The Vikings made the surprising decision to trade quarterback J.J. McCarthy to the Giants on Monday, ending one of the most bizarre tenures for a Minnesota signal-caller in recent memory.

After getting demoted to QB3, it became apparent that a divorce was coming. While the timing of the trade was a bit unusual, the Vikings hope to limit distractions now as McCarthy looks for a fresh start. Monday’s trade affects everything from quarterback depth to even the reputation of the head man himself.

So, who are the big winners and losers after the trade? Let’s dive into it.

Winner: Max Brosmer

Dealing McCarthy to the Giants paves the way for Max Brosmer to slide into the QB3 spot.

The Vikings’ strange infatuation with the 25-year-old signal-caller now continues for at least this season, and Brosmer will develop for another year. Head coach Kevin O’Connell often talks fondly of Brosmer, and it’s clear the Vikings hope to mold him into a serviceable backup at some point, but his play hasn’t shown that it would be a possibility anytime soon.

Over 20% of Brosmer’s 87 career dropbacks have resulted in either a sack or an interception. For reference, McCarthy’s interception/sack rate per dropback is 13.6% (h/t ESPN), and that was stunningly abysmal. While it’s a small sample size, the Vikings’ love and fans’ disdain for Brosmer highlights a clear gap in their views of the quarterback.

Still, with McCarthy out of the picture, Brosmer has at least a slight chance of returning to a reserve role again in 2027.

Loser: Kevin O’Connell

It’s hard to put O’Connell in a positive light after bailing on the 10th overall pick just 10 starts into his career. McCarthy certainly needed to stay healthier and needed to meet his coach a little closer to halfway in terms of on-field performance. At the same time, it’s a tough look for the quarterback-whispering coach to admit defeat on his 23-year-old quarterback.

At this point, few fans are left who truly believe McCarthy still has a Pro Bowl-level performance buried deep inside him, but much of his early failures have fallen on the shoulders of O’Connell. The Vikings’ coach was infamously credited with the saying that organizations fail young quarterbacks before QBs fail them, and it seems like he’s certainly softened on that stance (h/t Bring Me The Sports).

“I think sometimes things don’t work out how you envisioned, or how you planned, or how you hoped,” O’Connell said when asked how he could reconcile that statement.

It’ll be interesting to see how he handles the Vikings’ next QB project, to say the least.

Winner: J.J. McCarthy

After the training camp battle with Kyler Murray, it was clear that McCarthy’s time in Minnesota was over. While trading him now instead of in March certainly warrants some discussion, he’ll now move to a Giants team that gives him a chance to play in an offense built for him.

Jameis Winston will hold down the starting role until McCarthy has a grasp on the playbook, but all bets are off in a few weeks. Unlike in Minnesota, where the offense required McCarthy to hit long-developing plays on play-action, the Giants will let McCarthy work off run-pass options and quick reads, possibly unlocking some of his playmaking while limiting the big, scary mistakes.

There was a point in time when being anywhere but with O’Connell seemed like a death sentence to McCarthy’s development. But in recent months, it’s become clear that the two worked together like oil and water.

Maybe the Giants can breathe new life into McCarthy’s career by offering a friendlier scheme than the one he dealt with in Purple and Gold.