New York Giants News and Rumors: Jameis Winston QB Decision, Najee Harris and Jihad Ward Released
Updated: 8 minutes ago
Published Oct 20, 2026, 10:44 PM ET | By Vincent Rapisardi
Tuesday's Giants news reshaped two position groups and sharpened the quarterback question ahead of Sunday's trip to Houston. New York released running back Najee Harris and outside linebacker Jihad Ward, signed Trace Ford to the 53-man roster and added receiver Jason Brownlee to the practice squad, according to the team's list of Tuesday's roster moves. Here is every story Big Blue Film Room published on Oct. 20, 2026, most important first.
ESPN's Jordan Raanan said on his Breaking Big Blue podcast that his "gut feeling" is that John Harbaugh will give Jameis Winston "one more opportunity to secure this job." That would make Sunday's game at Houston, the Giants' last before the bye, a pivotal test for the veteran. The question opened in the 34-27 loss to the Saints, when JJ McCarthy replaced Winston with New York trailing 34-10 and led three scoring drives in less than 12 minutes, according to Raanan's breakdown for ESPN.
Winston's case rests on results. The Giants are 2-1-1 in his four starts since Jaxson Dart's knee injury, with seven touchdown passes and four interceptions, per ESPN, though his 45.6 QBR ranks 22nd of 30 qualifying quarterbacks over that span. Harbaugh said Monday the team is "honing in on a decision," and Raanan previously reported a call is expected before Wednesday's practice. Raanan offered a gut feeling, not a sourced report.
The Giants are releasing running back Najee Harris, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday, two days after Harris started against the Saints and finished with four carries for two yards. Signed Aug. 18 on a one-year, veteran-minimum contract while coming back from a torn Achilles, Harris totaled 99 rushing yards in five games with New York, about 3 yards per carry.
The résumé explains why the Giants took the chance. Harris rushed for 1,000 yards in each of his first four seasons with the Steelers, but he never found traction in a four-back rotation. "It's hard to get into a rhythm with one or two runs," he said after Sunday's loss. The move leaves Cam Skattebo, Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Devin Singletary in the backfield, and the report did not say whether the Giants plan to add a running back.
Jihad Ward's return to the Giants lasted less than three weeks. SNY's Connor Hughes reported Tuesday morning that New York is releasing the veteran outside linebacker, who made one tackle on 41 defensive snaps across two games. NFL Network's Mike Garafolo also reported the move.
The Giants signed Ward off the Vikings' practice squad on Oct. 1, days after Brian Burns went on injured reserve with a torn ACL. The reunion made sense on paper: Ward had eight sacks for the Giants in 2022 and 2023, then set a career high with 22 quarterback hits for the Titans in 2025 under Dennard Wilson, now New York's defensive coordinator. The Record's Art Stapleton reported Ward had "a couple rough games in a row." As a veteran released before the trade deadline, Ward is not subject to waivers.
Ward's spot went to Trace Ford. The Athletic's Dan Duggan reported Tuesday that the Giants are signing the second-year outside linebacker to the 53-man roster, writing that Ford "slides into the roster spot opened by Jihad Ward's release." Ford had been elevated from the practice squad on Oct. 3, Oct. 10 and Oct. 17, the three-game maximum under NFL rules before a team must sign a player to keep using him.
Ford has seven tackles on 49 defensive snaps in three games, compared with Ward's one tackle on 41 snaps. His role is narrow: in the Week 5 tie at Washington, he played 16 snaps "exclusively on early downs to spell the top edge rushers," Duggan wrote. The caveat is the workload. Ford has no sacks, and PFF graded his defense against the Saints at 39.6, the lowest mark on the team.
The quarterback decision could also decide the scheme. ESPN's Jordan Raanan said people inside the organization told him the offense designed for the injured Jaxson Dart was largely shelved: "We basically had to scrap a lot of it." Raanan said JJ McCarthy's skill set would let the Giants "bring back that offense," something they cannot do with Jameis Winston.
Raanan has written that the Dart offense was "filled with zone-reads and quarterback rollouts." Without a running threat at quarterback, New York has averaged 3.8 yards per carry over the past four games, 22nd in the NFL, according to ESPN. Harbaugh called McCarthy "definitely a better runner, scrambler" and said a McCarthy start "opens up some things that we wouldn't be doing with Jameis." The caveat is installation: McCarthy arrived in a Sept. 28 trade with Minnesota, and Raanan did not say how much of the Dart offense would return.
A day before Harris was released, John Harbaugh made clear that no running back had earned a lead role. Asked Monday about Harris' frustration with a four-man rotation, Harbaugh said, "Our run game hasn't earned that yet," and told his backs to "take the job when you get the ball."
The numbers explain his impatience. Giants backs ran 14 times for 34 yards against New Orleans, with Tyrone Tracy Jr. getting six carries, Harris and Devin Singletary four each and Cam Skattebo none, according to Pro Football Talk. Harbaugh also spread the blame: "We're not blocking well enough. We're not running well enough." He said Skattebo's zero carries were "not by design," and Raanan has said to expect Skattebo "to be more in the mix" against the Texans.
The day's last addition came at receiver. The Giants signed Jason Brownlee to the practice squad Tuesday, ESPN's Jordan Raanan reported, after a tryout that also included Brady Boyd and Nick Nash, according to reporter Art Stapleton. The team confirmed the signing in its list of Tuesday's roster moves.
Brownlee, 27, has five catches for 56 yards and one touchdown in 13 NFL games with the Jets and Chiefs. The likely link is Matt Nagy: Brownlee played six games for Kansas City last season, Nagy's final year as the Chiefs' offensive coordinator before he took the same job with the Giants. The caveat is production, since Brownlee had one target and no catches with the Chiefs in 2025. He totaled 2,144 yards and 21 touchdowns at Southern Miss. Neither report said whether he will be elevated this week.
Abdul Carter has become the steadiest piece of a pass rush playing without Brian Burns. The second-year outside linebacker owns an 87.9 overall PFF grade, third among NFL edge rushers this season, and his 86.1 pass-rush grade ranks fourth among 115 qualified edge defenders.
The box score is more modest. Carter has two sacks and nine pressures, according to Pro Football Reference, while PFF's charting credits him with 21 total pressures, including 14 hurries. "I do think sacks are overrated," Carter told NJ.com earlier this month. The honest caveat is finishing: two sacks through six games is a thin total for a top-five pass rusher. He missed two practices with a calf injury before the Saints game, so his status on this week's injury report is the first thing to watch.
DJ Reader posted an 89.2 overall grade against the Saints, the best mark on the team, per Giants Wire's rundown of PFF's Week 6 grades. Malik Nabers led the offense at 78.6 after catching a game-high 12 passes for 165 yards, per SNY.
The grades point to a game decided at quarterback. Jameis Winston's 36.3 was the lowest offensive or defensive grade on the roster, while JJ McCarthy graded 74.3 in relief, more than double Winston's mark. Safeties Ar'Darius Washington (81.4) and Jason Pinnock (78.1) joined Reader among the top defensive grades. Trace Ford had the lowest defensive grade at 39.6, and Jihad Ward graded 52.9 before his release Tuesday. Reader and Nabers both made PFF's Week 6 Team of the Week.
Tiki Barber gave JJ McCarthy's relief outing a split review on WFAN. "That was bad. That was a lot of interception-worthy passes," the Giants' career rushing leader said, before adding that after the last such throw, McCarthy "was exceptional." His verdict: "We got a young Jameis Winston."
The comparison is pointed. Winston threw 33 touchdowns and 30 interceptions for Tampa Bay in 2019, the first 30-30 season by a quarterback in NFL history, per NFL.com. McCarthy completed 11 of 21 passes for 243 yards with one touchdown and one interception, all in the fourth quarter. His 14.9 air yards per attempt were the most by a quarterback with at least 20 dropbacks in a game this season, per NFL.com, citing Next Gen Stats. "Interception-worthy" is Barber's phrase, not a charted stat, and he did not say which quarterback should start.
The new evergreen page tracks every Giants player's 2026 PFF season grade and will be updated each week. Through Week 6, DJ Reader leads the team at 89.8, first among 129 qualified interior defensive linemen. Abdul Carter (87.9) ranks third among 115 edge defenders, and Jevon Holland (83.2) is fifth among 98 safeties.
On offense, Malik Nabers (81.7) ranks 13th of 80 receivers and Isaiah Likely (80.8) is third of 33 tight ends, while Jameis Winston's 52.8 ranks 30th of 35 qualified quarterbacks. Andrew Thomas (76.3) leads the offensive line. Jon Runyan shows the widest split, with a 76.2 pass-blocking grade that ranks ninth among guards and a 42.9 run-blocking grade. JJ McCarthy, Jaxson Dart and Najee Harris do not yet have 2026 season grades on their PFF pages.
Our Take: The Giants' Tuesday Moves Sent a Clear Message
My read on Tuesday: John Harbaugh isn't messing around. Najee Harris voiced frustration about his role, and a day later he was released.
That is accountability, and it also cleared a crowded backfield. Harris had 99 yards on 31 carries in five games.
At quarterback, I've held the same view since September. Jameis Winston is a fine backup for three or four games, not a starter for three or four months.
The Giants reached the same conclusion a day later, when ESPN reported McCarthy would start, as we covered in Giants to Start JJ McCarthy vs Texans After Fourth-Quarter Rally.
The common thread is that roles now follow production. Trace Ford earned a roster spot, and Jihad Ward lost his after one tackle on 41 snaps.
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