The New York Giants stoked the pundit world on Monday with their acquisition of quarterback J.J. McCarthy, but oddsmakers largely shrugged when it came to their view of the team’s 2026 outlook.
After the Giants landed McCarthy, the No. 10 overall pick of the Minnesota Vikings in the 2024 NFL Draft, New York coach John Harbaugh confirmed that Winston would remain the team’s starter. The Giants are 2-1 despite Winston’s shaky first two appearances since taking over for Jaxson Dart.
The oft-injured McCarthy hasn’t played since a win over rival Green Bay in last season’s finale that had no playoff implications for either team. It was a game McCarthy left in the third quarter due to an injury to his throwing hand. He entered this season as Minnesota’s third-string quarterback behind newcomer Kyler Murray and veteran Carson Wentz.
McCarthy has played in only 10 games since being drafted, throwing more career interceptions (12) than touchdown passes (11). And while his skill set has drawn comparisons to Dart’s, at minimum he will need a few weeks to get comfortable with the Giants’ playbook.
New York parted with a fifth-round draft pick in 2027, so it’s a relatively low-risk move to add a talented athlete should Winston fail to lead a more productive passing attack.
“We’ve been talking about it ever since I think Jaxson got hurt, that we would need to add a quarterback, quarterbacks,” Harbaugh said. “That’s part of the process. We’ve been turning over every stone.
“Really glad, really happy, very excited to add J.J. McCarthy. I think he’s a strong, young quarterback, has some experience in the National Football League. Obviously, was a very high draft pick, very talented player and is going to make us a stronger football team.
“So, excited about it, think it makes us better and get him in here as soon as we can. Get to work on learning the offense. Obviously, that’s going to be a challenge, but we’ll go to work on that and that’s where we’re at.”
Despite Winston’s struggles on Sunday, the Giants’ Super Bowl odds shortened from +15000 at BetRivers and +8000 at DraftKings thanks to a 12-7 victory over the Tennessee Titans.
McCarthy, 23, arrives in New York as a backup to Winston, 32.
Winston has completed 25 of 49 passes for 229 yards with no touchdowns and one interception this season. He entered a Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Rams following Dart’s knee injury.
“He’s our starting quarterback and that’s why we’re rolling. We’ll be ready to play this next game and going forward, excited about Jameis,” Harbaugh said. “I think we’re going to find ourselves. I mean, we won the (Tennessee) game. We did what we had to do to win the game, and that’s what we had to do.
“(Winston is) not going to be coming into a game kind of out of the blue, so to speak. Or is he going to be coming into a nor’easter every single week going forward here. So, I’m looking forward to seeing where we go and we’ll build around … Jameis’ strengths, all that kind of stuff.
“So, I feel good about it.”
