The New York Giants are on the hunt for a franchise quarterback and general manager Joe Schoen has vowed to turn over every stone in his search efforts. But the Giants aren’t the only team with major decisions to make at the quarterback position.
The Vikings have a critical decision to make at quarterback
Free agency is right around the corner and Minnesota Vikings QB Sam Darnold is expected to be one of the top names on the market. The Vikings could have franchise tagged Darnold, however, they are opting to let him test the open market while they continue to negotiate a potential extension.
Complicating their decision is the presence of 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy. The Vikings selected McCarthy 10th overall in last year’s draft with the expectation that he would be their next franchise quarterback. However, McCarthy suffered a season-ending injury during the preseason which then catapulted Darnold into the starting lineup.
Darnold went on to win 14 games for the Vikings while throwing for 4,319 yards with a 35-12 TD-INT ratio. That success makes it hard for Minnesota to move on, but McCarthy, now seemingly healthy and ready to compete, might not want to wait much longer for his chance to start.
According to Mike Florio of NBC Sports (h/t The Purple Persuasion on X), McCarthy could request a trade if Darnold is re-signed by the Vikings:
“Because if they make a two-year commitment to Sam Darnold, I predict J.J. McCarthy is going to ask to be traded,” Florio said on KFAN1003. “And maybe that’s what the Vikings would want to do.”
If Darnold is re-signed by the Vikings, that is one quarterback option off the board for the Giants in free agency. However, if McCarthy is on the trade block, he would be an intriguing alternative for New York to consider.
Could the Giants trade for J.J. McCarthy?
If he were in this year’s draft, many scouts and analysts feel as though McCarthy would be the No. 1 quarterback prospect in the class. It’s a weak year for quarterbacks with Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders at the top. McCarthy is viewed as a more polished prospect than those two, which could prompt the Giants to trade for him, rather than burn their first-round pick on a quarterback in this year’s class.
However, the price tag for McCarthy is unknown and that could wind up being too rich for the Giants’ liking. Florio suggested during that interview on KFAN1003 that a deal could be centered around a top-five pick:
“So, J.J. McCarthy is better than any of the quarterbacks in this year’s class. You get a top five pick for him. You go get some stud players at other positions of need,” he explained from the perspective of the Vikings.
In this instance, the Giants would need to be willing to part with the No. 3 overall pick in the draft, which would be a non-starter. The Giants would not trade a top-three draft pick for a second-year quarterback coming off a significant knee injury, who New York chose to pass on when they had the chance to draft him sixth-overall a year ago. However, if the price tag is more similar to that of Josh Rosen’s in 2019, then it could be something to consider.
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How much would it cost to trade for McCarthy?
Realistically, if McCarthy wants out of Minnesota, and if the Vikings are willing to deal, the price tag would inevitably be lowered. No team is going to offer a top-five pick for McCarthy. However, this is not an unprecedented situation.
In 2018, the Arizona Cardinals drafted QB Josh Rosen with the 10th overall pick (same as McCarthy). He was traded one year later to the Miami Dolphins after the Cardinals lucked into the first-overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft (which they used to select QB Kyler Murray).
Rosen was traded to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for the Dolphins’ 2019 second-round pick and their fifth-round pick in the 2020 draft. Considering how similar these two situations are, a second-round pick and a mid-round pick would be a realistic price tag for McCarthy if he were to be traded this offseason.
That’s a deal the Giants should consider — acquiring a first-round quarterback talent for a pair of Day 2 draft picks. Though he is coming off a significant knee injury and already has a year off his contract, trading for McCarthy would be a low-cost, high-reward move for the Giants to make in an offseason where they A. need to find a potential long-term solution at quarterback and B. have very few options to choose from.
In the end, it’s unlikely McCarthy will become available for trade. Much of what Florio said sounds like speculation. While it is an interesting “what-if” scenario to consider, it’s ultimately unrealistic.