Many NFL pundits jokingly described the New York Giants acquiring J.J. McCarthy as the team bringing in Jaxson Dart lite. After playing five full quarters and winning his first start for the franchise, that's exactly the correct assessment. Now, is that a good or bad thing for the franchise after this season?

McCarthy, in those five quarters, has thrown for 495 yards, a touchdown and an interception. In fact, 243 of those yards came during New York's furious fourth-quarter comeback attempt against the New Orleans Saints a week ago — a stat line not replicated by a Giants passer since Eli Manning. McCarthy is also the youngest QB in franchise history since Bob Clatterbuck in 1954 to complete over 70 percent of his passes and record at least 250 yards through the air.

If he continues on this pace and — more importantly — the Giants keep winning somehow, head coach John Harbaugh and general manager Joe Schoen are going to have a problem on their hands. It's a good problem to have but the eventual decision could severely impact the franchise for years to come.

Prolonged J.J. McCarthy success will force Giants' hand on tough QB choice

Let's say McCarthy leads the Giants to their first NFC East title since 2011 and their first playoff appearance since 2022. Does Harbaugh decide to continue starting him even with Dart aiming for a return from his ACL surgery this postseason? Most teams would ride the hot hand, but what if the team practically limps into the playoffs because the rest of the division is just so bad?

Outside of that scenario is a more certain decision to be made this offseason. McCarthy's rookie contract is set to expire at the end of the campaign unless New York decides to trigger a projected $25.8 million fifth-year option. Will Schoen look at the clear proof of potential as reason to exercise the club option (or negotiate an extension) or maximize any return by flipping McCarthy to a QB-needy team ahead of April's draft?

On the one hand, McCarthy would be a much better insurance policy than Jameis Winston should Dart suffer another serious injury in the future. Yet, he could also be a very expensive policy to be riding the bench for multiple years with Winston set to only cost $7.2 million against the salary cap next year. McCarthy has proven himself (so far) to really be Dart's mini-me and should the need arise to call his number again past this year, Harbaugh wouldn't have to adjust the playbook as severely as he had to for Winston (and that was not a smooth transition).

On the other hand, the Giants only spent a fifth-round pick to acquire McCarthy from the Minnesota Vikings — the team that drafted him 10th overall in 2024 — and that deal is looking more and more like a masterclass steal by Schoen. If McCarthy remains consistent, playoff appearance or not, it's all but guaranteed he could get another team to pay a more expensive price this offseason. That's a tempting endeavor for a general manager who knows Dart is New York's starter no matter what.

The downside to that would be returning to the possibility Dart goes down again, but this time McCarthy isn't available to save the day. That means a sequel to the Jameis Winston experience (if he's even still on the roster) and it's unlikely Giants fans (or Schoen) would survive another trip down that road.

Of course, things could come crashing down after New York's Week 8 bye and the team will be spared this dilemma. But barring McCarthy having an absolute meltdown — like double-digit interceptions and a multi-game touchdown drought leading to a season-ending losing streak — his upside significantly outweighs Winston's experience as a seasoned backup. Sometimes the best problems yield the hardest choices to make.