Minnesota Vikings fans have had a disdain for Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton long before he became the coach of the Broncos.
Payton's Saints beat the Vikings in the 2009 NFC Championship Game, an overtime thriller during the infamous "Bountygate" season. Vikings fans haven't forgiven Payton for that, and not even the Minneapolis Miracle was good enough revenge. The Saints went on to win the Super Bowl during that season while the Vikings missed out on a golden opportunity.
Needless to say, Vikings fans did not like it whatsoever when Sean Payton insinuated that he baited Minnesota into training up for JJ McCarthy during the 2024 NFL Draft when he wanted Bo Nix the whole time. Payton said that he was "actively involved" in trying to pretend that the Broncos were moving up, and many pre-draft rumors indicated their primary target was McCarthy.
The whole situation simply gave Vikings fans another reason to hate Payton, and they were absolutely convinced that Payton's smug comments would come back to bite him. With the latest updates on McCarthy coming out of Vikings training camp, it seems like Payton is being vindicated more and more every day.
JJ McCarthy's struggles at Vikings training camp proving Broncos HC Sean Payton was right about Bo Nix all along
2-min drill for J.J. McCarthy went about as poorly as possible.
— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) August 3, 2026
PBU
PBU
False start
INT by Byron Murphy Jr.
Legendary Vikings running back Adrian Peterson recently offered his thoughts and observations regarding McCarthy, and even being as positive as he can possibly be, these comments are extremely telling:
“In my eyes, based on what I’ve seen from J.J., it would definitely be a surprise. That’s not to take anything away from J.J. I feel like he’s still a young quarterback. He’s only been around two or three years, and he was injured the first year. But I feel like he has a lot of growing to do.
I feel like he has the potential to be an outstanding quarterback, but some of his decision-making, from my own perspective, I’m just like, ‘Ah, come on now.’”
- Former Vikings RB Adrian Peterson (via Kyle Odegaard on Twitter/X)
Another former Vikings legend -- wide receiver Cris Carter -- also recently revealed that McCarthy was former Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's "guy" and not Kevin O'Connel's. O'Connell responded to those comments with a word salad trying to dance around the comments, but the writing is on the wall.
The Vikings' actions -- signing Kyler Murray after firing Adofo-Mensah this offseason -- speak louder than any words. McCarthy has been a disappointment. Even if he's still a young prospect, and even though injuries have been a factor, the selection of McCarthy (after trading up to get him) looks worse by the day.
The Bo Nix pick, on the other hand?
After being laughed at in the moment by pretty much the entire NFL world, that pick is looking pretty smart.
Nix is one of just three quarterbacks in league history (Peyton Manning and Justin Herbert are the others) with at least 3,500 yards passing and 25 or more passing TDs in his first two NFL seasons. He's led the Broncos to 24 wins in his first two NFL seasons, tying Russell Wilson for the most wins in NFL history over the first two years of a career.
Nix led the Broncos to the #1 seed in the AFC this past season and engineered 11 game-winning drives, including against the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
Entering year three, Nix has looked fantastic at Broncos training camp. He's taking a new level of command of the offense, and is poised for another huge step in the right direction.
Nix was also recently named the No. 59 player in the league by his peers after being ranked No. 64 last season.
It's still extremely early for both of these young quarterbacks in their respective careers. Hopefully, McCarthy can figure it out at some point. But the Broncos aren't wondering whether or not Nix can figure it out. He's proven to be a true franchise player at the most important position, and has already been answering questions from the media about whether or not he's thought about a big-money contract after this season.
Before either of these guys played a snap in the NFL, Vikings fans were certain that McCarthy would be better than Nix. But you can't help but wonder what they're thinking just two years later.
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