Rich on the Giants’ Options at QB If Jaxson Dart Misses the Rest of the 2026 Season

Rich knew it was bad before anyone said a word. When Chris and the crew start talking in the voice of the slow fox music going to break, the news is not good. And this news was about as bad as it gets for the New York Giants.

Chris read it on air: according to Ian Rapoport, Adam Schefter, and Mike Garafolo, the knee injury Jaxson Dart suffered Monday night was worse than anticipated based on the MRI. Dart is out for an extended period of time and possibly the season.

Rich had tried to stay positive after the game, when John Harbaugh said the injury was "in the neighborhood" of an MCL. Now that looked like wishful thinking. "If this is for the season, I cannot be more gutted for everybody in that organization and obviously the kid and the family," Rich said. "That's nuts, man."

He also saw it as a gut punch for an entire region. "Just reinforces the sensitivities and the feelings in the New York metropolitan area certainly for football fans of both teams that neither team can have nice things," Rich said. The Jets and Giants were 1-0 at the same time for the first time in forever, both lost, and now Dart is gone for the foreseeable future.

So what do the Giants do? Rich laid out the bleak version: wait for Dart to come back next year, spend the rest of this one getting Harbaugh's program up and running, and put their faith in Jameis Winston. They didn't even have a third quarterback on the roster; the emergency option was Braxton Berrios.

The crew kicked around the options. Tommy Cutlets is in New England now. Jimmy G? Ryan Tannehill is out there, but Rich noted that for all the times his name has come up over the years, he never came out of retirement. Chris, half joking, went back to his Overreaction Tuesday pitch of calling Russell Wilson to see if he is truly retired. "That wasn't the answer either last year, Chris," Rich said.

Having seen Winston in person Monday night, Chris was not encouraged. "It did not look great," he said, though he allowed that a full week of practice and reps might change things. Rich defended Winston as a fallback. "So can Jameis," he said when Chris argued Wilson could get them through the year. It was also pointed out that Winston signed a two-year, $13 million contract this offseason. "This is Jameis' gig."

The bigger problem is that nobody is trading a quarterback right now. Rich raised Carson Wentz, then dismissed it himself: there is no reason the Vikings would ever give him up, because "there but for the grace of the football gods go you." When someone floated J.J. McCarthy, Rich shut it down fast, pointing out McCarthy was one snap away from playing for the Vikings in a crucial division game last week.

The league is proving the point everywhere. Tyson Bagent is reportedly in concussion protocol in Chicago, so if Caleb Williams misses two weeks, Rich joked, it could be Case Keenum against the Eagles. "Is Nick Foles going to walk through the door for the Giants?" And the Falcons are down to their fourth quarterback. "I don't recall the last team to be on QB4 on their depth chart in quarter number eight," Rich said, "in my 25 years of doing this."

Even the Steelers' four-quarterback room didn't make sense to Rich as a fix. The Giants aren't going to acquire a project who needs to get up to speed in their system when Dart will be back as the starter. Mike pointed out a practice squad option and the chance to bring back Brandon Allen, who has been in their system, but "neither of those are going to be like, 'Oh, we can win the division this year,'" Rich said.

That is the whole job of a backup quarterback, as Rich explained. Mac Jones did it for the Niners last year. "Give you the four to six, the leeway to still have a season," he said. "Mac Jones in his four to six while Purdy was out allowed the Niners to have a shot at the one seed." The alternative is a backup who leaves you thinking "we're toast."

"The job of a backup quarterback is to keep you afloat and winning," Rich said. "That's why teams are going to keep their depth at the position. It doesn't matter how many times the Giants knock on the door."

His final word: "Man, what a total bummer. For Jaxson Dart and the Giants."