WEBVTT - Mike Maccagnan Combine Press Conference (02.24.2016)

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<v Speaker 1>Um, well, I think at the end of the day,

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<v Speaker 1>for first and foremost, there's a lot of the a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of our a lot of the agents of all

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<v Speaker 1>our players are freegans are actually here at the combine,

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<v Speaker 1>and we've scheduled meetings more or less with all of them. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>I think that's as taught alluded to. We we have

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<v Speaker 1>an idea internally what we're gonna probably potentially do. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>but at this point in time, you know, we don't

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<v Speaker 1>really want to show our cards, show our hand and

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<v Speaker 1>be perfectly honest before we were to do something of

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<v Speaker 1>that lines, Like we obviously know we have the ability

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<v Speaker 1>to franchise tag him, put the franchise tag on him. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>but I think in the first and foremost we would

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<v Speaker 1>like to communicate that with the player of the agent

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<v Speaker 1>if that is something we decided to do, so well,

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<v Speaker 1>I would say simply, you know, mo is a very

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<v Speaker 1>good player, and um obviously we would like to have

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<v Speaker 1>him with the organization going forward. Um. But like I said,

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<v Speaker 1>all options are on the table, but I don't want

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<v Speaker 1>to I don't really want to speculate on that stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>But I mean, at the end of day, we like

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<v Speaker 1>Moa very much, so we do realize the franchise, TA

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<v Speaker 1>gets an option like every team has with their players

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<v Speaker 1>to potentially hold on to them and um, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>try to keep them long term. Well, I think you know,

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<v Speaker 1>every team more or less has to go through this

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<v Speaker 1>process when they try to figure out, like how to

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<v Speaker 1>use the tag in terms of protecting you know, the

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<v Speaker 1>players they really want to hold on too. We do

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<v Speaker 1>have some good players who are gonna be free agents

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<v Speaker 1>this year. Damon's one of them. But I would say simply,

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<v Speaker 1>I would say again not to really speculate anything. I'd

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<v Speaker 1>say realistically, UM, you know they're they're both options. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>I think at the end of the day, we probably

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<v Speaker 1>have to decide one of the two. But I don't

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<v Speaker 1>really want to tip our hand which one we would

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<v Speaker 1>do that with no no, I understand, And I think

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<v Speaker 1>at the end of the day, what we're trying to do, Um,

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<v Speaker 1>what every team does in this period of time is

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<v Speaker 1>you try to make decisions. So it's like putting a

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<v Speaker 1>puzzle together. So you're trying to make decisions are gonna

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<v Speaker 1>be the best for the for the team long term? Um.

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<v Speaker 1>But I think first and foremost, I think we're gonna

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<v Speaker 1>do everything with our ability to try to keep as

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<v Speaker 1>many good players on the team as we can. I

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<v Speaker 1>know a lot of people are speculated can we keep

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<v Speaker 1>all of them? Um? I don't think it's out of

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<v Speaker 1>the outside. It's not outside the realm of possibilities. But um,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, it would be a very big investment in

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<v Speaker 1>that area. But I think it's you know, right now,

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<v Speaker 1>we're still kind of moment paused for a second to like,

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<v Speaker 1>everybody here from the other teams, we're all trying to

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<v Speaker 1>guess what everybody else's game plan is. So so that

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<v Speaker 1>being said, UM no, I know, I know, and the

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<v Speaker 1>fans want to know. I appreciate that. Um, but but

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<v Speaker 1>for the most part, it's a little you know, you're

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<v Speaker 1>trying to sort of figure out what everyboy else is

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<v Speaker 1>gonna do, and you're trying to obviously not just you know,

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<v Speaker 1>disclose what you're gonna do. I would say simply this,

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<v Speaker 1>we we like both mo uh and Damon and like

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<v Speaker 1>we're gonna try to figure out a way to ideally

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<v Speaker 1>keep both of them. Last m hm, yeah, I would say, um,

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<v Speaker 1>and I said this last year. I mean, ideally you

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<v Speaker 1>want to fill your needs in free agency, um, and

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<v Speaker 1>you don't really want to let need factor into your

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<v Speaker 1>draft decisions, because teams do that. UM. The problems are

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<v Speaker 1>being it's sort of a simple logic. If you factor

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<v Speaker 1>something in that has no bearing on whether that player

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<v Speaker 1>is going to be successful or not your need at

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<v Speaker 1>a position, you run the risk of skewing your process

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<v Speaker 1>or your grades, and then um, you know, maybe passing

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<v Speaker 1>on another player that turns out to be a much

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<v Speaker 1>better player. UM. So what we we'd ideally like to do,

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<v Speaker 1>UM is going to the draft ideally with every need

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<v Speaker 1>filled and and then just draft the best player available.

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<v Speaker 1>I think we tried to do that a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>last year. This year's free agencies gonna be a lot

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<v Speaker 1>like almost like a normal NFL team's free agency. I

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<v Speaker 1>think right now we're kind of, you know, potentially in

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<v Speaker 1>the middle range of terms of cap space. UM, we

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<v Speaker 1>may make some moves that create a little bit more

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<v Speaker 1>of a cap space. We're looking at potential options of

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<v Speaker 1>doing that. But the UM but I think going into

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<v Speaker 1>this year's free agency, I think what we're gonna try

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<v Speaker 1>to do is, you know, again, as I said this before,

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<v Speaker 1>you're trying to figure out which way you can best

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<v Speaker 1>maximize the impact of the money you have, So I

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<v Speaker 1>don't necessarily I think, I don't think I would say

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<v Speaker 1>we're gonna feel some needs and free agency and then

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<v Speaker 1>try to feel the other needs in the draft. You know.

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<v Speaker 1>The other thing I think teams tend to do, they

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<v Speaker 1>forget about it's you know, it's a long time until

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<v Speaker 1>September one and when the season starts, so we have

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of time to potentially solve those problems going forward.

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<v Speaker 1>So well, I don't really want to speculate where we

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<v Speaker 1>are in terms of our negotiations and stuff like that.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, I think I think at the end of

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<v Speaker 1>the day, we like Ryan. Um, I think we have

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<v Speaker 1>a good situation for Ryan. We just have to come

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<v Speaker 1>to an agreement on you know, obviously a cost. What

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<v Speaker 1>we've we've a perfect what both sides think is fair.

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<v Speaker 1>But um, you know that's still yet to be determined

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<v Speaker 1>here in the near future as we go forward before

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<v Speaker 1>free agency. I always feel that when you go through

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<v Speaker 1>and having only been a gym for one year, but

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<v Speaker 1>watching this process, um, you know, there's a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>times you get to the combine. You know, you're obviously

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<v Speaker 1>looking to college players, you're talking to your own agents,

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<v Speaker 1>your own agents or your own free agents. Um. And

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<v Speaker 1>then there's a little window usually before the draft, when

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<v Speaker 1>before that, I'm sorry, before the free agency starts, that

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of deals get done, and I would imagine

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<v Speaker 1>we're probably in that same you know, in that same

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<v Speaker 1>boat when uh, you know, free agency hits obviously, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>some players get right do as your free agency, you

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<v Speaker 1>actually want to test the market and see where it's at.

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<v Speaker 1>And then of course if you're close and you know

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<v Speaker 1>the market's kind of what you expected to be, sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>deals get gotten kind of quickly. So we'll do a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of groundwork ideally to maybe sign some of these

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<v Speaker 1>guys are for free agency, but we'll see how this

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<v Speaker 1>thing plays out as we get closer to it. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't necessarily talk and this kind of goes back

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<v Speaker 1>to Todd mentioned a second ago. I don't really want

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<v Speaker 1>to talk about like what we're planning on doing, because

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<v Speaker 1>at the end of the day, that sort of ties

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<v Speaker 1>in with it. You know, we're trying to keep a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of that stuff internal. So, um, So I would

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<v Speaker 1>differ on but I would say simply, every team looks

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<v Speaker 1>at players on their contract, players on their team. Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>if it looks at ways to potentially they're create money

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<v Speaker 1>if they need to do that and stuff like that,

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<v Speaker 1>and that's that's something that everybody does. Um and you

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<v Speaker 1>know we have you know, we've gone through potentially. My

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<v Speaker 1>feeling of this free agency is gonna be more of

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<v Speaker 1>it's gonna be kind of a fluids you free agency

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<v Speaker 1>where we'll see how the how our free agents play

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<v Speaker 1>out in terms of who we can sign and can't sign,

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<v Speaker 1>and then at the end of the day, it's gonna

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<v Speaker 1>have a lot of contingency plans to see what we

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<v Speaker 1>can do, you know, if things don't work out and

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<v Speaker 1>the market goes above kind of where we feel comfortable

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<v Speaker 1>with certain players. Market last year, why do you think

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<v Speaker 1>that's Yeah, you know, I think the trade market um,

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<v Speaker 1>and generally I think a lot of teams, it depends

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit. It depends really on the contract and

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<v Speaker 1>the players. UM. I think the big thing with trades

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<v Speaker 1>in this league is you have to really make sure

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<v Speaker 1>you know what you're what you're trading for. I thought

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<v Speaker 1>one of the things that are staffed very well last

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<v Speaker 1>year as we really researched not just we evaluate the

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<v Speaker 1>players in terms of ability, but we really spent a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of time trying to figure out what they were

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<v Speaker 1>like as people, um, to kind of figure out where

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<v Speaker 1>they would bring to the mix there. So I think

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<v Speaker 1>with the reason I think a lot of teams don't trade,

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<v Speaker 1>they're historically don't trade, is that I think everybody's you know,

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<v Speaker 1>if they think that there's a reason the team is

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<v Speaker 1>trying to get rid of that player, then they may

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<v Speaker 1>not want to bring that player on. I think we

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<v Speaker 1>sort of did our due diligence, feel very good about

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<v Speaker 1>the potential trades we made, and feel very fortunate they

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<v Speaker 1>happen at the time. Well, I think I think Damon

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<v Speaker 1>is a great example of, you know, the college draft process,

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<v Speaker 1>not that in you know, obviously he wasn't drafted, but

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<v Speaker 1>if you find a player of that caliber as a

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<v Speaker 1>college free agent, that's kind of, in my mind, every

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<v Speaker 1>time you find a player that's sort of as a

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<v Speaker 1>college cree agtion, that really accelerates your ability to potentially

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<v Speaker 1>turn your team around. But I think, you know, Damon

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<v Speaker 1>to me is a is a is an exceptionally good

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<v Speaker 1>player versus a run and he's I think also surprisingly

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<v Speaker 1>affect at times as a pass rusher. So, um, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>I think to me, Damon is a very good, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>you know player in his role. You know, I think

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<v Speaker 1>it's funny. I was in Houston at the time, and

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<v Speaker 1>I remember, you know, we normally do as we go

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<v Speaker 1>back and sort of self scout and we look at

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<v Speaker 1>the players that kind of made it like a year

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<v Speaker 1>or two, three years down the road, not just the

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<v Speaker 1>draft picks. He's kind of evaluate that aspect and you

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<v Speaker 1>do it from a self scouting standpoint. Um. But I

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<v Speaker 1>think with Damon maybe it was a situation he was

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<v Speaker 1>sort of off the radar a little bit and at

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<v Speaker 1>a small level school. Um and um. I remember his

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<v Speaker 1>Pro day, his his numbers. You know, he's a very

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<v Speaker 1>big guy. I don't think his numbers were you know,

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<v Speaker 1>exceptional with the pro day in terms of his testing

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<v Speaker 1>and timing numbers. But at the end of the day,

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<v Speaker 1>it's not a perfect science the college draft process. And

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<v Speaker 1>I think he's a much better player than you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the rest of the league probably knew at that point

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<v Speaker 1>in time. And I think the Jet staff you know

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<v Speaker 1>at that time too, did a excellent job and sort

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<v Speaker 1>of identifying a college free agent that came in and

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<v Speaker 1>played very well. Tyler Loud, Yeah, you know, I think

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<v Speaker 1>every team probably has a different approach. I think my

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<v Speaker 1>personal approach or my personal philosophy has always been when

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<v Speaker 1>you take a player at a smaller school, it's a

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<v Speaker 1>little more difficult because even within the divisions, there's obviously

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<v Speaker 1>different level of competition from division to division, but within

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<v Speaker 1>the divisions, there's different level of competition within the conferences.

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<v Speaker 1>That's why the college draft is generally is fairly tricky

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<v Speaker 1>or difficult or you know, there's not a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>teams that are historically always take the best player at

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<v Speaker 1>every pick and from an opportunity cost standpoint. But um but,

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<v Speaker 1>I think really when you focus on the smaller school

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<v Speaker 1>kids and you know, if if they are invited to

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<v Speaker 1>an invent like this, this is where you really get

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<v Speaker 1>the chance to see a measure up ability wise. The

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<v Speaker 1>most difficult thing I think when you evaluate players at

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<v Speaker 1>a smaller school tends to be, you know, trying to

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<v Speaker 1>assess their their skill level, they're athletically because you're kind

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<v Speaker 1>of watching them on tape and a lot of the

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<v Speaker 1>inputs we are a lot of the evaluation process very subjective.

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<v Speaker 1>So um so I think what you what you tend

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<v Speaker 1>to do is go back to see when you get

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<v Speaker 1>a chance to actually work them out here at the

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<v Speaker 1>combine or to pro day, you really focus on their

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<v Speaker 1>athletic ability. And then the other part of it you

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<v Speaker 1>have to factor in is like the facilities they have

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<v Speaker 1>in terms of their development at their schools. I got

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<v Speaker 1>a vision one. A school, for example, in Alabama may

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<v Speaker 1>have much better resources in terms of dietitians and meal

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<v Speaker 1>plans and um, you know, weight room and all those

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<v Speaker 1>in all those aspects of all those develop the player.

0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:35.320
<v Speaker 1>Whereas you go to a smaller school, they may not

0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:37.959
<v Speaker 1>just just not have the resources financially to do stuff

0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:40.120
<v Speaker 1>like that. So that's I tend to believe the smaller

0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:42.520
<v Speaker 1>school guys. Sometimes you you you'll find guys and a

0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:44.320
<v Speaker 1>lot of times you find some late round draft picks

0:10:44.320 --> 0:10:46.240
<v Speaker 1>where or even college free agents in this in the

0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:50.000
<v Speaker 1>case of you know, damon um that really make great

0:10:50.200 --> 0:10:52.199
<v Speaker 1>jumps and as you kind of get them into your

0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:55.400
<v Speaker 1>and sometimes the jumps that they make from yours one, two,

0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:57.320
<v Speaker 1>and three are are much more dramatic than some of

0:10:57.360 --> 0:10:59.880
<v Speaker 1>the Maybe a guy at a bigger school who's sort

0:10:59.880 --> 0:11:12.760
<v Speaker 1>of reached more of his potential at that point in time. Uh,

0:11:13.400 --> 0:11:18.480
<v Speaker 1>between now and a year ago. Um. I think my

0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:21.360
<v Speaker 1>thing has always been everybody who becomes a general manager

0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:23.400
<v Speaker 1>has a philosophy, you know, and they have a philosophy

0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:25.560
<v Speaker 1>how they want to run their departments and how they

0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:28.760
<v Speaker 1>want to structure and staff things. UM, I tend to

0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:31.480
<v Speaker 1>you know me personally, I you know, I'm not really

0:11:31.520 --> 0:11:34.440
<v Speaker 1>a guy who's like so, I have my philosophy based

0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:37.160
<v Speaker 1>on where I've done so far, and I have a system,

0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:39.160
<v Speaker 1>but I'm constantly sort of looking at and trying to evaluate.

0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:41.240
<v Speaker 1>I come to these environments sometimes and when you see

0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:42.360
<v Speaker 1>a lot of your friends and you can have a

0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:45.000
<v Speaker 1>chance to be kind of visiting and socially, I'm constantly

0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:47.719
<v Speaker 1>picking my friends brands about what they do, trying to

0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:50.640
<v Speaker 1>find nuances that maybe an interesting idea going forward. I

0:11:50.640 --> 0:11:54.920
<v Speaker 1>think in particular now, um, you know, obviously there's been

0:11:54.920 --> 0:11:57.440
<v Speaker 1>some things in Cleveland with some you know, people outside

0:11:57.440 --> 0:11:59.839
<v Speaker 1>of football have coming to Cleveland outside of you know,

0:11:59.880 --> 0:12:03.120
<v Speaker 1>the traditional NFL route. Um, so it's interesting to you know,

0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:04.560
<v Speaker 1>to kind of look at it from that standpoint to

0:12:04.559 --> 0:12:06.760
<v Speaker 1>see what they may do. And UM, you know, we're

0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:09.000
<v Speaker 1>very competitive business, so we're constantly of valuing each other

0:12:09.040 --> 0:12:15.480
<v Speaker 1>and trying to find an edge to be competitive. Um well,

0:12:15.480 --> 0:12:18.760
<v Speaker 1>I'm trying to drink less coffee. Um. Other than that,

0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:23.880
<v Speaker 1>I know, UM, I think the one thing I think it's, um,

0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:25.920
<v Speaker 1>I know, this year and this year's free agency. I

0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:30.079
<v Speaker 1>think it's, you know, from my own standpoint, Um, you know,

0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:32.920
<v Speaker 1>last year, we it was a little different because we

0:12:33.000 --> 0:12:35.439
<v Speaker 1>you know, we really vetted free agency fairly thoroughly. We've

0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:37.880
<v Speaker 1>done the same thing this year, but this year it's

0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:40.640
<v Speaker 1>more of you know, you're it's in a different it's

0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:42.880
<v Speaker 1>a different playing field almost because we were in a

0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:46.320
<v Speaker 1>different cap situation. So I think, really what I think

0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:49.559
<v Speaker 1>this year in particular, it's it's gonna be very fluid

0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:52.800
<v Speaker 1>because it's even if we you know, maybe don't get

0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:54.600
<v Speaker 1>certain players you want to get back from our current

0:12:54.600 --> 0:12:57.080
<v Speaker 1>free asent group. Um, it's just trying to make sure

0:12:57.120 --> 0:12:59.120
<v Speaker 1>you make the right decisions. That. The one thing I

0:12:59.160 --> 0:13:01.880
<v Speaker 1>also kind of thought going through this process is, you know,

0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:04.200
<v Speaker 1>it's an interesting job in the sense that you're constantly

0:13:04.240 --> 0:13:07.079
<v Speaker 1>making decisions, but you really have to predict the future

0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:10.000
<v Speaker 1>and that's a very difficult thing to do sometimes. Yeah

0:13:21.040 --> 0:13:30.160
<v Speaker 1>what yeah, Um, well, I think I think it's philosophically, Um,

0:13:30.200 --> 0:13:31.640
<v Speaker 1>you know, I know everybody wants to kind of said,

0:13:31.760 --> 0:13:33.400
<v Speaker 1>you know, standards and go hey, you guys, what are

0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:35.280
<v Speaker 1>you What are you guys gonna do this year? Um?

0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:36.599
<v Speaker 1>You know, our goal going into this thing is to

0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:38.880
<v Speaker 1>try to figure out the best way we can utilize

0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:41.320
<v Speaker 1>the money we have. Um, do you have the most

0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:43.800
<v Speaker 1>impact in terms of, you know, making ourselves a better team?

0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:46.320
<v Speaker 1>I mean it's a longer process trying to turn a

0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:49.400
<v Speaker 1>team around. Um, we had a lot of success last year,

0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:51.360
<v Speaker 1>but to me, it's this is still very much a

0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:53.640
<v Speaker 1>work in progress. And then, as Todd alluded to, there,

0:13:53.679 --> 0:13:57.079
<v Speaker 1>you know we're you know that we have some good players. Um,

0:13:57.080 --> 0:13:59.240
<v Speaker 1>but we're but it's such a competitive industry that you're

0:13:59.240 --> 0:14:01.360
<v Speaker 1>constantly have to kind uh you know, figure out where

0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:03.599
<v Speaker 1>you're weak at and then you know, to in a

0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:05.280
<v Speaker 1>perfect world, try to figure out some way to improve

0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:13.040
<v Speaker 1>upon that. Well. I think you know we do. We

0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:16.319
<v Speaker 1>do some Every team I would imagine does some degree

0:14:16.320 --> 0:14:19.320
<v Speaker 1>of analytics, some of us intrinsic and what we do, um,

0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:21.720
<v Speaker 1>because we're constantly looking at players trying to project into

0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:23.080
<v Speaker 1>the future. And then what you end up doing a

0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:25.640
<v Speaker 1>lot of times is you look for common train you know,

0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:28.040
<v Speaker 1>you almost have your model of what you have, your

0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:30.080
<v Speaker 1>predictability of how you think that player is gonna succeed.

0:14:30.320 --> 0:14:32.840
<v Speaker 1>So you're constantly looking at past experience and that's how

0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:35.520
<v Speaker 1>you have to base it on really. Um and especially

0:14:35.560 --> 0:14:38.400
<v Speaker 1>with people you're dealing with such a variable that, um,

0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:40.280
<v Speaker 1>you know, it's not just the physical aptitude and how

0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:43.480
<v Speaker 1>they physically especially when the college, are they physically developed. Um,

0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:46.360
<v Speaker 1>it's also the intangible aspect of the character and stuff

0:14:46.360 --> 0:14:48.760
<v Speaker 1>like that. And and was made mentioned before about the

0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:50.920
<v Speaker 1>trades we made last year. Obviously Brandon Marshall was a

0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:54.920
<v Speaker 1>player we vetted very thoroughly, and um, you know, when

0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:56.920
<v Speaker 1>we had a chance to bring in Brandon, we we

0:14:57.000 --> 0:14:59.920
<v Speaker 1>probably analyze Brandon as much from a um you know,

0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:02.440
<v Speaker 1>what he would bring to the organization from an intangible standpoint,

0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:05.440
<v Speaker 1>and feel very good about it. And um, you know,

0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:07.840
<v Speaker 1>so to me, it's you're you're constantly looking at things

0:15:07.840 --> 0:15:09.640
<v Speaker 1>and trying to figure that out. But we do, we do,

0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:12.560
<v Speaker 1>we do analytics in our process, and and to me,

0:15:12.600 --> 0:15:15.400
<v Speaker 1>it's you know, going forward, as we get more you

0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:18.120
<v Speaker 1>know again more information to kind of work with, that's

0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:29.000
<v Speaker 1>something we'll definitely do more with. Well, I think when

0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:31.400
<v Speaker 1>I always tell the scouts is we start this process

0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:34.240
<v Speaker 1>literally last spring, and you go through the the you know,

0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:36.760
<v Speaker 1>the colleges and the fall, you go through the All

0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:39.480
<v Speaker 1>Star games, you go through um, you know, the Combine,

0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:41.560
<v Speaker 1>the pro days, and eventually back to our April meetings.

0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:43.560
<v Speaker 1>What I stressed to the scouts all the time is

0:15:43.600 --> 0:15:46.360
<v Speaker 1>that your evaluation is never really finished till you walk

0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:49.120
<v Speaker 1>into that draft meeting in April, because that's the most

0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:50.880
<v Speaker 1>important meeting of the whole process we do it. We

0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:53.000
<v Speaker 1>have a lot of meetings along the way. We kind

0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:55.320
<v Speaker 1>of put the board up and you know, start trying

0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:57.280
<v Speaker 1>to figure out who you know, stacking them one from

0:15:57.400 --> 0:16:00.720
<v Speaker 1>one to three fifty. Basically, Um, what I always stressed

0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:02.160
<v Speaker 1>to the scouts is that, hey, every time you have

0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:04.640
<v Speaker 1>an opportunity to be around a player, get exposure to

0:16:04.680 --> 0:16:08.320
<v Speaker 1>a player, utilize that to hopefully increase the probability you're

0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:10.440
<v Speaker 1>actually accurate in terms of what you're predicting that player

0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:13.600
<v Speaker 1>to be. So that's my thing to them is you

0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:15.480
<v Speaker 1>know that the process doesn't really end. Some of our

0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:17.360
<v Speaker 1>scouts actually work here at the Combine and some of

0:16:17.400 --> 0:16:19.840
<v Speaker 1>the drills and around the players and working with the groups.

0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:22.480
<v Speaker 1>Um the ones that aren't doing that obviously. They're here

0:16:22.480 --> 0:16:25.000
<v Speaker 1>to literally watch every drill and every every event to

0:16:25.080 --> 0:16:26.720
<v Speaker 1>kind of you know, judge the player and make sure

0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:29.600
<v Speaker 1>they've got them accurately, you know, evaluated,