Report reveals why J.J. McCarthy is with Giants instead of Colts' Anthony Richardson Sr.

Shortly after the New York Giants confirmed that starting quarterback Jaxson Dart would miss at least the rest of the regular season due to needing surgery to repair the serious knee injury he suffered on Sept. 21, league insider Ian Rapoport of NFL Network/ESPN revealed that he hadn't "heard" that the Giants had any interest in possibly trading for Indianapolis Colts backup quarterback Anthony Richardson Sr. this fall. 

That was said before the Giants agreed this past Monday to send the Minnesota Vikings a 2027 fifth-round draft pick for backup J.J. McCarthy. For a piece published on Wednesday, ESPN NFL insiders Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano explained why McCarthy and not Richardson is now sharing a quarterback room with current Giants starter Jameis Winston. 

Giants "never" explored a potential Anthony Richardson Sr. move

"The Giants never called Indianapolis about Richardson's availability, but my sense is that the Colts don't want to trade him right now," Fowler wrote. "Perhaps that changes, but Richardson is QB2 despite neither he nor third-stringer Riley Leonard having particularly good camps. Richardson would welcome the chance to learn behind the scenes in the [Sean McVay] or [Kyle Shanahan] trees, but that doesn't feel feasible, at least this season."

Richardson requested a trade this past February, but it's assumed no team was willing to give up a meaningful asset to land him before the 2026 draft got underway. He and Leonard later competed for the Colts' primary backup job through August, and Indianapolis has since started the season with a 1-2 record. 

Those running the Colts are likely hoping that starter Daniel Jones will reclaim the form that helped the club win eight of its first 10 games last season. That said, Jones' well-known injury history may have something to do with why the Colts aren't in a rush to sell Richardson for pennies on the dollar this far away from the Nov. 10 trade deadline. 

Will Colts take whatever they can get for Anthony Richardson Sr.?

"A guy we don't hear much about anymore is Anthony Richardson Sr., and I still wonder if someone will throw a late-round pick at the Colts for a chance to salvage his talent," Graziano added. "There was the whole kerfuffle in the offseason about him demanding a trade, but we never heard much about teams being interested in acquiring him. As the season goes on and the Colts get closer to the end of his rookie contract, maybe they're willing to take less to move on."

Richardson is on track to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2026 season, so perhaps a team will be able to take a flier on him via a Day 3 draft pick in early November. The Giants clearly didn't want to wait to find out, and only time will tell whether first-year Big Blue head coach John Harbaugh will ultimately regret that decision.