Jaxson Dart needs support from the Giants, not a pink slip.
The rookie quarterback’s performance in Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings was bad enough to be deeply concerning, if not alarming.
But running him out of town because he isn’t functioning at a high level on the worst team in the NFL would be rash.
The past decade has shown that a player failing with the Giants in no way means that player won’t have greater value elsewhere.
What the Giants (2-13) want to do is become one of the teams whose roster, coaching and support staff elevate talent rather than exposing it.
They might have a golden opportunity to do that for Dart if they lose to the Raiders (2-13) this Sunday in Las Vegas.
A loss to the Raiders will put the Giants in the driver’s seat for the No. 1 overall pick in April’s NFL Draft.
Picking first, of course, would give the Giants a crack at Heisman Trophy winning Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza if they decided to bail on Dart after just one NFL season.
So it would be incumbent upon the Giants to do their homework on Mendoza and all of the draft’s top prospects, even after trading up into the first round for Dart this past spring.
But unless the Giants evaluated Mendoza as leaps and bounds more capable than Dart, picking him would risk doing the exact same thing to the Indiana QB in 2026 that the Giants did to Dart in 2025:
Show confidence in him but ultimately fail to adequately support him.
So then, if Mendoza struggled in 2026 with Malik Nabers at half strength coming off an ACL and Cam Skattebo below full speed coming off his leg fractures, then what? Bail on him, too?
No, the Giants need to take a deep breath and recognize what trading down out of that pick could do for their team.
Consider: Bears GM Ryan Poles literally saved his job with a trade like this.
In March 2023, Poles traded the No. 1 overall pick to the Carolina Panthers, who were targeting Alabama QB Bryce Young.
The Bears got the No. 9 overall pick, a second-round pick, a 2024 first-rounder, a 2025 second-rounder and veteran receiver D.J. Moore. Chicago then flipped the No. 9 pick and the 2023 second-rounder for additional picks and players.
Quarterback Caleb Williams, right tackle Darnell Wright, Moore and wide receiver Luther Burden all emerged as key acquisitions and contributors from that trade for a Bears team that now has clinched a playoff spot under first-year coach Ben Johnson.
The Jets squandered their opportunity to do this in 2021.
They could have kept Sam Darnold, traded down from No. 2 overall to land a haul of extra assets and continued to build around a quarterback they had shown confidence in not long prior.
Instead, they stayed at No. 2, drafted Zach Wilson, traded Darnold for a less attractive package of picks from Carolina and stayed bad. Very bad.
Dart undoubtedly needs to be able to see the field better, read coverages and get the ball out quicker than he did on Sunday against Brian Flores’ Vikings defense.
He was overwhelmed. He did not belong on the field on that day.
But how can anyone ignore that the Giants suddenly are asking Dart to be a primarily pocket passer, limiting his mobility, and that this adjustment isn’t easy for him?
How can anyone watch the film of Sunday’s loss and think that interim head coach Mike Kafka’s plan to protect Dart in the pocket was a sound one?
Who thinks Dart’s position coach, Shea Tierney, had him properly prepared for a game in which the Giants finished with 13 net yards passing?
The infrastructure here in East Rutherford, N.J., at the moment is horrendous. This franchise’s losing seeps into players’ pores. They can’t escape it. They begin to wonder if it’s the team or it’s them.
The Giants can’t bail on Dart. Whatever you think of him, when Dart said the Chicago Bears defense “couldn’t stop me” back in November before his concussion, he was right:
He was doing whatever he wanted against a team being celebrated as one of the successes of the NFC this season before that injury.
Dart has the intangible and mental makeup. He will not shy from the challenge of turning this organization around. He just needs help.
He and the Giants need at least one corner, maybe two. They need safeties. They need linebackers. They need interior defensive linemen. They need a receiver and a tight end.
They need reinforcements on an offensive line that will be turning over. They need a kicker. They need a head coach. They might need a new GM soon, too.
It’s on Kafka, Tierney and the Giants’ coaching staff to properly support Dart on Sunday in Las Vegas and not hang him out to try like they did against Minnesota.
And make no mistake, Kafka said: the Giants aren’t pulling back on Dart’s workload or sitting him down after such a shocking afternoon at MetLife Stadium.
“We’re full throttle ahead,” Kafka said Monday. “Jaxson’s running the ship. No question about that.”
So it’s time to get at least one more productive game under Dart’s belt before his rookie season ends.
And then it will be time for the team to focus on how to help him, first by hiring the right people — and then by using their assets to complement him instead of replacing him.
