down and not take hits and get out of bounds and slide and do those things,’ we can call more runs. But if all of a sudden he’s not doing that, and coaches say, ‘Well, we can’t put you in harm’s way. We can’t call as many of these plays.’ So hey, if you take care of me, I’ll take care of you. We can do this together.”
Manning has the right idea, of course, as this is the proper way to try and shield your franchise quarterback from potential serious injury.
However, as we all just saw, and the Giants know all too well right now, injuries are still an inevitable part of the game.
This article originally appeared on Draft Wire: JJ McCarthy trade puts Jaxson Dart in interesting position for 2027
