Sean Payton admits baiting the Vikings to trade up for JJ McCarthy when he was always sold out on Bo Nix

In any edition of the draft, some teams try and make a move that forces another team to make some changes to their strategy. Just last night, there was one situation that Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton revealed. He faked a situation so that the Minnesota Vikings were forced to trade up in the 1st round of the 2024 NFL Draft yesterday.

After the 1st round ended, the Denver Broncos held a press conference to talk about their 1st round selection. During that question-answer round, head coach Sean Payton revealed this ‘baiting’.

I was actively involved in trying to pretend we were moving forward. It’s this time of the year, and it’s difficult. And we want to keep our options open. You might have needs at rush edge, tackle, receiver. Then you’re really manage. But when it comes to something this specific relative to the quarterback, it’s, man, you just don’t want others to know that this is their focal point. Sean Payton said

Essentially, Payton suggested that had the Broncos even hinted that they wanted Bo Nix, the entire game would have changed. The Minnesota Vikings took the bait as both teams were heavily linked to JJ McCarthy.

Therefore, Payton and the Broncos faked that they might move up to 10th to pick up a quarterback. Their fake caught the Vikings off-guard and forced them to surrender two additional picks, just to move up one spot.