New NFL Rumors Reveal Vikings' Reaction to J.J. McCarthy Winning 1st Start with Giants After Trade

The Minnesota Vikings may have moved on from J.J. McCarthy, but they're still rooting for their former quarterback to succeed.

The Vikings were "very happy" to see McCarthy thrive in his first start with the New York Giants, ESPN's Dan Graziano reported on Wednesday.

"[The] Vikings people I spoke to were very happy for quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who thrived in his first start as a Giant after being traded away from the team that drafted him 10th in 2024," Graziano wrote.

McCarthy was traded to New York after Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart suffered a season-ending injury in September. The third-year quarterback initially stepped in for the Giants after head coach John Harbaugh benched starter Jameis Winston against the New Orleans Saints in Week 6. McCarthy finished the game with 11 completions on 21 pass attempts for 243 passing yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Although the Giants suffered a 34-27 loss to the Saints, McCarthy earned the start against the Houston Texans and pulled out a 27-21 overtime win with 20 completions on 28 pass attempts for 252 yards and no turnovers.

Minnesota selected McCarthy with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft after failing to find consistent success with veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins. The Vikings initially signed Sam Darnold to serve as a stopgap quarterback during McCarthy's rookie season. Although Darnold led Minnesota to a 14-3 record while the rookie was sidelined with a meniscus injury, the Vikings still elected to move on from Darnold and rolled into the 2025 season with McCarthy as their starting quarterback. The results were underwhelming, and Minnesota parted ways with the embattled quarterback after he was beat out for the starting role by veteran Kyler Murray.

Perhaps most notably, the Vikings are aware that McCarthy has the potential to make them look bad.

"They also recognize they have a chance to look bad if McCarthy plays well for the Giants and Kyler Murray doesn't get things going in Minnesota, but everyone agrees it was time for a scenery change," Graziano wrote.

The 2024 draft has the potential to be a historic quarterback class, but so far, McCarthy has been the least successful of the six quarterbacks selected in the top 12 picks that year. There is still time for that to change, however. Graziano noted that the coaching staffs for both teams have praised McCarthy's maturity.

"Minnesota coaches told me they believed McCarthy had matured significantly since the start of the 2026 offseason ... and they were happy the team had been able to send him to a place where he had a chance to be successful," Graziano wrote.

McCarthy now has an opportunity to join the list of quarterbacks to thrive after leaving Minnesota. Darnold and Cousins, who the Vikings parted ways with for McCarthy, have both found success elsewhere.