Former Broncos QB clashes with Peyton Manning over potential smokescreen admission of team’s interest in J.J. McCarthy

Peyton Manning may have let slip the Denver Broncos' true intentions with J.J. McCarthy. In a clip of Denver Sports 104.3, via "Pro Football Talk," the Super Bowl 50 winner claimed his former team was "very interested" in McCarthy.

Peyton Manning: "I know Denver's very interested in him and ... this is the place he [would love] to come to but it's a little bit out of his control" he said.

To some, this is damning evidence. However, speaking in response to the clip, Pro Football Talk's Chris Simms told fans to question Manning's intentions. Simms played for the Denver Broncos in 2009.

Chris Simms: "The fact that Peyton Manning says that so aggressively ... that was like Sean Payton and the Broncos telling [him], 'Hey, we like [McCarthy] a lot. Go ahead and say that so the guy that we want is still there.'"

Of course, the following question becomes who else Denver would want to trick teams into letting them pick McCarthy. By the sixth overall pick rolls around, most analysts expect Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye and potentially J.J. McCarthy to be selected.

As such, if Manning's comments were a smokescreen to hype up other teams to select him, that would leave just Bo Nix to be available as a reach at 12 potentially. However, if the Broncos are intent on trading into the top five picks, convincing teams to select McCarthy may leave Drake Maye on the table as the team's choice.

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Of course, the struggle between reading through the correct lines at this time of year is like trying to guess the winning option in Rock Paper Scissors. At this point, one may never know the true intentions behind Peyton Manning's comments. By the time the NFL Draft takes place and players fall where they will, it may be impossible to retrace their steps to dissect who meant what they said.

Perhaps in a decade, one of the parties will come forward to explain what went down in the leadup to the 2024 NFL Draft, but by that point, the memories of specific conversations can become muddled. In the end, fans are encouraged to focus on who the team drafts, and when, as it happens.

At this point, however, with just roughly a day and a half to go until the 2024 NFL Draft, all speculation becomes a moot point. Fates will be realized and conversations will take a monumental shift by the start of the next work week.

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If any of the above quotes are used, credit "Pro Football Talk,"104.3 Denver Sports, and H/T Sportskeeda.