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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Ravens Presspass podcast. It is Thursday, August

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Speaker 1: twenty ninth. The Ravens opened the regular season a week

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Speaker 1: from today in Arrowhead against the Kansas City Chiefs. Before

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Speaker 1: we get to that point, we had a chance to

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Speaker 1: hear from Ravens general manager Eric Tacosta today. He talked

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Speaker 1: with reporters just before the season and here's what he

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Speaker 1: had to say.

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Speaker 2: Eric, and paring down the Rocks down to fifty three,

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Speaker 2: what were kind of some of the more difficult decisions.

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Speaker 3: That you feel you had to make to get down

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Speaker 3: a different.

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Speaker 4: Well, I mean we're strong in the secondary, and you know,

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Speaker 4: we stayed strong. We kept some additional guys we really

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Speaker 4: like our corner group and our safety group, and you know,

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Speaker 4: it would have been more challenging really honestly had Trayvon

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Speaker 4: Mullin stayed healthy and then Arthur Mallett, two really good

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Speaker 4: players who got hurt. So yeah, we're very strong there,

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Speaker 4: and you know, we had a few teams call us

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Speaker 4: about a few of our players, and you know, mentality

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Speaker 4: is just if you're strong, stay strong. And you know,

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Speaker 4: some years we've traded players and then you get a

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Speaker 4: couple of injuries and you look at it and you

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Speaker 4: kind of regret it now you're happy at draft time,

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Speaker 4: but it makes for you know, some challenges in season.

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Speaker 4: So we just decided this year that we liked our

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Speaker 4: team and we were going to stand put with the

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Speaker 4: players that we had. We felt there was a chance

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Speaker 4: we get some really good players to the practice squad

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Speaker 4: and we were fortunately able to do that.

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Speaker 3: But the rule that carried a third quarterback when you

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Speaker 3: may roster they're going to two quarterbacks. Is that sort

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Speaker 3: of an issue.

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Speaker 5: You'll deal with it if if your issue comes comes

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Speaker 5: up or you know what kind of plan you got

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Speaker 5: in place for that.

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Speaker 4: Well, we have three qbs, so you know, heaven forbid

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Speaker 4: we get an injury, and if that happens, then we'll

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Speaker 4: have to adjust the roster, you know, if we get

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Speaker 4: a long term injury at quarterback. You know, that was

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Speaker 4: an interesting dynamic. The rule passed at the owners meetings,

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Speaker 4: and then we were notified I believe on July eleventh

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Speaker 4: that the NFL p A had UH had not agreed

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Speaker 4: to that rule change. So it was a little complicated,

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Speaker 4: I think, especially for you know, teams that potentially drafted

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Speaker 4: the QB.

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Speaker 6: In the draft.

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Speaker 4: You know, it just we didn't find out. We found

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Speaker 4: out so late in the game. But in the end, we.

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Speaker 6: Have three qbs.

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Speaker 4: We just have one of the practice squad and we

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Speaker 4: have a mechanism for getting that player up if we

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Speaker 4: need to get them up. So I guess the one

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Speaker 4: scenario would be if both qbs got hurt in a game,

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Speaker 4: and we've dealt with that. We've dealt with that for

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Speaker 4: years up until last year, so so we'll be ready

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Speaker 4: to go regardless.

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Speaker 2: If you're happy your quarterback situation, I think there is

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Speaker 2: for rating quarterback who's the least earlier to the.

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Speaker 6: But you think you're pretty good with what you have there, Well.

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Speaker 4: We have an MVP, so I think we're pretty happy there.

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Speaker 4: With Josh, we have a really experienced guy. He's like

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Speaker 4: having another coach, you know, and he's great with Lamar.

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Speaker 4: The players love him, he's what, he's highly respected, he's

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Speaker 4: a talented player. So we love Josh. And with Devin,

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Speaker 4: we have a young player and he had his moments

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Speaker 4: and just certainly as we've seen with quarterbacks, a lot

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Speaker 4: of things that he can improve on and get better at,

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Speaker 4: and we believe you will. But yeah, we like the room.

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Speaker 4: It doesn't mean that we won't add another guy, which

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Speaker 4: we could do at some point.

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Speaker 6: You know.

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Speaker 4: It's like any position on the team will continue to

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Speaker 4: evaluate and look at players that become available and make

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Speaker 4: decisions based off of that.

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Speaker 7: Eric with the offensive line a lot of turnover this

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Speaker 7: off season, I'm sure it was a big point of

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Speaker 7: emphasis for you guys this offseason. How do you feel

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Speaker 7: about them now compared to going into the off season.

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Speaker 4: Well, I mean, I think we're still there's a little

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Speaker 4: bit of an unknown just because we haven't played as

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Speaker 4: a unit in games. We've seen him in practice, you know, Tyler,

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Speaker 4: you know, getting hurt early on the camp probably wasn't ideal.

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Speaker 4: We're very excited to get him back, but you know,

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Speaker 4: not having a Pro Bowl center out there. That's kind

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Speaker 4: of the guy that drives the car in a lot

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Speaker 4: of ways on the offensive line. He's the guy that

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Speaker 4: typically will adjust the line and works hand in hand

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Speaker 4: with the quarterback on things like protections and stuff. Very

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Speaker 4: important position, and we're blessed to have one of the

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Speaker 4: best guys in the league. You know, I think across

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Speaker 4: the board, we made the decision to start to build

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Speaker 4: up the offensive line with young players and that was

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Speaker 4: a you know, unfortunately, with a salary cap league, you know,

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Speaker 4: you just can't build a team with veterans at every position.

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Speaker 6: If you could be.

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Speaker 4: Great, you know it would be you know, I always

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Speaker 4: tell people I grew up a Cowboys fan, and the

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Speaker 4: nineteen ninety three Dallas Cowboys. It was one of the

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Speaker 4: great teams of all time that period with the Cowboys.

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Speaker 4: And if that team had been able to stay together forever,

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Speaker 4: they dodn't won Super Bowls every year, I think. But

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Speaker 4: there is a salary cap, and there is free agency

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Speaker 4: and things, and so you have to pay players. But

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Speaker 4: you also understand you've got a draft and you've got

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Speaker 4: to develop young players as well well. And we have

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Speaker 4: started to do that on the offensive line. Excited about Roger,

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Speaker 4: excited about four He's Andrew, excited for the future. We

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Speaker 4: may have a couple of hiccups across along the way,

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Speaker 4: but I think we've started to build from the bottom up,

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Speaker 4: and I think a year from that will be in

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Speaker 4: a great place.

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Speaker 5: Did you know going into the offseason that would be

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Speaker 5: the play with that group, or if the rate value

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Speaker 5: had come up with a veteran, might.

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Speaker 6: You have adjusted.

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Speaker 4: It's hard because again, we went into this year knowing

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Speaker 4: that when you pay your quarterback, your MVP quarterback, and

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Speaker 4: make them the highest paid, you pay your basically the

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Speaker 4: heart of your defense, Roquan, make them the highest paid linebacker,

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Speaker 4: you pay arguably one of the top three defensive tackles

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Speaker 4: in football last year, justin Mattabek. You realize you're going

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Speaker 4: to have to make some changes in the way that

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Speaker 4: you do business, and that's going to affects. It's affecting

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Speaker 4: other teams. I could give you ten different teams that

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Speaker 4: are all dealing with that exact same phenomenon.

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Speaker 6: And you see it.

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Speaker 4: So it's just one of the realities of this business.

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Speaker 6: You know.

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Speaker 4: I can think of multiple teams right now that are

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Speaker 4: struggling with this dynamic and they're gonna have to probably

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Speaker 4: make major, massive changes in the next coming years. And

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Speaker 4: so we're aware of that. You just simply can't pay everybody.

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Speaker 4: And so we made the decision that we were gonna

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Speaker 4: go young on the offensive lines as best as we

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Speaker 4: could develop our guys. We've had a lot of success

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Speaker 4: developing offensive linemen in the past. I give you a

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Speaker 4: bunch of players that we took in the draft or

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Speaker 4: even got you know, off the streets, you know, and

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Speaker 4: those guys became good players for us.

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Speaker 8: When you were constructing this offensive line, How did having

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Speaker 8: a guy like Patrick Mutari affect the way that you

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Speaker 8: look at it?

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Speaker 4: Well, it's Patrick's great. He can play multiple spots. I mean,

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Speaker 4: he's played probably all five spots on the offensive line.

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Speaker 4: So having that, you know, flexible chess piece, I think

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Speaker 4: really helps us on game days especially.

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Speaker 6: You know, it's great.

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Speaker 4: He's like having an elite six man in basketball. You

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Speaker 4: know Kevin McHale when I was a Celtic Celtics fan

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Speaker 4: back in the eighties, who was the six man at

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Speaker 4: one point. You know, Patrick's kind of like that. He

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Speaker 4: can play all five spots and plays them.

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Speaker 1: Well, you're no stranger to the trades you made him

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Speaker 1: many times over the years. Do you feel like you

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Speaker 1: have the flexibility if there's a player that you want

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Speaker 1: at some point this season to.

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Speaker 6: Pull off the trade.

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Speaker 4: Well, we don't right now because I think we're probably

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Speaker 4: over the cap when you factor in practice squads and

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Speaker 4: things like that. But at some point we will have

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Speaker 4: to make some moves in the coming days and weeks,

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Speaker 4: and we've been planning for all that, you know, So

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Speaker 4: there's a lot of things we'll be able to do.

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Speaker 6: We will be cap.

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Speaker 4: Compliant, and we will have at least some money to

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Speaker 4: spend if a player is available that we think will

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Speaker 4: help us be the best team we can be.

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Speaker 3: You've been watching the preseason for a while now.

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Speaker 5: How much value do you get out of watching these games?

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Speaker 5: And do you think we're closer to ending at all

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Speaker 5: and just going to seventeen games altogether?

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Speaker 4: Oh, I don't know, Jerry, I don't have an opinion

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Speaker 4: on that, but I do think that for us, looking

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Speaker 4: at the practice, I mean, looking at the preseason games

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Speaker 4: is really about looking at the lower end roster players

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Speaker 4: and undrafted free agents and guys like that, and getting

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Speaker 4: a chance to.

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Speaker 6: Evaluate those guys. You know.

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Speaker 4: We know we're not going to have a chance to

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Speaker 4: look at really the starters and to get much of

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Speaker 4: a feel. It's not like the old days when guys

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Speaker 4: played in the first couple of preseason games, but it's

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Speaker 4: still a great opportunity for us to evaluate the talent

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Speaker 4: the back end of rosters, to look at those players

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Speaker 4: that we may not know a lot about, to assess

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Speaker 4: those players to help us, you know, find a couple

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Speaker 4: guys here and there. I mean, I think our pro department,

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Speaker 4: led by George Cokeenis and Marc as Sabada do as

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Speaker 4: good a job as anybody in the NFL. And I

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Speaker 4: think that's proven every single year. They find players at

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Speaker 4: all different levels of football, and we'll have a chance

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Speaker 4: to at some point probably churn our practice squad and

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Speaker 4: find some guys that we think are better than what

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Speaker 4: we have, and those guys will probably help us win

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Speaker 4: some football games.

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Speaker 5: Player making a team of both raide is that a

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Speaker 5: specific pride? And finding again that undrafted player to get

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Speaker 5: to the fifty three.

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Speaker 6: Uh.

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Speaker 4: You know, someone said maybe we had twenty out of

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Speaker 4: twenty one years we had a guy make it. That's

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Speaker 4: not necessarily like a streak that like we're trying to

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Speaker 4: uh address. I mean, even that one year, I don't

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Speaker 4: know who it was. Had I been aware of that streak,

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Speaker 4: I probably would have kept a guy just to.

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Speaker 6: Keep the streak going.

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Speaker 4: So I really didn't know about that streak. But in

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Speaker 4: this year, I just think with bo, I mean, that

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Speaker 4: guy just really earned it. And if you looked at

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Speaker 4: our games, you know, the Packers game, let's face it, it

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Speaker 4: was kind of a joke. It was hard to watch

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Speaker 4: in a lot of ways. I couldn't wait for the

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Speaker 4: game to be over really, just you know, to get

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Speaker 4: the pop Eyce chicken sandwich on the plane. But the

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Speaker 4: reality is like bo actually just played great and he

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Speaker 4: did it consistently. He won the job, he took the job,

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Speaker 4: and in the end he deserved to be on the team.

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Speaker 6: And that's what it was all about.

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Speaker 3: Intentioned Sally cafin compliance projection sites out of it between

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Speaker 3: two million to three and half million over.

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Speaker 2: Are you expecting his significant restructures? You have to make

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Speaker 2: more white sweeping moves to get cap rempliant where kind

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Speaker 2: of to.

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Speaker 6: Be comfortable for in.

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Speaker 5: Season moves in a potential trade that you pretend to

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Speaker 5: have an affinity for the season.

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Speaker 2: Just or are you expecting significant moves.

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Speaker 6: To get cap repliant and.

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Speaker 9: Buck Cup with the season?

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Speaker 4: Well I think I answered that, but I'll we have

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Speaker 4: some flexibility to make some moves and we will in

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Speaker 4: the next probably week be cap compliant.

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Speaker 6: A lot of different things we can do.

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Speaker 4: We've been pretty conservative and I'm blessed to have Nick Matteo,

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Speaker 4: who's a great salary cap guy in pat Moriarty, who's

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Speaker 4: kind of like the conciliarity of salary cap guys. So

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Speaker 4: we're in good shape upstairs, and we'll have a good plan.

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Speaker 6: Eric when you feel like where you are at.

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Speaker 5: Edge rusher and specifically with David Agado and Tavius Robinson.

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Speaker 4: So yeah, I think both those guys really kind of

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Speaker 4: made a jump this year. I mean, David has really

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Speaker 4: been snake bitten by injuries. He's worked extremely hard. I mean,

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Speaker 4: you guys know, coming back from an ACL terrorist challenging

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Speaker 4: and this is a guy that did that in started

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Speaker 4: practice in probably in eight months.

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Speaker 6: Which is pretty remarkable.

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Speaker 4: He is showing me that he has got his quickness

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Speaker 4: back in his twitch and his suddenness.

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Speaker 6: Uh, he's playing with heavy.

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Speaker 4: Hands and I'm very excited about what he's gonna bring

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Speaker 4: to the team this year. And then Tavius is a

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Speaker 4: guy that just keeps getting better and he plays with

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Speaker 4: a passion.

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Speaker 6: He's very very physical, stout edgestter.

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Speaker 4: He plays with a relentless energy about him, you know,

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Speaker 4: and I think his best football is on the common.

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Speaker 4: He's going to be one of these guys that probably

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Speaker 4: a year from now, two years from now, we're going

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Speaker 4: to say it was one of our better fourth round picks.

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Speaker 7: Along those lines.

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Speaker 9: I don't think we asked you yet about a da

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Speaker 9: FE and the decision to pick up that fifth year option.

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Speaker 3: I guess, what have you seen to give him a

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Speaker 3: pretty significant check of money for twenty twenty five?

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Speaker 4: Well, that I did from what I've seen. You know,

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Speaker 4: we were kind of betting on the come with him.

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Speaker 4: He's a guy last year. You know, everybody wants to

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Speaker 4: kind of evaluate a player based on just a sack production,

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Speaker 4: which you know, I get that that's what we do

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Speaker 4: as fans. But this is a guy that impacts games

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Speaker 4: and played well last year, and we felt like he

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Speaker 4: was going to make another jump, and we've seen it

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Speaker 4: in the training camp. We've seen him every day you

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Speaker 4: guys are out there. You've seen the energy that he

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Speaker 4: plays with his ability to disrupt and make things happen.

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Speaker 4: And you know, it's it's always it's never easy when

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Speaker 4: you're talking about a fifth year option. That's why you

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Speaker 4: see so many fifth year options not get picked up

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Speaker 4: around the league. I mean, it's kind of surprising when

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Speaker 4: you think about it. We do for a living, and

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Speaker 4: yet we draft these guys and then we don't pick

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Speaker 4: up their fifty year option almost probably half the time,

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Speaker 4: I'm guessing without any I don't know the stats on that.

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Speaker 4: But but with o'dafe, we just felt like this was

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Speaker 4: a guy that has all the tools.

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Speaker 6: He plays hard, he's.

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Speaker 4: Got a great energy about him, he wants to be good,

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Speaker 4: he's got all the talent to be one of the

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Speaker 4: better guys at his position, and uh, and we just

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Speaker 4: decide to make a bet on him, and he was

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Speaker 4: gonna do it, and so far I feel really good

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Speaker 4: about it.

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Speaker 8: Is when you were deciding to make Rashaan Bateman a

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Speaker 8: part of the team's future and you're evaluating what you

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Speaker 8: thought could make him a success, how much of that

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Speaker 8: comes down to chemistry with Lamar and how do you

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Speaker 8: think they can continue building that.

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Speaker 4: It's just really an opportunity, you know, for him to

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Speaker 4: show what he can do consistently. I think a big

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Speaker 4: part of that is him staying on the field playing

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Speaker 4: catching the ball. He runs great routes, he's he's tough, he.

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Speaker 6: Wants to be good.

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Speaker 4: He he has the talent to do it, and uh,

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Speaker 4: he needs the opportunities. But and then half of that

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Speaker 4: is really getting the opportunities the other half of that

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Speaker 4: is staying healthy and doing being the best he can be.

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Speaker 4: But I am very bullish on Rashad. I've said that repeatedly.

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Speaker 4: It was a no brainer for us to extend him,

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Speaker 4: to give him the chance to be what we all

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Speaker 4: know he's going to become. He is a great kid,

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Speaker 4: an awesome guy. I love having him here in the building.

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Speaker 4: He's got a great opportunity and I believe he's going

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Speaker 4: to show the fans this year what he can be

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Speaker 4: on paper.

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Speaker 7: What do you like about the roster that you constructed.

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Speaker 4: We got a lot of guys that love the game.

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Speaker 4: They play hard, relentless. The camaraderie is great, the culture

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Speaker 4: is awesome. These guys really get along well together. And

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Speaker 4: we have a lot of really good young players. And

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Speaker 4: we're going to have more challenges because looking out, you know,

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Speaker 4: in the next couple of years, starting after this season,

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Speaker 4: we're going to have some really, really good players that

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Speaker 4: we can extend and it's gonna be challenging, but we're

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Speaker 4: gonna try to do it because we're going to try

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Speaker 4: to keep I think I said this back in twenty nineteen,

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Speaker 4: We're gonna try to keep as much of our young

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Speaker 4: talent here in Baltimore as we can. We can't do

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Speaker 4: it all the time, but that's a mission.

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Speaker 6: That we have.

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Speaker 4: And I love that we have so many good young

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Speaker 4: players and you know, they just keep emerging and we

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Speaker 4: keep seeing these guys develop in our training staff and

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Speaker 4: strength and conditioning staff and our coaches just they do

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Speaker 4: a great job taking young players and helping them be

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Speaker 4: the very best that they can be. And it's it's

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Speaker 4: great in one way, but in the other way, it's

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Speaker 4: it's hard because we can't keep every single player, but

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Speaker 4: we're gonna try to keep as many guys as we can,

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Speaker 4: and so I think our future is very bright a

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Speaker 4: lot of lines.

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Speaker 2: Brandon Stevens is going to be his fourth year.

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Speaker 3: Is he a guy that you're really watching this year

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Speaker 3: and say, hey, maybe this is somebody I want to

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Speaker 3: have this contract aggreciations with this year.

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Speaker 6: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: I mean, Brandon had as good a year last year

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Speaker 4: as anybody on the team, and I love his attitude,

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Speaker 4: love how he just takes care of his business as

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Speaker 4: a player, and I think he's gonna make another jump

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Speaker 4: this year. So again, you know, he's a guy that

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Speaker 4: you know, we certainly want to keep him here. Long term.

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Speaker 4: It's not without a challenge. He plays a position where

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Speaker 4: the best players are highly compensated. But we'll do our best.

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Speaker 4: And I just I admire so many things about Brandon.

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Speaker 4: This guy has had some adversity. He's overcome so many

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Speaker 4: different things, position changes, transfers and all these things, and

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Speaker 4: he's made himself one of the best corners in the NFL.

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Speaker 5: Sorry, Eric, one of the guys that you probably will

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Speaker 5: want to extend, you know, when time comes.

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Speaker 2: Call Hamilton, do you ever think back to that draft

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Speaker 2: and wonder, like, how did this guy still fall to you?

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Speaker 8: Guys?

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Speaker 6: You know, I just.

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Speaker 4: I credit Ozzie because it happened to him so many times.

365
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Speaker 4: We're just the best player fell to him, and it

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Speaker 4: happened to me. So I'm blessed we have been around

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Speaker 4: Ozzy and sat next to him, and maybe some of

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Speaker 4: that magic kind of fell off on us that year

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Speaker 4: and we were able to get who I consider to

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Speaker 4: be one of the best players in that draft class,

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Speaker 4: the Loner's life.

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Speaker 9: Hamilton, Steve was very versatile. John and the coaches all

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Speaker 9: talk about diversity, flexibility of the roster. Is that something

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Speaker 9: you guys are seeing in the college game and you're

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Speaker 9: emphasizing to the scouts hows you're developing the players when

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Speaker 9: they get here. Every every coach talks about it.

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Speaker 4: Well, I think versatility is a skill, you know, it's

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Speaker 4: a it's a it's a trait that we look for scouts.

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Speaker 4: So when we see a guy that can do multiple

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Speaker 4: things or be used in multiple.

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Speaker 6: Ways, they get graded for that. They get graded up

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Speaker 6: for that.

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Speaker 4: And so you know, if you have an offense from

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Speaker 4: the lineman who can play multiple spots, uh, you have

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Speaker 4: a dB who can play safety or corner or play

386
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Speaker 4: on the nickel, or you have a receiver who can

387
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Speaker 4: return kicks or do different things or be a gunner,

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Speaker 4: you get extra credit almost.

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Speaker 6: It just it just makes it.

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Speaker 4: It makes it easier for the club because we can

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Speaker 4: account for game day, and we can account for the

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Speaker 4: roster and the forty eight players and all those different things.

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Speaker 4: It's really peace of mind when you know you have

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Speaker 4: a guy who can do multiple things to get you

395
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Speaker 4: out of a game. Or you can create packages where

396
00:17:55,359 --> 00:17:57,639
Speaker 4: guys moving around quite a bit and keeping the offense

397
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Speaker 4: or the defense kind of on the heels because they're

398
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Speaker 4: not really or how that guy is going to be used.

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Speaker 6: So it makes you more.

400
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Speaker 4: Multiple in it, it makes it more confusing for the

401
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Speaker 4: other side of the ball. All that kind of factors in.

402
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Speaker 4: But I would say just I think one of the

403
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Speaker 4: things that our scouts have to do is really assess

404
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Speaker 4: the players versatility to do multiple things, and the most

405
00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:19,800
Speaker 4: versatile players end up being players that get moved up

406
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Speaker 4: the board a little bit.

407
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Speaker 1: Training keep what's it does you about Lamar's training camp

408
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Speaker 1: and what are your thoughts on you come off another mvpcson.

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Speaker 8: Going into this year.

410
00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:34,600
Speaker 4: Well, he looks fast as heck, you know, he looks

411
00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:39,520
Speaker 4: he looks really really fast. He's throwing the ball extremely well.

412
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Speaker 4: What I've noticed about Lamar really is more of an

413
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Speaker 4: intangible thing. His urgency as a leader, his urgency with

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Speaker 4: the other players. He's just really in tune with the

415
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Speaker 4: other players every single day in practice. He's so engaged

416
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Speaker 4: with the coaches, he's engaged with his teammates, you know, Heck,

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Speaker 4: he's engaged with me. We talk personnel. We meet after

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Speaker 4: practice just the other day talking about personnel. He's got

419
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Speaker 4: some great ideas and suggestions, and he just really wants

420
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Speaker 4: to win badly. And I think I'm seeing that, like

421
00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:15,880
Speaker 4: as a player. I've always known that, but now I'm

422
00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:18,439
Speaker 4: seeing his personality kind of come out more where I

423
00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:20,399
Speaker 4: can really get a sense like this guy is so

424
00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:24,200
Speaker 4: hyper focused on this season and really you know, working

425
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Speaker 4: to get a ring.

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Speaker 9: Is that meeting with you about personnel, Lamar?

427
00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:33,200
Speaker 3: Is that a new thing or you know.

428
00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:34,000
Speaker 6: Has that been going on?

429
00:19:35,119 --> 00:19:37,840
Speaker 4: I mean we would, we would always talk about players

430
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Speaker 4: and stuff, but you know, I think just Lamar sees

431
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Speaker 4: I mean, I don't want to speak for Lamar, but

432
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Speaker 4: I think we all see an opportunity for us to

433
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Speaker 4: be a good team this year, and we want to

434
00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:52,119
Speaker 4: do it this year. And and that's just there's so

435
00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:54,479
Speaker 4: many different layers to that. It's what have we done

436
00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:56,560
Speaker 4: in the offseason, what are we doing in training camp?

437
00:19:56,840 --> 00:19:58,960
Speaker 4: How can we be the best team on Sundays? You

438
00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:01,640
Speaker 4: know other players out there that might help us. Where

439
00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:03,879
Speaker 4: are we strong, where are we weak? What can we

440
00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:08,879
Speaker 4: improve on? There's just so many different things. But again,

441
00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:14,439
Speaker 4: like I just I feel an urgency with Lamar. I

442
00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:18,960
Speaker 4: mean it's great. I love it, you know, That's how

443
00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:21,119
Speaker 4: I am, And so I really appreciate that quality and

444
00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:23,879
Speaker 4: others and just the urge to get better and the

445
00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:27,119
Speaker 4: daily just improve on things. That's how you win as

446
00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:27,720
Speaker 4: a team.

447
00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:31,560
Speaker 1: Likely if you're vision being a breakout player this year's

448
00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:34,080
Speaker 1: sort of He's a guy can get down fielding, also has.

449
00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:35,560
Speaker 5: Good hands and tight and had great training camp.

450
00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:38,880
Speaker 4: What do you seeking the industry, Well, he's I love Zay.

451
00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:43,919
Speaker 4: I mean, he's he's a playmakers. He's got, you know,

452
00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:47,520
Speaker 4: right running ability. He's similar to a receiver in some ways,

453
00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:50,399
Speaker 4: strong after the catch, you know. I mean that's something

454
00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:52,800
Speaker 4: that going back to college when I evaluated him, So

455
00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:54,439
Speaker 4: one thing you really kind of hung your hat on.

456
00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:56,439
Speaker 4: This guy was dangerous with the football in his hands.

457
00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:00,879
Speaker 4: He's another guy like I've seen in an urgency this

458
00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:05,080
Speaker 4: year with him, his leadership, interaction with other players. You know,

459
00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:08,040
Speaker 4: he's he's kind of changed from being a young player

460
00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:10,280
Speaker 4: to being from being a rookie to being a vet.

461
00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:13,320
Speaker 4: And I just feel like he and Mark Andrews will

462
00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:15,840
Speaker 4: be the best tandem at their position in the league

463
00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:20,840
Speaker 4: and really create a lot of problems for opposing defensive coordinators.

464
00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:24,359
Speaker 7: That's that's a huge blow off the field, but even

465
00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:27,560
Speaker 7: football wise, to lose a coach with that status and

466
00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:30,240
Speaker 7: bring everything he brings to the table right before the season.

467
00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:31,399
Speaker 7: What does that do.

468
00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:32,760
Speaker 2: For this team?

469
00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:36,720
Speaker 4: Uh, you know, it's just a hard one. I mean,

470
00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:42,000
Speaker 4: Joe is just a great friend of mine. You know,

471
00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:44,439
Speaker 4: if you've seen practice, you know I always stand behind

472
00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:48,280
Speaker 4: usually next to Joe and we talk about you know,

473
00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:52,119
Speaker 4: football and just life and things. And his ability with

474
00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:55,720
Speaker 4: the younger players is just was a special thing watching

475
00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:58,399
Speaker 4: him develop these guys. You know, he could push, but

476
00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:01,240
Speaker 4: he could love And that's what makes a great coach,

477
00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:04,360
Speaker 4: great teacher. Think about the great teachers we've all had, right,

478
00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:06,760
Speaker 4: the best teachers will push you, but they could also

479
00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:07,800
Speaker 4: love you up too.

480
00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:09,919
Speaker 6: When you were struggling. And that's Joe d.

481
00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:14,040
Speaker 4: It's a tough one. You know, it's a tough one.

482
00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:17,600
Speaker 4: It's a tough one for all of us here, you know.

483
00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:22,720
Speaker 4: That's what I have to Saynd that Eric, you.

484
00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:25,879
Speaker 2: Have had conversations with the coaches, the fact that this

485
00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:29,760
Speaker 2: season you're fifteen practice squad players will be seen throughout

486
00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:32,879
Speaker 2: the league forward hard knocks and there's a possibility of

487
00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:35,240
Speaker 2: many of maybe taking off.

488
00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:36,040
Speaker 6: That list there.

489
00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:39,240
Speaker 2: If you guys had conversation, the fact that they haven't.

490
00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:40,320
Speaker 6: I don't think so.

491
00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:46,200
Speaker 4: I mean, you know, we evaluate the practice squad guys,

492
00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:48,480
Speaker 4: We don't use HBO to evaluate, and we watch the tape.

493
00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:50,960
Speaker 4: I mean, so we're gonna we're gonna know the players,

494
00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:54,040
Speaker 4: and you know, we'll know everybody else's players too, and

495
00:22:54,119 --> 00:22:56,440
Speaker 4: so you know, we you know, we'll get a guy

496
00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:59,080
Speaker 4: post once or twice a year. We'll post a couple guys.

497
00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:01,600
Speaker 4: But in the en, I think teams are really comfortable

498
00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:06,119
Speaker 4: with their own players. You know, it's gonna be an

499
00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:09,000
Speaker 4: interesting dynamic with hard knocks, and I'm not exactly sure

500
00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:13,480
Speaker 4: what that's gonna be. I don't know how how much

501
00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:16,960
Speaker 4: focus will be on the practice squad guys. If it's

502
00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:20,440
Speaker 4: up to me, they won't be much. But I don't

503
00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:22,199
Speaker 4: see it as a as a major hindrance for us

504
00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:23,359
Speaker 4: in terms of keeping our players.

505
00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:28,080
Speaker 5: Sometimes you hear fans say this team can't prove anything

506
00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:30,080
Speaker 5: else to me during the regular season. It's all about

507
00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:32,199
Speaker 5: what happens in January. You know, what do they do

508
00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:35,639
Speaker 5: at the end. How do you kind of balance that

509
00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:38,760
Speaker 5: urgency to win the Super Bowl with knowing all the

510
00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:40,639
Speaker 5: steps you have to go through to even have that chance.

511
00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:45,800
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, it's an excellent question. I mean I

512
00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:49,200
Speaker 4: would say I was thinking about this the other day,

513
00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:50,919
Speaker 4: like if I had to just rank some of the

514
00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:54,960
Speaker 4: best Ravens teams, you know, you'd put two thousand on there.

515
00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:57,840
Speaker 4: But it's a one sided team, right, And then you

516
00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:00,240
Speaker 4: go two thousand and six. That was a hell hell

517
00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:05,280
Speaker 4: of a team, you know. Twenty eleven was a great team,

518
00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:11,640
Speaker 4: one of the best. Twenty nineteen, twenty twenty three, those

519
00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:15,399
Speaker 4: are like really strong teams. The twenty twelve team we

520
00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:18,880
Speaker 4: got hot late. You know, there's a lot of factors

521
00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:21,240
Speaker 4: that really go into a team winning the Super Bowl

522
00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:22,879
Speaker 4: and in the end, and I know this because I'm

523
00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:25,320
Speaker 4: at the Senior Bowl every single year, there's only one

524
00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:28,040
Speaker 4: team ends up being happy. There's a lot that goes

525
00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:31,200
Speaker 4: into that. So my goal is to build a team

526
00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:36,960
Speaker 4: that has talent in every position, that is flexible enough

527
00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:42,959
Speaker 4: to withstand injuries, that we have depth to get us

528
00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:46,760
Speaker 4: through a long season and to make the playoffs and

529
00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:51,240
Speaker 4: to be sort of ascending at that point. It's really

530
00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:54,200
Speaker 4: hard to project what's going to happen, and it's it's

531
00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:57,920
Speaker 4: mentally challenging too for me. You know, it is tough.

532
00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:02,240
Speaker 4: You know, I think we've been maybe had the best

533
00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:05,520
Speaker 4: record twice in the last six years five years, and

534
00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:10,439
Speaker 4: we didn't make it to the end. That's tough, But

535
00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:14,119
Speaker 4: I am proud of our team what we've accomplished. We

536
00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:20,960
Speaker 4: haven't accomplished our ultimate goal. But I don't really subscribe

537
00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:23,680
Speaker 4: to the idea that your season's a failure if you

538
00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:27,000
Speaker 4: don't win the Super Bowl. I know a lot of

539
00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:30,320
Speaker 4: people do. If I did that, I'd probably be in

540
00:25:30,359 --> 00:25:34,000
Speaker 4: a mental institution. So I don't feel that way. I

541
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:36,119
Speaker 4: measure the success of a season and a lot of

542
00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:38,919
Speaker 4: different things, super Bowl being one of those things, but

543
00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:40,879
Speaker 4: certainly not the only criteria that I would use to

544
00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:41,560
Speaker 4: judge a season.

545
00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:45,280
Speaker 9: Two more, you talked last year, maybe you talked about

546
00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:49,240
Speaker 9: how the Lamar Jackson contract was going to change how you.

547
00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:51,560
Speaker 4: Could build the roster in the future, thinking of Brandon

548
00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:53,160
Speaker 4: Stephen some of the other players.

549
00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:55,200
Speaker 6: How is your approach to kind.

550
00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:57,960
Speaker 3: Of in the season negotiating because it has it changed

551
00:25:58,400 --> 00:25:59,560
Speaker 3: in terms of trying.

552
00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:01,639
Speaker 6: To negotiate with some of these extensions in the season.

553
00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:05,680
Speaker 2: Does that strategy change since the Jackson contract to now?

554
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:07,320
Speaker 6: I don't know that it changes that.

555
00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:10,239
Speaker 4: I think it's just right player, right price, you know,

556
00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:12,200
Speaker 4: I mean, you got a negotiate a contract that works

557
00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:14,639
Speaker 4: for you and work for the player, and sometimes you're

558
00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:18,600
Speaker 4: under parameters that might make it more challenging. You just

559
00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:21,280
Speaker 4: simply just can't afford to have the highest paid players

560
00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:25,360
Speaker 4: across the board at their position. You know, you can

561
00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:30,400
Speaker 4: have some, but I think if you study the league,

562
00:26:31,119 --> 00:26:33,479
Speaker 4: you're seeing the impact that it has on rosters and

563
00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:37,840
Speaker 4: what that means, whether that's holdouts or players getting terminated,

564
00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:43,120
Speaker 4: quality players getting terminated. It's just you just fundamentally, financially,

565
00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:48,359
Speaker 4: you can't do it. You can't have ten players making

566
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:51,160
Speaker 4: twenty million dollars a year. You just can't do it

567
00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:55,200
Speaker 4: on a two hundred and fifty eight million dollars salary cap.

568
00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:58,560
Speaker 4: So you have to look at it and have a strategy.

569
00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:01,960
Speaker 4: And every team operate rates with a different strategy how

570
00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:03,480
Speaker 4: they pay players, what's.

571
00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:05,160
Speaker 6: Important to them.

572
00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:11,760
Speaker 4: We try to be balanced across the board, and we

573
00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:14,840
Speaker 4: try to pay our best players as much as we can,

574
00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:19,320
Speaker 4: understanding that sometimes we just can't keep every single player.

575
00:27:19,359 --> 00:27:22,399
Speaker 4: If we could, the roster would be different, but it's not.

576
00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:26,040
Speaker 4: We understand that it is challenging sometimes to let really

577
00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:28,719
Speaker 4: good players leave, but that's the business.

578
00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:29,000
Speaker 6: We're in.

579
00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:33,000
Speaker 3: Quarterbacks specifically, Like it was pretty obvious that you know,

580
00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:37,400
Speaker 3: giving Lamar's accomplishments and talent he was gonna we sent

581
00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:40,440
Speaker 3: the quarterback market that are a top across the seem

582
00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:43,080
Speaker 3: like every time a quarterback gets a second contract, they're

583
00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:45,000
Speaker 3: like the highest big player ever. All of a sudden,

584
00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:47,160
Speaker 3: do you think that's going to continue to be reality

585
00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:49,640
Speaker 3: across the league? We should, you know, kind of look

586
00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:51,840
Speaker 3: in the future at the landscape or at some point

587
00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:53,399
Speaker 3: is that going to bounce back and either going to

588
00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:55,119
Speaker 3: say we can't afford to keep doing this with if

589
00:27:55,119 --> 00:27:55,960
Speaker 3: it's done an MVP.

590
00:27:55,880 --> 00:28:00,720
Speaker 6: Kind of guy. Well, we paid Lamar.

591
00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:03,160
Speaker 4: We made Lamar the highest paid quarterback because we felt

592
00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:05,960
Speaker 4: he was the best quarterback in the league. He won

593
00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:09,239
Speaker 4: an MVP now two MVPs, and I'm blessed. We're very

594
00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:13,360
Speaker 4: happy that we did that. Generally speaking, I don't necessarily

595
00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:16,359
Speaker 4: subscribe to the theory that every time you do a

596
00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:18,480
Speaker 4: negotiation with a quality player they need to be the

597
00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:22,600
Speaker 4: highest paid player at their position, and I think in

598
00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:25,360
Speaker 4: a lot of cases we haven't done that. It's challenging

599
00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:28,679
Speaker 4: at times. There isn't typically an expectation when you negotiate

600
00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:31,720
Speaker 4: with agents that they want the market to work that way.

601
00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:34,399
Speaker 6: I think it's up to the club. It's up to

602
00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:36,880
Speaker 6: the individual club. The hard part is that.

603
00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:42,760
Speaker 4: When a deal is done, good or bad, that goes

604
00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:46,560
Speaker 4: into the library of deals that get done and it's

605
00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:49,479
Speaker 4: used good or bad by clubs and by agents. We

606
00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:51,400
Speaker 4: try to be responsible with our deals. We try to

607
00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:55,960
Speaker 4: be respectful of the player's position. But we're going to

608
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:59,280
Speaker 4: pay the players what we can't afford to pay the players,

609
00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:02,000
Speaker 4: and most of our money every single year we're going

610
00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:05,840
Speaker 4: to be over the cap, cash over cap most years. Now,

611
00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:07,480
Speaker 4: there is always going to be a day of reckoning.

612
00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:10,160
Speaker 4: You can't be a cash overcap every single year. There's

613
00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:11,760
Speaker 4: going to have to be a purge at some point.

614
00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:18,160
Speaker 4: So we understand that. But you know, I've seen these contracts.

615
00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:22,400
Speaker 4: Every club has to operate the way they.

616
00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:22,960
Speaker 6: Want to operate.

617
00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:26,760
Speaker 4: You know, we operate the way we're going to operate,

618
00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:28,280
Speaker 4: and we look out and we know we have a

619
00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:31,120
Speaker 4: lot of really good players to pay, and every dollar

620
00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:32,920
Speaker 4: that we can save on a contract is a dollar

621
00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:35,080
Speaker 4: that we can use a really another, really good player.

622
00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:37,760
Speaker 6: That's my theory.

623
00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:42,800
Speaker 1: Thanks guys, you're listening to the Ravens Press Pass podcast.

624
00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:45,280
Speaker 1: Also make sure you head over to the Lounge podcast feed.

625
00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:49,640
Speaker 1: We had quarterback Lamar Jackson on the podcast this week.

626
00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:52,960
Speaker 1: He shared some really good insight into his mindset, his mentality,

627
00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:56,920
Speaker 1: and the urgency that he has going into this season.

628
00:29:57,280 --> 00:30:00,640
Speaker 1: And listen to that right here and you're podcast feed

629
00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:02,840
Speaker 1: just head over to the Lounge podcast make sure you

630
00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:06,320
Speaker 1: hit that subscribe button here and on the press Pass feed.

631
00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:08,960
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening. We'll talk with you

632
00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:10,200
Speaker 1: again later this week.