Broncos Writer Ignites Beef with Vikings Fans over J.J. McCarthy
A writer who covers the team that wound up with Bo Nix in the 2024 NFL Draft thinks a different team “settled” with J.J. McCarthy.
Broncos Writer Ignites Beef with Vikings Fans over J.J. McCarthy
Something almost feeling the Twilight Zone indeed, Predominantly Orange‘s Sayre Bedinger started a mini-feud with Minnesota Vikings fans last week with the assertion. It doesn’t necessarily make sense, but it’s out in the digital stratosphere.
“Perhaps Vikings fans who want to clown Sean Payton for taking Bo Nix at #12 overall should focus on the fact that they failed to land the quarterback they actually wanted and had to settle for the next guy on their list,” Bedinger opined.
Vikings fans took issue with the perception of Broncos skipper Sean Payton admitting he tried to manipulate draft dealings on April 25th. Bedinger explained what he believed Payton did, “The Broncos never said anything to criticize the Vikings for moving up a spot to get JJ McCarthy. What Sean Payton was trying to convey was that the Broncos wanted people to think they were interested in trading up for someone when Bo Nix was always their guy. And they might have even played the board, moving down to get him if not for the Falcons’ shocking pick of Michael Penix Jr. at #8 overall.”
Payton excitedly told media members on the first night of the draft.“I was actively involved in trying to pretend we were moving forward. It’s this time of the year, and it’s difficult … Man, you just don’t want others to know our focal point.”
The man point-blank owned up to the manipulation. He was actually proud of it. Vikings fans believe Payton wanted to force Minnesota into using more trade capital in the quest for McCarthy, while Bedinger insists Denver merely wanted to secure Nix hell or high water.
Not for nothing — Nix was basically the one quarterback during the draft lead-up who Vikings fans did not want. If Payton was paranoid that the Vikings could draft Nix instead of McCarthy, well, that was much ado about nothing or a total delusion.
Bedinger evidently wants fans of the purple team to lament — it sounds like that’s what he wants? — Drake Maye not joining the Vikings. Minnesota did not want to spend three 1st-Round picks and more on the would-be price on Maye in a deal with the New England Patriots. Therefore, to avoid the pricey trade, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah declined and opted for McCarthy at No. 10 to preserve 1st-Round draft capital.
In an inexplicable turn of events, Bedinger interpreted that as “settling.” It’s probably news to him or his site that NFL teams have more than one plan when entering a draft. It’s not all-or-nothing for a single player. To conduct business in such a way would be malpractice.
Denver won a Super Bowl in 2015 and hasn’t remotely sniffed the postseason since.
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Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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