J.J. McCarthy is getting a fresh start.

The Minnesota Vikings are trading the former Michigan quarterback to the New York Giants in exchange for a 2027 fifth-round draft pick, according to Tom Pelissero. The deal ends McCarthy’s turbulent run in Minnesota just three years after the Vikings selected him with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

The move comes after several days of speculation connecting McCarthy to New York. The Giants had been exploring the quarterback market following Jaxson Dart’s season-ending knee injury, with McCarthy emerging as one of the young quarterbacks they had researched.

Now, the former Wolverine is headed to New York.

McCarthy Gets His Fresh Start

McCarthy’s NFL career never developed the way Minnesota envisioned when it used a top-10 selection on him.

After missing his entire rookie season with a knee injury, McCarthy started 10 games in 2025, completing 57.6% of his passes for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Minnesota then changed course at quarterback, adding Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz and pushing McCarthy to No. 3 on the depth chart.

That made a trade increasingly logical, although reports as recently as last week indicated Minnesota wasn’t interested in simply giving McCarthy away.

The Giants, meanwhile, suddenly had an obvious need after losing Dart. New York had already done extensive work on McCarthy before the 2024 NFL Draft, and speculation about a possible deal intensified throughout the weekend.

The price ultimately came in at a 2027 fifth-round pick.

From Michigan Star to New York

For Michigan fans, McCarthy’s next chapter will be fascinating to watch.

McCarthy went 27-1 as Michigan’s starting quarterback, helping lead the Wolverines to three consecutive Big Ten championships and the 2023 national championship before declaring for the NFL Draft.

His professional career has been far less smooth.

Now he’s only 23 years old and gets another opportunity to establish himself, this time with a Giants organization that still views Dart as its long-term quarterback but suddenly needed another young option in the room.

Minnesota gets some draft capital and moves on from a quarterback who no longer had a clear path to the field.

McCarthy gets something considerably more valuable.

A fresh start.