Losing Jaxson Dart to a knee injury on Monday felt like a gut punch for the New York Giants, and on Wednesday it was confirmed to be season-ending — he’ll need knee surgery and is out for 2026. That leaves Jameis Winston as the team’s only realistic option to take over, largely because the Giants don’t have many better choices available.
Winston was just given a two-year, $13 million extension two weeks ago, making him one of the highest-paid backups in the league, but the team’s thinking was always short-term: he was a savvy veteran who could shepherd the offense through a brief absence. That calculus breaks down when the absence becomes season-long, especially since Winston hasn’t started more than seven games in a season since 2019 — the year he threw for 5,109 yards and 33 touchdowns but also 30 interceptions.
Finding a replacement via trade or free agency is easier said than done. There’s no obvious, plug-and-play option waiting in the wings. Joe Flacco would be an upgrade given his late-season play for Cincinnati, but he’s tied to a contender as a trusted backup. The supposed alternatives either would be too costly, unlikely to be traded, or aren’t necessarily better: San Francisco would reportedly ask for a high return for Mac Jones; Shedeur Sanders still has questions about his long-term upside; Derek Carr has been away from the game and is 35; Carson Wentz, Jacoby Brissett and Jimmy Garoppolo are all imperfect fits or carry questions about availability and form; and Tommy DeVito — while a fan favorite locally — likely isn’t a serious long-term answer.
There are other veteran names floating around — Josh Johnson, Andy Dalton or Tanner McKee, for example — but realistically, teams with usable backups are unlikely to part with them, especially after a rash of Week 2 injuries to young quarterbacks around the league. The rarity of available, proven depth makes a trade market thin right now.
Winston’s familiarity with the Giants’ offense and practice reps with the roster give him an edge that nothing else on the market does, even if that edge is modest. The best-case immediate scenario is for Winston to steady the ship through a favorable early stretch — Tennessee and Arizona at home, then a road game at Washington — where, combined with a competent defense and run game, the Giants could still post a 3-2 or 4-1 record. Beyond that, the Jameis Winston roller coaster — big plays and big mistakes — could make the rest of the season unpredictable. Given the lack of clear upgrades and the timing, the most sensible move is to throw the first-team reps to Winston and hope he produces consistency.
Fan Take: This matters because it underscores how fragile a team’s season can be when a young franchise QB goes down — and how thin the market for credible backups can become overnight. It could push NFL teams to rethink how they value and build QB depth, especially amid an injury-plagued start to the season.
Source: www.foxsports.com
