Giants, for some strange reason, trade for J.J. McCarthy

Make it make sense.

The Giants have become the embodiment of rearranging deck chairs on a doomed vessel by acquiring quarterback J.J. McCarthy from the Vikings. Big Blue is swapping a fifth-round pick back for the former top-10 pick after he fell completely out of favor in Minnesota.

The deal is a low-stakes arbitrage opportunity in a vacuum. McCarthy is a first-round pick who led Michigan to a national title, he’s still only 23 with limited professional experience and the Giants gave up very little for him in terms of assets (cap space is another story).

But the deal is not happening in a vacuum. It is occurring during a whale of a mess that has now, amazingly, become even more convoluted thanks to a move that feels like an act of desperation despite the fact there is really nothing to be desperate about.

The Giants are not giving up on the season after losing Jaxson Dart to a season-ending knee injury. Which is understandable. Almost assuredly futile, but understandable.

Jameis Winston — the veteran backup handed an extension with $8 million in new guaranteed money a few weeks ago — has looked horrible since being forced into the lineup, so the Giants want to bring in another viable backup for some competition and insurance. Which is reasonable.

But McCarthy has been a complete bust and was the Vikings’ No. 3 quarterback. And his now-former head coach — Kevin O’Connell — revitalized Sam Darnold’s career and is now 3-0 with Carson Wentz as his quarterback. If he did not think McCarthy was salvageable on a team with good offensive weapons and an elite defense, why would the Giants think they can do the trick? And for those looking to make the mobility argument for McCarthy, don’t. The Giants knew Winston was not built to run the offense the same way Dart did long before the injury and it was not a consideration.

This was clearly a John Harbaugh move given McCarthy’s ties to his brother (we also note here Jim Harbaugh could have gotten McCarthy for the Chargers and did not). And it is yet another data point that general manager Joe Schoen is just along for the ride after the Giants famously had no interest in McCarthy during the 2024 draft.

Also: McCarthy has a $6 million cap hit this year and a $7 million cap hit next year. That’s a lot of money for a flyer on a guy who may not even be good enough to be active most weeks, if he’s even still on the team. The Giants cannot move on from Winston until after 2027 after extending. And they gave him the extension in part to clear cap space for this season. So …

The Giants are going nowhere. Their two best players — Dart and Brian Burns — are done for the year. And they probably would not have gotten much farther down the road with them. We get it is deflating to have Harbaugh’s first year go up in smoke so quickly. But it is what it is. Just take your licks and look toward 2027. Or do something dumb like this. Hey, at least it should be interesting.