Who thought the Denver Broncos and Minnesota Vikings would have such a low-key, unwritten rivalry during the 2024 offseason? Earlier in the 2024 offseason, Vikings supporters were defensive when Sean Payton spoke out about how he was instrumental in convincing people that the Broncos wanted to move up (probably for JJ McCarthy) before the 2024 NFL Draft. Vikings supporters were outraged because they believed Sean Payton was laughing at them for picking McCarthy, which was not the case.
Payton desired Bo Nix, plain and simple. He wanted the media to report that the Broncos were working hard to move up to acquire their guy, and there were obviously a lot of people who swallowed that bait. The Vikings tried but failed to trade up for Drake Maye.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, McCarthy will serve as the Vikings’ backup quarterback indefinitely.
“The Vikings believe that there is untapped potential, that there is a lot of talent. He’s never had a supporting cast like this. They feel he can not only start games, but also thrive if everything goes properly. So their goal would be to bench J.J. McCarthy for an unknown number of games, whether it’s a complete season or however many games they believe he can learn a high-volume passing scheme behind the scenes for a little while would be beneficial to him.”
The Vikings made a significant investment in Sam Darnold ($10 million), so it makes sense to give him the year as starter and see what he has. However, the fact that this is being publicized before the team even begins training camp should make the Denver Broncos and their fans feel even better about Bo Nix’s pick.
Although the Broncos have not named Nix as the clear starter to begin the season, early reports from OTAs have been extremely encouraging. Head coach Sean Payton has stated several times that Nix has looked like the player they were smitten with throughout the pre-draft process. Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi recently noted that Nix does not appear to be a rookie out there.
To state the obvious, Bo Nix is older than JJ McCarthy. He has spent a lot more time on task. He’s had numerous opportunity to fail forward. McCarthy’s future is not in shambles by any means, but in the context of the Broncos’ current position, it appears that the team was lucky to be able to land Nix with
