Dart's Injury Is a Setback, Not a Reason to Mortgage the Future

The New York Giants are in the worst possible spot: they will have to face the rest of the season without Jaxson Dart, their dynamic young quarterback.

Dart will have surgery to repair ligament (MCL and PCL) and cartilage (meniscus) damage to his left knee, which he suffered when he was sandwiched between two Rams defenders during Monday night's loss to Los Angeles. He will miss the rest of the regular season while he rehabs, with an outside chance of returning for the playoffs.

That is, if there are playoffs. Which brings us to the million-dollar question: What do the Giants do at quarterback?

The obvious answer is to tailor the game plan to what Jameis Winston, the backup they signed as Dart’s understudy and recently extended, does best.

Therein lies the challenge.

Winston isn't known for the athleticism Dart brings to RPOs and designed runs that force opposing defenses to account for him as a potential rushing threat

What Winston does well is operating from of the pocket in a conventional pro-style offense that features play-action. This difference in style means the Giants will have to shelve some of their playbook.

So that raises the question: should the Giants trade for a quarterback such as Joe Flacco of the Bengals, who has ties to head coach John Harbaugh from their days in Baltimore; Mac Jones of the 49ers; J.J. McCarthy of the Vikings, whom the Giants heavily scouted when he was coming out of Michigan; or Gardner Minshew II of the Cardinals, who has ties to Giants offensive coordinator Matt Nagy from their days together in Kansas City?

No, no, and no

Sep 13, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Gardner Minshew II (15) warms up prior to a game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

One of the most passionate arguments for a potential trade for a backup quarterback is that it opens up options and gives the Giants a better chance of finding someone whose skill set more closely matches Dart’s, so the playbook doesn’t have to change much.

But that argument doesn’t hold water for several reasons. First, if coaches can’t adjust the game plan to suit the strengths of the players they have available, then they should consider another line of work.

Second, no team is going to readily hand over their backup quarterback for a song and a dance. Quarterbacks are valuable commodities, and if you want one, a Day 3 draft pick — the Giants are projected to have two fifth round picks and two sixth-round picks as of this writing — might not be enough.

More importantly, given how vulnerable quarterbacks are to injury, does it make sense for a team to even consider parting with one unless they get a king’s ransom in return?

Every NFL team worth its salt aspires to make the postseason, and while adding a quarterback whose skill set more closely matches Dart’s arguably would improve those odds, at the end of the day, giving up draft assets that could otherwise be used to build around Dart would be a waste.

It’s Winston and Haener … for Now

Aug 28, 2026; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants quarterback Jake Haener (2) drops back to pass during the second half against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Giants have obviously put their trust in Jameis Winston, who will start for the rest of the year, assuming he stays healthy.

Winston, remember, received a two-year contract extension for this very reason, and the Giants certainly didn’t hand over the extension out of the goodness of their hearts.

That said, the team might want a little more stability and experience in the backup role.

For this week at least, the Giants will roll with Jake Haener, a young signal-caller on the practice squad who flashed during his brief preseason opportunities.

Haener, who was with the New Orleans Saints last year, has appeared in eight NFL regular-season games, with one start, and has completed 18 of 39 passes for 226 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.

He also has some rushing ability, having run 11 times for 22 yards last season with a long of nine.

Beyond that, the best option for the Giants is not to invest assets in what amounts to a one-year rental but rather to sign a quarterback on another team’s practice squad (Joe Milton III of the Cowboys comes to mind) or on the street (such as Jimmy Garoppolo, whom Mike Garafolo of NFL Network mentioned as being a name to watch).

Regardless of the path the Giants take, worth remembering is that Dart, through no fault of his own, is losing a valuable year of growth in this new offense that, based on Week 1, looked to be a great fit for what he does well.

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