He isn’t the Giants’ Quarterback of the Future or the Giants’ Quarterback of the Present, but J.J. McCarthy is happy that the Giants are not only in his past.
In his first interview since he was acquired earlier this week for a fifth-round pick to be Jameis Winston’s backup while Jaxson Dart is sidelined, McCarthy said it came as a “shock” to be traded by the Vikings less than three seasons after he was a first-round pick.
“I didn’t anticipate it,” McCarthy said, “but it’s an opportunity to take advantage of.”
Some of shock quickly gave way to comfort when general manager Joe Schoen (who heavily scouted McCarthy before the 2024 draft) and head coach John Harbaugh (whose brother Jim was McCarthy’s college coach) called to make him feel wanted.
“I loved this place from the second I walked in here,” McCarthy said. “Made of the right stuff. Just being able to be here now, it’s full circle. The (franchise) tradition is something I value tremendously.”
McCarthy didn’t want to look back at “the multitude of things you can think of” to explain why it didn’t work out for him with the Vikings. Not when he has so much to learn to get up to speed with the Giants offense.
“I feel really good,” McCarthy said. “Offensive football is all the same concepts for the most part. It’s about getting the verbiage down, and I feel like I’m picking it up pretty quickly. I’m focused on the next thing. Where I’ll end up is where I’ll end up when the time gets there.”
