Jameis Winston's Week 3 start for the Giants against the Titans could have much larger implications than just a win or a loss. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo, how Winston plays Sunday could determine how New York pursues adding another quarterback, if at all, in the wake of Jaxson Dart's season-ending knee injury.
At the very least, they're expected to cast a wide net. Among the options reportedly on the table are ...
- Jimmy Garoppolo (free agent)
- Gardner Minshew II (Cardinals backup)
- J.J. McCarthy (Vikings third-stringer)
- Mac Jones (49ers backup)
- Justin Fields (Chiefs backup)
- Brandon Allen (free agent)
Currently, New York has just Winston and Jake Haener on the active roster, with no quarterback on the practice squad.
The Giants had a terrific Week 1, with Dart playing efficient, clean football and the defense making its mark in a 28-20 win over the Cowboys. But Dart hurt his knee early in Week 2 against the Rams, and Los Angeles cruised to a 28-6 win. Initially, Dart's prognosis was encouraging, but tests quickly showed that it was a much more serious injury: MCL, PCL and meniscus damage, with the meniscus requiring surgery.
The development certainly dampened what had been an encouraging start, and Sunday's game, which is going to be played in awful conditions, looms large for multiple reasons. Here's how we'd rank the Giants' options at the game's most important position.
7. Mac Jones
This is not a reflection on Mac Jones the player. It's entirely about what it would cost to get him — plus the fact that Kyle Shanahan has said multiple times he wants Jones on his roster. Jones played well in Brock Purdy's stead last year, and the 49ers' only other quarterback is Kurtis Rourke, a 2025 seventh-rounder who has not played a single snap. The 49ers, who have playoff (and more) aspirations, have zero reason to move Jones.
But if they somehow did, there are still reasons for doubt. Jones has been solid under Shanahan but struggled pretty much everywhere else since his rookie year. From 2023-25 (his second and third years with the Patriots plus one year with the Jaguars) he ranked 36th out of 36 qualifying quarterbacks — dead last — in touchdown-to-interception ratio, and he wasn't great in other statistical categories, either.
Simply put, the 49ers appear unlikely to move Jones unless it's for an outsized (and, from the Giants' perspective, irresponsible) return. Plus, the Giants would only want Jones as a one-season fill-in. And he just might not even be very good outside Shanahan's system. Even if he is good, are the Giants good enough to make it worth it? This just doesn't make sense.
6. Justin Fields
The connection here is that Justin Fields played under Matt Nagy as a rookie in 2021. That's good and well, but how good actually was that offense? In Fields' 10 starts, Chicago ranked ...
- 32nd in passing success rate
- 29th in offensive success rate
- 27th in offensive EPA per play
Nagy got fired at season's end.
Yes, we can allow for Fields and Nagy improvement, but Fields was a mess last year in New York (with the Jets). He takes far too many sacks and can't keep an offense on schedule. Like the Jones situation in San Francisco, it makes little to no sense for the Chiefs to give Fields up, too.
5. Gardner Minshew II
Gardner Minshew II had a surprising, nice run in 2023 with the Colts but has been ineffective since. In 2024, he got benched for Aidan O'Connell in Las Vegas. Last year, he came in after Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL, threw an interception and suffered a knee injury the next weekend.
Minshew is technically listed as the Cardinals' backup, but Arizona also has third-round pick Carson Beck waiting in the wings behind Jacoby Brissett. That could make Minshew cheaper than the two previously listed backups, plus the Cardinals would likely welcome any draft compensation for a player who isn't part of the team's future.
4. J.J. McCarthy
This would come down to how the Vikings value J.J. McCarthy. He's third on the depth chart, but both starter Kyler Murray and backup Carson Wentz have dealt with injury issues in recent years, and Murray has already suffered a concussion this year. McCarthy seems to be trending in the wrong direction in Minnesota, having gone from battling to be the starter to not even being the primary backup, but he's also a former first-round pick by current coach Kevin O'Connell (though not by the current GM). Murray is only on a one-year deal, too.
This is also a strange one because McCarthy has been hurt often and very poor when he has played. Youth and inexperience are factors, but the product hasn't been close to good enough. Plus, adding a trade to a rollercoaster first few years could be tough on McCarthy. Of course, John Harbaugh will have a good scouting report here; his brother Jim coached McCarthy in college.
If he comes very cheap, the Giants could choose this angle. McCarthy is still on his rookie deal. If the season goes off the rails, they could see what he can provide, and if he plays decently, they'd either have a cheap backup for Dart or a 2027 offseason trade piece.
3. Brandon Allen
This is an easy option, though it's not a solution if the Giants actually want to improve their quarterback room. Brandon Allen was with the Giants this offseason and preseason, and a reunion could make sense, if only to build out some quarterback depth. Allen declined a practice squad spot after roster cuts, but if he gets offered an active roster spot, that could change things.
Allen most recently played sparingly with Tennessee last year. He has started just two games since 2021.
2. Jimmy Garoppolo
Stylistically, Winston and Jimmy Garoppolo are very different players. Winston aggressively pushes the ball downfield; Garoppolo is much more conservative in his throws. He wants the offense to run on schedule; Winston is more of a high-risk, high-reward passer.
The biggest advantage for Garoppolo is that he'd be basically free. He played a few snaps for the Rams last year but isn't on a team currently. He has very little wear and tear on his body in the past two seasons. The drawback is he, like Jones, hasn't shown an ability to play well outside of San Francisco's quarterback-friendly ecosystem. Still, he could potentially provide some stability instead of Winston's ups and downs, and there's little downside or cost.
1. Roll with Jameis Winston
I come back to the famous Tom Moore story, when the longtime Colts offensive guru explained why he doesn't give many reps to Peyton Manning's backups: "Fellas, if '18' goes down, we're f---ed. And we don't practice f---ed."
Excuse the profanity, but that's the unfortunate truth in the NFL. It is nearly impossible to overcome a quarterback injury. It's not completely impossible — Jones kept the 49ers afloat for a few games last year — but a double-digit-game absence from your starter is a truly brutal turn of events.
Winston isn't completely incapable of running an offense. It's not like a Cooper Rush situation the Falcons had for the first two weeks. Winston was not good against the Rams, but he is a capable backup — a player good enough to keep the Giants in some games and allow coaches and the front office to evaluate the entire offense. There are going to be plenty of head-scratching decisions and negative plays, but he played solidly in two starts last year, both narrow losses to decent teams (the Packers and the Lions).
As frustrating as it is to say that New York might already be looking toward the 2027 offseason, it may be the case. They won't give up on 2026 whatsoever, but spending considerable resources to (maybe) half-fix an unfixable problem would be unwise.
