Heading into Day 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft, there was a ton of speculation and rumors floating around about what the Minnesota Vikings were going to do with their two first-round selections.
Recently, it was reported that the Vikings attempted to move from pick No. 11 to pick No. 3 with a trade offer that was sent to the New England Patriots. But the Patriots decided to decline the offer and they wound up selecting former North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye with the third overall pick.
After a few more selections were made, Minnesota was able to complete a trade with the New York Jets to move up from pick No. 11 to pick No. 10. With their new selection spot, the Vikings went ahead and drafted former Michigan signal-caller J.J. McCarthy.
Minnesota Vikings picking J.J. McCarthy in 2024 NFL Draft labeled a failure
While Minnesota fans are still celebrating the team acquiring McCarthy in this year's NFL Draft, not everyone thought the team's selection of the young quarterback was a complete success.
PredominantlyOrange.com's Sayre Bedinger recently defended Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton for some recent remarks that he believes were misinterpreted by Vikings fans.
A little over a week ago, Payton shared how he was involved in the process of making it seem like the Broncos wanted to trade up in the first round of this year's NFL Draft. Many Minnesota fans felt that this meant Payton was trying to force a team like the Vikings to give up assets in order to land McCarthy.
But Bedinger disagrees with that interpretation of what the Broncos head coach said. Instead, he believes Payton was just sharing the general feelings and reactions from inside the team's draft war room when the picks were being made before their selection in the opening round.
Bedinger also defended Denver from the Vikings fans who accused the Broncos of "panic drafting" former Oregon quarterback Bo Nix with the 12th overall pick.
And then Bedinger had one final message for the Minnesota fans who were mad about Payton's comments.
"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."
So the Vikings didn't want McCarthy? Is that why they traded up in the draft to select him?
Bedinger is claiming that Maye is actually the quarterback Minnesota wanted in this year's NFL Draft, and because the Vikings failed to make a trade up and get him, they essentially settled for McCarthy.
He's right about one thing: Minnesota did want to draft Maye this year. But they also wanted McCarthy (some even thought they liked McCarthy better).
Prior to this year's NFL Draft, Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah stated that the team was "in love" with multiple quarterbacks in the 2024 pool of prospects. McCarthy was part of this group, which means that he, like Maye, was wanted by Minnesota in this year's draft.
As for Denver, their general manager George Paton said something similar to Adofo-Mensah last month when he claimed that the Broncos liked "seven to eight" of the quarterback prospects who were going to be available in the 2024 NFL Draft.
And back during the owners meetings in March, Payton stated that Denver trading up for a passing prospect in this year's draft was a "realistic" possibility.
So does this mean that the Broncos settled for Nix and he wasn't the quarterback they actually wanted because they were unable to trade up and get someone else in the opening round?