Getty Head coach Sean Payton of the Denver Broncos.
The Minnesota Vikings drafted quarterback J.J. McCarthy 10th overall, trading up one spot with the New York Jets and surrendering a fourth- and a fifth-rounder to make the deal happen.
Minnesota got a sixth-round pick back from New York in return, though the price of the trade was still fairly steep considering the Vikings jumped just one selection. That said, the team did vastly better than predictions from ESPN analysts Mel Kiper Jr. and Field Yates suggested, as both men predicted Minnesota would need to surrender the Nos. 11 and 23 picks in 2024 along with a 2025 first in a deal to move up six spots to No. 5 with the Los Angeles Chargers and select McCarthy there.
All in all, the first night of the draft was a massive win for the Vikings, who didn’t just get their QB but also kept the 23rd pick, which they later utilized in trade to jump six spots to No. 17 and draft edge defender Dallas Turner out of Alabama — now the favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook to win the NFL Rookie of the Year Award (+400).
However, none of that stopped Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton from taking a victory lap on supposedly duping the Vikings into trading up from No. 11 to No. 10 for McCarthy, which he implied during a press conference Thursday night, April 25, after his team selected quarterback Bo Nix of Oregon with the 12th overall pick in the first round.
“I was actively involved in trying to pretend we were moving forward,” Payton said.
Former Vikings linebacker and current KFAN analyst Ben Leber reposted Payton’s comments on social media with a hot take of his own.
“What a dork,” Leber wrote.
Sean Payton’s Comments Have Landed Him in Hot Water More Than Once Since Joining Broncos
GettyDenver Broncos head coach Sean Payton.
If Payton and the Broncos did, in fact, bait the Vikings into trading up via scare tactics, it is unclear what precise advantage Denver gained by doing so.
Minnesota is an NFC team that essentially surrendered a fourth-round pick and a swap of a fifth-rounder for a sixth-rounder with the Jets, an AFC team that will continue to compete with the Broncos for playoff spots in years to come. New York and Denver have also cultivated something of a rivalry over the past season, ever since the last time Payton opened his mouth unnecessarily and a gaffe spilled out.
Payton harshly criticized his predecessor Nathaniel Hackett, who held the head coaching position in Denver for less than a full season in 2022, saying Hackett’s was “one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL,” per Bleacher Report.
Hackett, who served as the offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers the three seasons prior, reunited the quarterback Aaron Rodgers in New York for the 2023 campaign — where both remain. Rodgers took exception to Payton’s comments, as did the rest of the Jets team.
They ended up defeating the Broncos in Denver by 10 points (31-21) in Week 5, which led to some uncomfortable questions for Payton during his first year of what projects to be a somewhat lengthy rebuild.
Vikings Plan to Take Development of J.J. McCarthy Slow
GettyQuarterback J.J. McCarthy of the Minnesota Vikings.
But as far as the Vikings are concerned, and whatever Payton did or didn’t create, they have their quarterback of the future.
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said the team doesn’t plan to rush McCarthy into a starting role, which explains why Minnesota signed Sam Darnold to a one-year contract this offseason.
“We’re not going to rush his development,” Adofo-Mensah said of McCarthy Friday, per Kevin Seifert of ESPN. “A lot of times when we go back over history and say, ‘These quarterbacks have missed,’ there’s a lot of hands that are dirty in that regard. And we’re going to make sure that our hands are clean and [we] give him the best opportunity [we] can to be the best player he can be in this offense.”