GIANTS TRADE A DRAFT PICK FOR 9

The Giants gave up a 2027 fifth-round pick for J.J. McCarthy, the 10th overall selection in the 2024 draft, who spent Sunday as Minnesota's third-string quarterback behind Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz. The Vikings are 3-0 and did not agonize over it. The file on McCarthy: an entire rookie year gone to a preseason knee injury, then 10 starts in 2025 for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions on 57.6 percent passing. He went 6-4 in those starts. Minnesota took a Day 3 pick for him anyway and called it a day. New York is shopping because Jaxson Dart's knee ended his regular season in Week 2, leaving Jameis Winston, who posted a 19.0 QBR against the Rams and a 27.9 in Sunday's 12-7 win over Tennessee where every point came from field goals. ESPN points out the Giants signed Winston to a two-year, $13 million extension 22 days before trading for an alternative. Harbaugh still says Winston is the starter, which is the thing coaches say the week before he isn't. The family part writes itself. McCarthy won a national title at Michigan under Jim Harbaugh and now works for Jim's brother John. The Giants also scouted him hard in 2024 and took Malik Nabers sixth instead. CBS graded it as a clean split for Minnesota and a possible downgrade for New York.

Why you should give a shit: A fifth-rounder is a cheap swing at a former top-10 arm, but if McCarthy can't beat out Jameis Winston either, the Giants will have paid a draft pick to learn what the 3-0 Vikings already knew for free.