Giants QB Search After Jaxson Dart's Knee: Why Garoppolo Fits Best
Dart's season is done with MCL, PCL and meniscus damage. New York has just two QBs on the roster — and one free-agent name makes the most sense.
One start in brutal weather with a wide-open QB competition looming isn't startable.
- Dart: MCL, PCL and meniscus damage, surgery needed
- Giants have just 2 QBs on roster, none on PS
- Winston starts Week 3 vs Titans in awful weather
- Garoppolo is a free agent — essentially free to sign
- Dart went 28-20 over Cowboys in Week 1 debut
Jaxson Dart's rookie season is over almost before it started. The Giants QB hurt his knee early in a Week 2 loss to the Rams, and after the initial optimism faded, tests revealed the worst-case scenario: MCL, PCL and meniscus damage, with the meniscus requiring surgery. That's a wrap on a debut that looked genuinely promising after a clean, efficient Week 1 in the 28-20 win over Dallas.
Now New York is scrambling. The active roster holds exactly two quarterbacks — Jameis Winston and Jake Haener — with nobody on the practice squad. Per reporting from Schefter, Rapoport and Garafolo, the Giants are expected to cast a wide net, and how Winston plays his Week 3 start against the Titans (in miserable conditions, no less) could shape whether they add anyone at all.
The Names Being Floated
The trade candidates all come with baggage. Mac Jones has thrived in Kyle Shanahan's system but ranked dead last — 36th of 36 qualifiers — in TD-to-INT ratio from 2023-25 outside it, and San Francisco has zero reason to move him behind Brock Purdy (our #81 overall, QB23, on 179 PPR points across 9 games last year in 2025). Justin Fields, J.J. McCarthy and Gardner Minshew all get name-checked too, but none is realistically pryable at a sane price. Even Carson Wentz gets a mention as a Vikings depth piece — he managed just 68 PPR points over 5 games in 2025.
Why Garoppolo Makes Sense
Here's the cleaner path. Jimmy Garoppolo is a free agent right now, meaning he'd cost the Giants essentially nothing but a contract. He's played only a handful of snaps over the last two seasons, so there's minimal wear on the body. Yes, he's a conservative, on-schedule passer — the stylistic opposite of the high-risk Winston — and yes, he's never shown much outside San Francisco's QB-friendly ecosystem. But the downside is close to zero. A reunion with in-house option Brandon Allen (72 yards, 1 INT in his lone 2025 game) is the other cheap route, purely for depth.
For fantasy managers, none of this is worth chasing yet. Winston is a one-week streamer at best, and starting him in bad weather against a defense while the front office openly shops for his replacement is asking for a dud. Leave him on waivers unless you're truly desperate in a deep superflex league. Watch how Sunday plays out — if Winston bombs and the Giants sign Garoppolo or trade for a starter, revisit then. For now, this is a QB room to avoid, not to speculate on.
