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Sean Payton Suggests He Baited Minnesota Into Trading Up For JJ McCarthy Before Selecting Bo Nix

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Sean Payton speaks to the media at the NFL Combine.

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The behind-the-scenes intricacies of the NFL Draft often offer incredible storylines after seeing how the selections unfold. Denver head coach Sean Payton recently filled fans in on his covert ops in the first round of this year’s event.

He claims to have baited Minnesota into trading up for JJ McCarthy before selecting Bo Nix a few picks later, saying it was his job to “pretend” wanting to move up for a quarterback.

That allusion, he says, led the Vikings to move up to land their guy with the 10th pick.

It’s something that plays out one way or another each year. The decision to trade up in order to secure your No. 1 pick is often a tricky one.

Is that top draft choice worth the price of trading picks or current players on the roster, or is it best to wait and see with the risk of seeing that player being taken off the board by another suitor?

It worked out for the Vikings a few years back, for example, when they waited in 2020. Shocked to see the team ahead of them pass over Justin Jefferson, their patience was rewarded with a top WR talent.

Of course, there are times when things don’t work out – which we’ve already seen this year.

Atlanta might’ve jumped the gun on Michael Penix, taking the passer with the No. 8 selection rather than potentially trading back and having the chance to land him a few picks later. The fear of him being gone by the time a new pick come back around could’ve easily influenced the decision.

That selection sped up the rate at which quarterbacks went off the board, sparking a domino effect that eventually caused Minnesota to panic, at least according to Sean Payton.

He says that with passers quickly coming and going, he led the Vikings to believe that he was set on moving into the top 10 to land a QB. Minnesota was interested in JJ McCarthy, and they responded by trading up to ensure they’d get him ahead of the Broncos.

Denver then picked Bo Nix at No. 12, securing the quarterback most believe Sean Payton wanted all along.

He seemed proud of the trickery, though Nix is far from a guaranteed success under center at the NFL level. Minnesota fans, meanwhile, were ecstatic to get McCarthy.

It will be interesting to how their careers pan out, and this storyline could either prove beneficial or come back to bite Coach Payton!