Ever since Derek Carr announced his retirement, there’s been a New York Giants trade rumor floating around, which would involve reuniting backup quarterback Jameis Winston with the New Orleans Saints to compete for the starting job in the Big Easy.
Saints star defensive end and team leader Cameron Jordan even pitched the trade idea publicly during a recent media appearance.
On June 12, veteran NFL insider Josina Anderson provided a telling update on the Giants and Saints trade rumors for Winston, reporting: “Despite Cam Jordan recently expressing his desire for the Saints to trade for Giants QB Jameis Winston, my current understanding on evaluations is that New Orleans will continue to assess this position and its young players into training camp.”
Despite Cam Jordan recently expressing his desire for the #Saints to trade for #Giants QB Jameis Winston, my current understanding on evaluations is that New Orleans will continue to assess this position and its young players into training camp. Getting a good handle on what they
Anderson added that “getting a good handle on what they have remains the [Saints’] priority, at this time.”
In other words, don’t expect Winston to be traded anytime soon, although Anderson never ruled out a mid-to-late August discussion.
Josina Anderson’s Update on Jameis Winston Trade Rumors Between the Giants & Saints Is Good News for NYG
This is actually an ideal update for Big Blue, and here’s why.
The Giants tripled down on the quarterback position over the offseason because they could not afford to miss on it in 2025. General manager Joe Schoen knew he must do everything in his power to give head coach Brian Daboll not one, but multiple QB options to work with this summer, and he did.
Winston was the first to join the room, but he was quickly overshadowed by Russell Wilson and Jaxson Dart. As we know, that — plus the Carr injury and retirement — is the main reason these trade rumors began in the first place.
Having said that, the worst thing Schoen could do now is sabotage himself at quarterback. For example, let’s say he trades Winston before training camp and Wilson suffers an injury, leaving just Dart and fourth-stringer Tommy DeVito as the Week 1 options at QB.
Granted, some Giants fans might prefer to see Dart straight away, but early inconsistencies during OTAs have hinted that the rookie isn’t ready to start just yet.
That’s why New Orleans wanting to wait things out is good news overall. This allows the Giants to keep Winston throughout the bulk of training camp, at least until they know Wilson and Dart are both healthy enough to play Week 1.
It also gives Daboll and his staff more time to evaluate Dart, as the Saints evaluate fellow rookie Tyler Shough. Who knows, maybe Dart looks like a completely new quarterback by late August, and the Winston security blanket feels excessive.
Or perhaps the Giants determine they only want to keep two QBs on the 53-man roster, leaving Winston as the odd man out. Either way, more time should help with this crucial decision.
Giants QB Jameis Winston Is Well-Liked as a Mentor & Teammate
The other part of all this is that Winston is one of the more well-liked teammates in all of football. Ex-coaches have also raved about Winston, the mentor, and his presence should be a positive for Dart this summer.
Darius Slayton says Jameis Winston’s random thoughts have been have been entertaining 🤣
“We were talking about a slant, how did we get to Kentucky Fried Chicken?”
The only negative of having Winston around is that there are fewer quarterback reps for everyone else, but that will likely impact DeVito much more than Dart or Wilson.
There will always be three quarterbacks rotating in at camp. The QB4 doesn’t get too much action, however, but the Giants have likely seen all they need to see from DeVito already anyway.
At the end of the day, there’s very little downside to holding onto Winston for a couple more months. If the Giants have the roster space, Schoen could even keep the veteran backup for the early portion of the regular season and then look to trade him to any QB-needy franchises that may emerge.
