Bill Barnwell Sep 28, 2026, 04:20 PM ET Close Bill Barnwell is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com. He analyzes football on and off the field like no one else on the planet, writing about in-season X's and O's, offseason transactions and so much more. He is the host of the Bill Barnwell Show podcast, with episodes released weekly. Barnwell joined ESPN in 2011 as a staff writer at Grantland.

After Jaxson Dart went down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 2, it was probably inevitable that the Giants would add another quarterback. Jameis Winston can be combustible, averaging 4.7 yards per attempt and completing 51% of his passes since inheriting the starting job. With Jake Haener as the only other QB, getting someone to back up Winston and potentially take over was a no-brainer.

Landing a fifth-round pick for J.J. McCarthy was an obvious call for the Vikings. Once their quarterback of the future after they traded up to take him in the first round of the 2024 draft, McCarthy had quickly fallen out of favor. After being the NFC Offensive Player of the Week in his NFL debut, his inability to work all areas of the field frustrated the organization. Trading McCarthy saved them $4.6 million over the next two years.

The trade makes sense for both organizations. McCarthy is still only 23 years old, younger than Ty Simpson. Could he be the next quarterback to turn his career around after a rough start? Barnwell argues both sides of that question, laying out potential outcomes for McCarthy in New York.