The New York Giants extended Jameis Winston’s contract by two years and $13 million before Jaxson Dart’s season-ending knee injury forced the backup quarterback to step in.

Dart went down seven snaps into the team’s Week 2 game, and Winston, the Giants’ hand-picked backup, stepped in.

The extension, which added two years to a deal that was due to expire after this season, lowered his cap hit and ensured Winston remains with the club through 2028.

Yet rather than stick with Winston, New York gave up a fifth-round draft pick to acquire J.J. McCarthy from the Minnesota Vikings, a quarterback Big Blue intends to start for the rest of the season.

Knowing Winston might not have been the ideal fit to run the Giants’ offense as designed full time, if something happened to Dart, why did the Giants bother to extend him?

The answer is that Winston was never meant to be a long-term answer, but rather a guy who could step in for a series or a game or two, which is exactly what he did.

“When you’re talking about a backup quarterback that also has leadership, that can lead not only that room, but the team,” general manager Joe Schoen said.

Winston, Schoen noted, has kept the Giants in games where they held a fourth-quarter lead or at least a tie, which is what the team wants from a backup when he's pressed into action.

But for the Giants and how their offense was designed to operate, having Winston run the offense for most of the season was something that raised questions about the sustainability of the plan.  

Winston’s Value Goes Beyond Snaps

Winston may not have been an ideal fit to go the distance in this offense, but his value to the organization remains high because he brings veteran leadership.

Despite his role as QB2, he was voted a team captain and sits on the eight-man leadership council chosen by head coach John Harbaugh.

Schoen recognized the importance of having a veteran quarterback after learning the lesson during his time in Buffalo when after the Bills drafted quarterback Josh Allen, they didn’t have a solid veteran presence in place to help the young signal caller. 

Having seen how Winston has helped McCarthy and Dart in the meeting room has made the investment in keeping Winston around undoubtedly worth it for Big Blue.

Winston, to his credit, has been the picture-perfect model of professionalism despite the outside noise surrounding his play, dubbed “The Jameis Winston Experience,” and his demotion from the starting lineup.

The coaching staff hasn’t totally cast him aside in game planning. Last week, he successfully ran the Giants’ version of the “Tush Push.”

But his biggest contribution, which is what initially endeared him to the organization, lies in his willingness to lead by example.

“Serving leadership is very important in everything that we do. First, by example, out there on the field, how you go about your work, how you apply it in the film room, how you’re open and sharing things through your experience that you have encountered,” Winston said.

With McCarthy now under center, Winston’s job is to keep the quarterback room steady, a role the Giants valued enough to pay for before Dart ever got hurt.

Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news, and send your mailbag questions to us.