In the hours since learning that Jaxson Dart will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury, New York Giants fans have named just about every quarterback under the sun as a potential replacement.

From JJ McCarthy to Tom Brady, fans have thrown out the name of just about every quarterback they could think of as a guy the Giants should go get. There are reports that the Giants could be hoping to sign veteran backup Jimmy Garoppolo.

Regardless of all of that speculation, and whether or not they sign Garoppolo or someone like everybody’s favorite emergency third quarterback — Josh Johnson — there is a central truth:

Jameis Winston is now the Giants’ starting quarterback.

That is going to be the case on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. Unless he gets injured or unexpectedly proves so ineffective that the Giants have no choice but to trade for someone else to be fair to the rest of the locker room, Winston is probably the quarterback for the next 15 games.

The Giants have confidence in Winston.

“The team loves Jameis. We voted him captain, so I think that says plenty,” safety Jevon Holland told me on Wednesday. “Jameis is going to do a phenomenal job when he steps in there. He’s been leading us in multiple ways already, so it’s not uncommon. It’s not like a new voice or anything like that, so I think it will fit swimmingly.”

Winston had a ragged performance on Monday in relief of Dart, going just 11 of 27 for 111 yards and an interception. He was well off-target on a number of throws.

“I have to execute better and I am going to execute better,” Winston said on Wednesday.

The Giants’ offense, of course, has been built around Dart’s strengths, not Winston’s. That will change beginning this week against the Titans.

“A big part of it is building a game plan now for Jameis. He’ll be the starter. So, build the game plan for Jameis to suit his skill set,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “The game plan this last week was built for Jaxson, obviously. So, this will be an opportunity to do that, and that’s exactly what we’ll do. We’ll build around all the things that he does well that are in the offense, which is – there’s plenty in the offense. And then, of course, how to attack Tennessee and their defense and what they do.”

Dart and Winston are, of course, vastly different quarterbacks. The designed quarterback run game and scrambling ability are in Dart’s arsenal. They are not in Winston’s. The types of passes the two quarterbacks might prefer could also differ.

Harbaugh said the Giants do not have to build an entirely new offense.

“I don’t think it’s too big, because all this stuff is in the offense,” Harbaugh said. “All those plays are plays that we have, that we’ve been practicing and running. It’s just kind of more like a shift maybe over a little bit as opposed to a new – maybe a lane change as opposed to changing direction or anything like that, more of a lane change.”

Of course, the Giants need more than just two quarterbacks — Winston and Jake Haener — on the roster.

There are, though, varying levels of what the Giants could do. I am going to put them in three buckets.

Practice squad QBs/free agents

Garoppolo is, of course, a free agent. He is the most accomplished of the players the Giants could bring in, and would be a viable short-term starting option once up to speed if Winston were hurt or playing poorly.

Other free agent possibilities:

Guys who are currently available include:

Bailey ZappeJake BrowningNick Mullens

Browning played pretty well for the Bengals in 2023, pretty badly for the Bengals in 2025.

Practice squad possibilities:

Will Levis — New York JetsJoe Milton — Dallas CowboysJosh Johnson — BengalsHendon Hooker — TitansMax Brosmer — Vikiongs

Milton is, of course, the candidate du jour in the fan base. The 26-year-old has completed 37 of 53 passes (69.8%) for 424 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions in five games over two seasons for the New England Patriots and Cowboys.

Milton would, of course, be an upside The problem there is that he is a young player who a) hasn’t been tested in critical situations and b) would likely take longer than a more experienced quarterback to assimilate into the Giants’ system. That’s a problem in the middle of the season when there isn’t a lot of time for coaches to spend teaching him the offense.

J.J. McCarthy (Vikings), Justin Fields (Kansas City Chiefs), Mac Jones (San Francisco 49ers), Mitchell Trubisky (Titans) are among the names you hear bandied about in proposed trades.

A few points about trades.

Why would anyone deal a quarterback now?

In two weeks, we have seen Dart, Caleb Williams (and Tyler Bagent), Jayden Daniels, and Kyler Murray get hurt. Michael Penix is making his season-debut Thursday night. Why would any team that believes it has even a small chance to make the playoffs deal quarterback depth now?

To be honest, until any team knows it is out of the race that is GM malpractice at the rate quarterbacks are getting injured.

Why would the Giants surrender draft capital?

Please don’t tell me you think trading Kayvon Thibodeaux for someone like Fields is a smart move.

To get a quarterback via trade, the Giants would have to surrender draft capital. Why would they be willing to do that? They are still building for the future, and the plan would still be to have Dart lead that future.

What sense does it make to trade away draft capital that could help Dart, and the team as a whole, in the future to chase one or two more victories now?

The best course, in my view, is to ride with Winston. He received a two-year, $13 million extension because the franchise believes in him. So, now they need to prove it by not making a panic move and selling out future help for possible short-term satisfaction.

Cull the practice squads and free agency for the best help you can get. If this season goes off the rails because of quarterback play, so be it.

A word about J.J. McCarthy

When it comes to trading for a quarterback, the 23-year-old McCarthy is the hot name.

Reality is this: The Giants’ organization passed on McCarthy in the 2024 NFL Draft, likely because it didn’t believe McCarthy would succeed in New York.

GM Joe Schoen and the front office are not going to be advocating for a McCarthy trade now. The only way it even gets considered is if Harbaugh loves McCarthy and bangs the table for one. The only way Harbaugh does that is if he believes McCarthy has more upside than Dart.

Off what we have seen from both of them, that idea is ludicrous.

I keep seeing the opinion that if the Giants’ season turns into a train wreck, and they end up with the opportunity to draft Arch Manning, Dante Moore, Trinidad Chambliss or another top 10-worthy quarterback they should do it.

My view is that idea is nonsense. One knee injury and two games missed because of a concussion doesn’t mean it is time to give up on the idea that Dart can and will be a top-tier NFL quarterback. Drafting over Dart, and starting over, is foolishness.

What I could sign off on is the idea of drafting a young player in the middle rounds and trying to develop him as a viable backup. That doesn’t always work, but investing a fourth- or fifth-round pick is not that big of a gamble.

I don’t know who the first one to point this out was, but I did see it online and it is correct. Matthew Stafford, who is heading to the Hall of Fame, was limited by injuries to just 13 games over his first two seasons. That was way back in 2009 and 2010, and he’s done OK since then.

What you do if you have a top 10, or especially a top 5, pick, is maximize it. You help Dart. If you are in position to select the best player in the class, Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, you do that. Otherwise, you package picks to move down and collect as much talent as you can over the first three or four rounds of a draft that is said to be dripping with talent.