Speaker 1: Hey everybody, and welcome to a new Dave Pash podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm your host ESPN and Arizona Cardinals broadcaster Dave Pash.
Speaker 1: After a couple of months off, we are back and
Speaker 1: in a big way with first year Arizona Cardinals general
Speaker 1: manager Monty Austen. For I think after you listen to
Speaker 1: this conversation with Manti, you'll really learn a lot about
Speaker 1: what it's like in the draft room on Draft Night.
Speaker 1: In particular, we're going to talk in depth about how
Speaker 1: the Cardinals ended up trading down from number three and
Speaker 1: then trading back up to number six to grab Paris
Speaker 1: Johnson from Ohio State, and how close it came with
Speaker 1: the pressure on and the clock ticking on the Cardinals
Speaker 1: to make that deal with Houston to move down from
Speaker 1: number three.
Speaker 2: It was intense. It was good, But I would have
Speaker 2: to go back and look at the tape. I don't
Speaker 2: think anybody in our room was panicking. I think we
Speaker 2: had a plan and the time was ticking, and time
Speaker 2: was of the essence, and you know we were able
Speaker 2: to finally get and push it across the goal line.
Speaker 1: Monty is the talk nationally amongst the media members about
Speaker 1: Draft Knight three trades with three teams in the first
Speaker 1: thirty four picks, the acquisition of a first round pick
Speaker 1: for twenty twenty four, and two third round picks for
Speaker 1: next year as well. Manni was very busy, and he
Speaker 1: goes deep into all of those decisions on draft night
Speaker 1: and what it was like for him in his first
Speaker 1: year in the big chair making the decisions to make
Speaker 1: trades into draft players. We're also going to talk about
Speaker 1: some of the guys who've been on the roster, the
Speaker 1: latest on DeAndre Hopkins, Buddha Baker, Isaiah Simmons, and the
Speaker 1: health of Kyler Murray. We'll also talk with Mani about
Speaker 1: his history spending all those years with the New England Patriots,
Speaker 1: his time with Tennessee. We'll even go back to his
Speaker 1: playing days in college at Minnesota Morris, where for a
Speaker 1: brief period of time he was a radio show host.
Speaker 1: All that and more coming up with Arizona Cardinals General
Speaker 1: manager Monte assin Ford. We are presented by BETTMGM, the
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Speaker 1: All right, Time for our sit down with Arizona Cardinals
Speaker 1: General manager Montiasinfo. So, MANI I got a chance to
Speaker 1: meet you briefly maybe two months ago, three months ago
Speaker 1: the last podcast actually did, which was with Michael brought
Speaker 1: me up and introduced me to you, But I haven't
Speaker 1: really had a chance to get to talk to you much.
Speaker 1: So first time we've had a chance to really sit
Speaker 1: and chat. I'm curious, first of all, what's this whole
Speaker 1: process been like? Because you get hired and you're all in,
Speaker 1: you're going one hundred miles an hour. What's it been
Speaker 1: like personally? What's it been like professionally for you?
Speaker 2: Well, professionally that you know it all culminated in these
Speaker 2: last last few days, it was, you know, it was
Speaker 2: a lot of a lot of work here from a
Speaker 2: lot of fronts, a lot of people from the scouting department,
Speaker 2: to the coaching staff, to trainers and all all facets
Speaker 2: of football operations contributed to this past weekend. So it
Speaker 2: was a nice just ending to just a lot of
Speaker 2: work that have went in. You know, it's it's been
Speaker 2: it's been a challenge. You know, the when when you
Speaker 2: have this type of transition, it's you're away from your family.
Speaker 2: A lot of people are away from their families, you're
Speaker 2: living in a hotel, you're living in temporary housing. But
Speaker 2: you know what, it's also it's also a blessing because
Speaker 2: you can you can just focus in on the job
Speaker 2: and you know, because there is a lot to do.
Speaker 2: There's a lot to do when when that transition comes
Speaker 2: in and you know, there's uh, you know, there was
Speaker 2: a lot of things that we wanted to to focus
Speaker 2: on with the draft and just getting the right types
Speaker 2: of people from the All Star Game process, through the
Speaker 2: combine and then through our thirty visit process. So that
Speaker 2: was that was a big funcus of ours and you know,
Speaker 2: there was a lot of things to juggle, but a
Speaker 2: lot of people stepped up and a lot of people
Speaker 2: contributed to you know, what we hope was a winning
Speaker 2: effort this past weekend.
Speaker 1: You talked about being away from your family as a dad.
Speaker 1: You know, how challenging has that been for you? How
Speaker 1: what's it been like communicating with your kids, who this
Speaker 1: is probably the first time you've been gone this long.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been it's been a challenge for all of us.
Speaker 2: And you know, we came to a pretty good routine
Speaker 2: here over the last couple of months where you know,
Speaker 2: I'm an early morning guy, and so on my drive
Speaker 2: in Nashville is back on Central Time, and so on
Speaker 2: my drive in it was really breakfast time. The girls
Speaker 2: were getting ready for breakfast for school, and so my
Speaker 2: fifteen minute drive in to work was a great time
Speaker 2: for us just to chat over the phone and get
Speaker 2: connected for Hey, what's going on today, and what's the
Speaker 2: plan anything special at school today? And then you know,
Speaker 2: FaceTime has been a lifesaver. That's been great to just
Speaker 2: connect and see faces and you know, but it's been tough.
Speaker 2: Missed a few sporting events this past weekend. My oldest
Speaker 2: daughter had a had her last volleyball tournament in Birmingham.
Speaker 2: But you know, thank god technology, I was able to
Speaker 2: pull up the iPad and watch her games, you know,
Speaker 2: so I could. I wasn't there, but I tried to
Speaker 2: connect as much as possible. So I'm excited gonna take
Speaker 2: a couple of days and get home to see him,
Speaker 2: and but excited for them to get out here to
Speaker 2: the valley and call this home.
Speaker 1: So your daughter's playing volleyball? Is it club volleyball? So
Speaker 1: she must be pretty good if she's traveling at pretty
Speaker 1: young age.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, so you know, so her her mom, my wife, Shannon,
Speaker 2: she she was a collegiate volleyball player, and you know,
Speaker 2: the my oldest is involved in club volleyball and she's
Speaker 2: she's really enjoyed that. So you know, I've it's it's
Speaker 2: been tough missing out on that, but you know, I know,
Speaker 2: my my wife has been there to to support her
Speaker 2: and and to help her out. My wife actually coached
Speaker 2: her school team this past year at at our school,
Speaker 2: and so you know, but my wife took a step
Speaker 2: back for the club season, and uh, but that's been great.
Speaker 1: You were an athlete too. You played quarterback Minnesota Morerus
Speaker 1: which is where and I grew up in Madison, Wisconsin,
Speaker 1: and I don't know where Minnesota.
Speaker 2: Or Yeah, allegedly an athlete I would say that, No.
Speaker 2: Morris is in the middle of nowhere. It's in about
Speaker 2: as far west part of the state of Minnesota, but
Speaker 2: right in the middle, so west central Minnesota. Tiny little town.
Speaker 2: It's a tiny school when I when I was there,
Speaker 2: we were a Division two school. They've since dropped down
Speaker 2: to Division three. But you know, hey, we had a
Speaker 2: lot of fun, met a lot of friends there. We
Speaker 2: we we weren't a good team. We Uh, that's kind
Speaker 2: of an insult to to say we were a bad
Speaker 2: team to bad teams. So we but we had a
Speaker 2: lot of fun and we we worked hard, and uh
Speaker 2: it was it was a good experience for me.
Speaker 1: And so I'm trying to find information about you other
Speaker 1: than you know, what's obviously been out there and through
Speaker 1: either the Cardinals or the Titans. Are going back to
Speaker 1: the Patriots. And one thing I caught on Wikipedia, and
Speaker 1: I always have to ask, because Wikipedia is the worst.
Speaker 1: There's been things on me that are that are not
Speaker 1: correct on Wikipedia that I've had to tell people like
Speaker 1: that that's not true. So you were a radio show
Speaker 1: host in college? Is that is that accurate?
Speaker 2: Man?
Speaker 1: Did you think is that true? Did you think about
Speaker 1: going into.
Speaker 2: Broadcasting you're digging deep. You're digging deep. No. So at
Speaker 2: my at our tiny little school, there was a student
Speaker 2: run radio station that I you know, I'm not sure
Speaker 2: that the signal went out much further than the force
Speaker 2: the four blocks of campus. But uh, yeah, there was
Speaker 2: a Saturday I can't remember. No, I think it was
Speaker 2: a Sunday morning show for two hours that you know,
Speaker 2: you just filled blocks of time, and so, you know,
Speaker 2: me and a couple buddies we were screwing around and uh,
Speaker 2: you know, hey, well this would be cool. And you know,
Speaker 2: I think it lasted for a few months, but I
Speaker 2: think they ran us off. I don't think listenership was
Speaker 2: real high.
Speaker 1: So so broadcasting was not going to be part of
Speaker 1: your future.
Speaker 2: Nah, I got out of that click.
Speaker 1: But scouting was what what? When did you make the
Speaker 1: choice to go down this road knowing you know how
Speaker 1: hard it is to work your way up. You're already
Speaker 1: you talked about being away from your family now, but
Speaker 1: that's something as a scout, traveling over the years, you've
Speaker 1: learned to get you to what made you decide to
Speaker 1: go this route in terms of staying involved in football?
Speaker 2: Yeah, when my when my playing career was over. I
Speaker 2: I kind of was at a little bit of crossroads,
Speaker 2: didn't quite know where I was going to go, and
Speaker 2: thought about going in the coaching coaching realm. And you know,
Speaker 2: it's something always about personnel, the personnel. I'd always was
Speaker 2: interested in the draft and kind of when I was young,
Speaker 2: reading up on on personnel moves and trades and things
Speaker 2: like that, and and so you know, I didn't didn't
Speaker 2: think coaching was was the right path for me. And
Speaker 2: and so I decided, hey, this is this is an
Speaker 2: avenue that I I kind of wanted to go try
Speaker 2: going down. And and so when I when I left
Speaker 2: under undergraduate at from Morris and decided to go to
Speaker 2: graduate school at Ohio University for a couple of years
Speaker 2: and and they have a sports administration program there and
Speaker 2: so went there for a couple of years, and through
Speaker 2: through the connections from Ohio University, I was able to
Speaker 2: land an internship. My first job in the NFL down
Speaker 2: you know, actually first I had a training camp internship
Speaker 2: with the Minister the Vikings, hauling mattresses around a dorm room,
Speaker 2: installing window air conditioning units. Uh you know, real glorious stuff.
Speaker 2: And uh so that was my first exposure to the NFL,
Speaker 2: and then after my two years in Ohio, found a
Speaker 2: year long internship down in Houston with the Texans in
Speaker 2: personnel and and at that point I was hooked and
Speaker 2: and just had a real fortunate along the way to
Speaker 2: meet some great people and learn and and to have
Speaker 2: a bunch of things break my way for me to
Speaker 2: kind of just move up the ranks.
Speaker 1: Was Mike Tice, the head coach of the Vikings. Then
Speaker 1: it wasn't Denny, was it?
Speaker 2: It was? Man That's a great question at that point,
Speaker 2: it was what year was it? It was two thousand
Speaker 2: and one.
Speaker 1: I think it might have still been Denny.
Speaker 2: I think it was. I think it was Denny. It
Speaker 2: was it was Moss's rookie year.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, it was Masny.
Speaker 2: Then, Yeah, it was Denny, it was. It was actually
Speaker 2: unfortunately it was it was the summer that that Corey
Speaker 2: Stringer passed away. Yeah, it was that. Then. That was
Speaker 2: a that was a tough, tough situation there in Mankato.
Speaker 2: We had training camps. So that was that was the year. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And so you were with the Patriots obviously for a
Speaker 1: long time, most recently with the Titans, but fifteen years
Speaker 1: overall in New England. What was your biggest takeaway when
Speaker 1: you look back and think, hey, this was something that
Speaker 1: I held on to that I learned from Coach Belichick
Speaker 1: or one of the many other personnel guys who've gone
Speaker 1: on to be GMS like Jason Light.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Boy, we could be here for two hours talking
Speaker 2: about that, because you know, I just extremely fortunate to
Speaker 2: have that experience of being there. But you know, I
Speaker 2: think I think the biggest thing for me is just
Speaker 2: taken from there is just the importance of building an
Speaker 2: entire football program. That there's nothing that can stand alone
Speaker 2: and be on its own. Everything is connected, whether it's
Speaker 2: the coaching or the scouting, but even to the strength training,
Speaker 2: to training, to nutrition, to how the team travels, to
Speaker 2: you know, the PR group. Everything is every everything is
Speaker 2: on the same page. Everything is pointed in one direction,
Speaker 2: and that's to winning. And so you know that's something
Speaker 2: out There's really no secret sauce. Everybody always brings up,
Speaker 2: oh the Patriot Way and there's some you know, magical
Speaker 2: formula or some secret pill like that. There really isn't
Speaker 2: other than you know, people knowing what their job is
Speaker 2: and how they contribute to a winning effort and doing
Speaker 2: it at a high level.
Speaker 1: Do you have any particular interactions with Coach Belichick that
Speaker 1: you recall. I don't know if you've had a chance
Speaker 1: to get to know Ron Wolfley at all, who I
Speaker 1: do the Cardinal Games with with. Wolf was the special
Speaker 1: teams captain for Bill in Cleveland and still talks to
Speaker 1: him like they still have a relationship. He's had him
Speaker 1: on his radio show and he's got great stories that
Speaker 1: really tell you all you need to know that basically
Speaker 1: Bill hasn't changed, Like he's the same now as he
Speaker 1: was then in terms of how he interacts with players,
Speaker 1: how he interacts with people on his staff. Is there
Speaker 1: anything that you recall, like, man, that was a great
Speaker 1: conversation or one that was like embarrassing where he riptures.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, I you know, I'd say I'd say this.
Speaker 2: I mean Coach Belichick is He's He's always been. You know,
Speaker 2: he's been a person that I've warn't an immense amount
Speaker 2: from And you know, he's been extremely generous with his
Speaker 2: time here since I since I got this job, just
Speaker 2: being a sounding board for me and and just being
Speaker 2: being there to to talk through some things with. And
Speaker 2: he's He's been tremendous with that. You know, I think
Speaker 2: my first, uh, when I was a lower level scout
Speaker 2: in New England one year we were prepping for the draft,
Speaker 2: and and at the time I was living in Colorado,
Speaker 2: so I wasn't even in the office, but you know,
Speaker 2: I had had I had a project to do, and
Speaker 2: for some reason, I got on a project of looking
Speaker 2: at special teams players for the draft, and so you know,
Speaker 2: there was a there was a It was the year
Speaker 2: that Matt Slater was coming out of UCLA, and so
Speaker 2: Matt Slater was one of the guys that I happened
Speaker 2: to look at. And you know, I looked at ten twelve,
Speaker 2: ten twelve players, and you know, Matts, Matt Slater stood
Speaker 2: out as just a guy that an out outstanding special
Speaker 2: teams player. And so you know, I, as a lower
Speaker 2: level scout, you didn't have a lot of interaction with
Speaker 2: coach Belichick. And so you know, I completed this project
Speaker 2: and and sent it in and and you know, passed
Speaker 2: it up to to Scott Pioli, to Nick Cassario, some
Speaker 2: guys that I had worked for, and you know, I
Speaker 2: woke up one morning with the time change in Colorado
Speaker 2: and you know, I checked my phone and I had
Speaker 2: an email from Coach Belichick and like kind of groggy
Speaker 2: even snap up and like, oh, I got to read
Speaker 2: this one, you know. So it was it was it
Speaker 2: was Coach Belichick, and it was him asking me about
Speaker 2: the project that I did and specifically about Matt And so,
Speaker 2: you know, that's something that that really was my first
Speaker 2: like real direct interaction with Coach Belichick on a on
Speaker 2: a one to one basis, and just you know that
Speaker 2: he had taken the time to to read what I
Speaker 2: had had put before him. You know that that was
Speaker 2: kind of something that's always going to stick with me.
Speaker 1: I remember, I think it was called the Two Bills.
Speaker 1: It was a thirty for thirty with him and Bill
Speaker 1: Parcells and watching Coach Belichick's reverence for Coach Parcells and
Speaker 1: again hearing from Wolf other guys that played for Bill.
Speaker 1: I know it's all business with him, but at the
Speaker 1: same time, like I feel that he respects and appreciates
Speaker 1: guys that went to war for him, whether it was
Speaker 1: a player or somebody in your position. Is that something
Speaker 1: that you found as well?
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I think I think that's absolutely fair. I mean,
Speaker 2: Bill is an extremely focused individual, and he is focused
Speaker 2: on He's focused on winning and doing what's best for
Speaker 2: the football team. And I think when he sees he
Speaker 2: sees you know, other people he I mean, that's his
Speaker 2: goal is to surround the rest of his organization with
Speaker 2: people that have that same mindset, and he has a
Speaker 2: real appreciation for people that can can really put the
Speaker 2: team before themselves.
Speaker 1: So you'd talked to after the draft in your press
Speaker 1: conference about the rush of everything you did. And I'm curious,
Speaker 1: because you know, we're not in that room. We have
Speaker 1: no idea what it's like to be in that room.
Speaker 1: What was it like to be the GM on draft night.
Speaker 1: You've been in the rooms before, but you've not been
Speaker 1: that guy making all the calls, having the final say.
Speaker 1: What was it like?
Speaker 2: It was different? It was certainly different, you know. I
Speaker 2: I think that that kind of dawned on me in
Speaker 2: the in the couple of days leading up to the draft.
Speaker 2: And you know, in the in the past, you prepare
Speaker 2: for a draft and you're like, man, you know, I
Speaker 2: hope this happens, and I you know, you know, if
Speaker 2: this happens, I think we should do this. But now
Speaker 2: it's there's no more. I think we should do this.
Speaker 2: It's we're going to do this, and you know, alter
Speaker 2: that's that's uh, you know, that's a that's a big
Speaker 2: mantle to take on, you know, and so you know that, uh,
Speaker 2: that's something that I did, you know, think about. It
Speaker 2: did cross my mind going in. But you know, I
Speaker 2: think for me personally, like I think the thing that
Speaker 2: really helped me over that that first hour of the
Speaker 2: draft where there was there was so much action, is
Speaker 2: is we were prepared and that the team are our
Speaker 2: group of individuals upstairs. We were ready and you know,
Speaker 2: it could have things could have shook out a different
Speaker 2: way and we would have been fine. We would have
Speaker 2: been fine with that too. I just I just think
Speaker 2: that the time that we prepared and the scenarios that
Speaker 2: we tried to walk through, you know, things didn't happen
Speaker 2: exactly the way we thought they would, but we had
Speaker 2: also talked at nauseum about different ways that things could happen,
Speaker 2: and we were ready. We reacted, and you know, ultimately,
Speaker 2: I think I think we made decisions that were good
Speaker 2: for the team.
Speaker 1: How much of what you're talking about right now in
Speaker 1: terms of things didn't go exactly how we thought or
Speaker 1: we weren't sure what was going to happen. It felt
Speaker 1: like the world wasn't sure based on it just seemed
Speaker 1: like everything was coming down to number two. Like I
Speaker 1: kept hearing they don't like CJ. Stroud in Houston, and
Speaker 1: clearly was subterfuge, right, It clearly was put out there.
Speaker 1: Were you guys hearing that as well? Like, were you
Speaker 1: guys unsure? Hey, is it going to be Stroud? Is
Speaker 1: it going to be Will Anderson? Are they going to
Speaker 1: look to trade down? Is going to be somebody else?
Speaker 2: Yeah? And I think we looked at all those scenarios day.
Speaker 2: I think you know, we didn't. We had no idea.
Speaker 2: We had no idea. I mean, we felt we felt
Speaker 2: pretty good about what was going to happen at one.
Speaker 2: Number two we had no idea. So we had to
Speaker 2: talk about all those scenarios that you just said, we
Speaker 2: we hey, if they take this quarterback or a different quarterback,
Speaker 2: or do they go a position player? And we had
Speaker 2: to talk through all those scenarios about who may or
Speaker 2: may not be interested in moving up based on what
Speaker 2: happened at number two. So we worked through those, and
Speaker 2: you know, you could drive yourself crazy going going with
Speaker 2: there's a million different scenarios, and you well, what if
Speaker 2: this happens, Well, that would never happen. Oh really, like
Speaker 2: you just don't know with the draft, you know. So
Speaker 2: we worked through those and we we felt good about,
Speaker 2: you know, just working through those different scenarios, and we
Speaker 2: were as surprised as ever as anybody when when number
Speaker 2: two came off the board.
Speaker 1: Okay, so number two comes off the board? Is it
Speaker 1: right away? Okay, we've worked through these scenarios, so scenario
Speaker 1: X has happened. Let's execute that plan correct.
Speaker 2: And I think, you know, I think I think the
Speaker 2: discussion on this the number three pick, they really they
Speaker 2: really started back at the combine and you know, hey,
Speaker 2: you know at that point it was more I don't
Speaker 2: know if we're going to pick at number three, but
Speaker 2: if we don't pick, or would you be interested in
Speaker 2: coming up? So you know, we started those conversations back then. Uh.
Speaker 2: And then I would say the week leading up to
Speaker 2: the draft, and specifically the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday before the draft,
Speaker 2: those talks really started to get more concrete. And so
Speaker 2: it was a goal of mine is to have I
Speaker 2: wanted to go into Thursday with parameters of what was
Speaker 2: going to happen, so that no matter what happened at
Speaker 2: number two, I didn't want a cold call to come
Speaker 2: out of the blue and number three and us start
Speaker 2: from ground zero. So we had multiple teams that we
Speaker 2: had talked to Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. You know, hey,
Speaker 2: if if this happens or if our guy's there, you know,
Speaker 2: this is what it would look like. This is what
Speaker 2: we'd be interested in. Okay, all right, I'll you know,
Speaker 2: we'll see what happens. And and so then when number
Speaker 2: two did come off the board, you know, there were
Speaker 2: some teams that weren't interested anymore. And coming up to
Speaker 2: number three, there were some teams that were still interested
Speaker 2: in coming to number three. But there was no at
Speaker 2: no time was there. We weren't starting from zero. We
Speaker 2: we kind of had a ballpark of what we were
Speaker 2: trying to do, and you know, ultimately we were able
Speaker 2: to work through and come up with a deal that worked.
Speaker 1: So we're watching the draft and it feels like the
Speaker 1: trade is made as we're coming down to the wire.
Speaker 1: Was it like that for you in the room or
Speaker 1: was it calm? Were the conversations very typical of what
Speaker 1: you expected? And it just took time to kind of
Speaker 1: get it to the league so they could announce it.
Speaker 2: I would say it did. It did come down that
Speaker 2: the time was taken down, and that was a product
Speaker 2: of you know, when when the number two pick, When
Speaker 2: the number two pick goes in, the clock starts immediately right,
Speaker 2: so that there's no lag to Hey, let's walk up
Speaker 2: there and announce it like it it's it's going. And
Speaker 2: so there's some time to Hey, we got to check
Speaker 2: back with all the teams that we've had discussions with, Hey,
Speaker 2: are you still interested? No? Are you still interested? Yes?
Speaker 2: And then so you go down the line and so
Speaker 2: then you go through that process. All right, so now
Speaker 2: we're down to x number of teams that are interested
Speaker 2: in coming up. Okay, so this team, we know that
Speaker 2: this team was here on the deal. This team was
Speaker 2: here on the deal. Okay, which one do we like
Speaker 2: better out of the two? All right, we like this one.
Speaker 2: Let's go back and see if we can talk. And
Speaker 2: so as we are going through that, you know, it
Speaker 2: helped that I have a personal relationship with with Nick
Speaker 2: Cassario and Houston have a lot of respect for Nick
Speaker 2: as a as a person. He's been a mentor to me.
Speaker 2: He's been a friend of me. Our families are close,
Speaker 2: you know, I say that other than to say just
Speaker 2: the conversation was easy between Nick and I, and you know,
Speaker 2: so it got to a point where, hey, you know,
Speaker 2: this is this is what we're offering, and you know, Nick,
Speaker 2: I need it to include this. And then Nick can
Speaker 2: tell me, yeah, you know what, I'm not doing that,
Speaker 2: and so I don't take offense to that. I know Nick.
Speaker 2: I have that relationship with Nick, and he can tell me, no,
Speaker 2: I'm not doing that. And so eventually there were some
Speaker 2: back and forth there and the top clock's going, the
Speaker 2: clock's going, and I think it was around I don't know,
Speaker 2: two and a half minutes maybe where you know, we
Speaker 2: got the got the couple of deals written up on
Speaker 2: the board, and a couple of teams, and so then okay, Nick,
Speaker 2: I think we're at a spot where we're close. Here
Speaker 2: it's this and this for this, this and this. Uh
Speaker 2: are you in? Yep? I'm in. I'm in. Okay, great,
Speaker 2: call it in. And so at two two and a
Speaker 2: half minutes, we both hang up the phone and our
Speaker 2: cap guy, Matt Harris, then has to call the league
Speaker 2: and repeat the trade terms of them. On Nick's end,
Speaker 2: their cap guy or whoever is handling trades for them
Speaker 2: has to call the has to call the league and
Speaker 2: turn their pick in or turn turn their the terms
Speaker 2: of the trade. We both have to say the exact
Speaker 2: same trade, so the league knows that nobody's trying to
Speaker 2: pull something here. And then so once that happens, the
Speaker 2: trade becomes official. And now Houston's got to take another
Speaker 2: step and call the player in this case, Will Anderson
Speaker 2: get him on the phone and make sure he's okay.
Speaker 2: And so all that happened, I would say, give or
Speaker 2: take in span a two two and a half minute.
Speaker 2: So it was it was, uh yeah, it was. It
Speaker 2: was intense. It was good. But again I I would
Speaker 2: have to go back and look at the tape. I don't.
Speaker 2: I don't think anybody in our room was panicking. I would,
Speaker 2: you know, football people always got to go back and
Speaker 2: look at the tape. Sorry, right, but I think, you know,
Speaker 2: I think again, I think we had a plan and
Speaker 2: the time was taken, and time was of the essence,
Speaker 2: and but you know we were able to finally get
Speaker 2: and push it across the goal line.
Speaker 1: First of all, it's fascinating and I think for the
Speaker 1: people that are listening to this that that gives them
Speaker 1: some inside knowledge as to what it's like. And there's
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff you said there that I didn't know.
Speaker 1: I didn't know that you have to actually get Will Anderson,
Speaker 1: the player that's going to get picked, on the phone
Speaker 1: to let him know exactly what's going on. Sure, I
Speaker 1: didn't know how that information was relayed to a guy. Hey,
Speaker 1: you're going to get picked, but the team that is
Speaker 1: picking at number three is no longer picking at number three.
Speaker 2: Correct. Yeah, And that's and and really we are ahead
Speaker 2: of we are what you guys are watching on TV.
Speaker 2: We're ahead of that. And so you know, maybe it
Speaker 2: was different for Will being in the green room, but
Speaker 2: for for most guys like they they they're sitting there
Speaker 2: watching on TV, and we were probably like two picks
Speaker 2: ahead of them. So we call somebody and tell him, hey,
Speaker 2: we're gonna you know, your name is gonna be coming
Speaker 2: across here. It's going to be in a few minutes.
Speaker 2: So there is a little bit of a lag.
Speaker 1: There was Paris Johnson always the guy, meaning if you
Speaker 1: had to pick him at three, would you have? And
Speaker 1: if so, you know him being the guy for you.
Speaker 1: When did you know? When did you guys make the decision, Hey,
Speaker 1: this is the guy we want.
Speaker 2: M Yeah, I mean I think we had. I think
Speaker 2: we had multiple options at various points. I mean, I
Speaker 2: think Paris was in the discussion, you know, wherever we
Speaker 2: were going to end up picking. You know, I think
Speaker 2: for me personally, we we did. We spent a lot
Speaker 2: of time with Paris, starting at the Combine with him.
Speaker 2: We had a formal interview with him there. He was
Speaker 2: a very impressive kid there. But really what solidified it
Speaker 2: for me is when he when Paris came in for
Speaker 2: his thirty visit and he got we had a chance
Speaker 2: to spend the entire day with him and just to
Speaker 2: see the type of kid that he was. And really
Speaker 2: those thirty visits have nothing to do with his ability
Speaker 2: on the field. It's all about the person and how
Speaker 2: he interacts and how smart is he and how mature
Speaker 2: and dependable is he. And so my meeting with Paris,
Speaker 2: my meeting with all the prospects is really at the
Speaker 2: end of the day, after we spent you know, kind
Speaker 2: of put them through the ringer and gone through things,
Speaker 2: and my meeting with Paris, with that was at the
Speaker 2: end of the day, and you know when by the
Speaker 2: time my meeting with him was done, he walked out
Speaker 2: and and I knew that that Paris was made up
Speaker 2: of the type of stuff that we would want to
Speaker 2: add to our program. And you know, you there's but
Speaker 2: there's a lot of people that you can say that about.
Speaker 2: And so sure, I hope that we would get a
Speaker 2: chance to add Paris, and you know, ultimately we did so,
Speaker 2: and we were happy with that.
Speaker 1: So you trade down and then you trade back up
Speaker 1: obviously to make the selection at six to get Paris.
Speaker 1: How did you know when to move back up? Did
Speaker 1: you know when you made the trade with Houston, Hey,
Speaker 1: we're going to move back up. Part of this, dear,
Speaker 1: is we're going to use what we just got or
Speaker 1: some of the other picks we had to move back up.
Speaker 1: And when did you pull that trigger?
Speaker 2: Yeah? That was that was definitely a part of any
Speaker 2: of our trade down discussions, is that we wanted any
Speaker 2: any trade where we were bouncing back or moving back,
Speaker 2: we wanted to have enough currency in that trade to
Speaker 2: claw back up but still come out net positive on
Speaker 2: the first trade. And so didn't know if we were
Speaker 2: going to be able to pull that off like that
Speaker 2: all sounds great, but you need you need the other
Speaker 2: side of the trade to work out as well. And
Speaker 2: so you know, as we were talking through the scenarios
Speaker 2: leading up to the week, we knew that, hey, if
Speaker 2: the further you jump back up, it's going to cost more.
Speaker 2: And so you know, so those were things that that
Speaker 2: we had considered. We were we were ready at We
Speaker 2: made several calls. As soon as we went back to
Speaker 2: number twelve, we immediately made it, started making calls at
Speaker 2: various levels, and you know, we had to wait for
Speaker 2: what the number, the number four pick to go went across,
Speaker 2: and so then we were making calls and finally we
Speaker 2: came to a team that was willing to or that
Speaker 2: was willing to take the deal that we were offering,
Speaker 2: and and then we just went ahead and made that move.
Speaker 1: Second round. You take bj Ojalai from LSU, who I
Speaker 1: did not have l s U this year, but had
Speaker 1: them two years ago. So a little familiar with him,
Speaker 1: familiar with his brother. What do you think he can be?
Speaker 1: I think there were some people. Look, you guys got
Speaker 1: praised by everybody in the media for the moves you made.
Speaker 1: There were some people I just remember the time seeing
Speaker 1: it that were a little surprised at the pick. What
Speaker 1: do you think BJ can be and why did you
Speaker 1: guys take him at that spot?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Sure, So you know, with BJ, we saw, you know,
Speaker 2: a player that has played at a high level in
Speaker 2: one of the best conference in the in the country,
Speaker 2: the SEC. We see a guy that has a good
Speaker 2: get off. He's he's fast off the edge, he can bend,
Speaker 2: he can he's got a good mix of speed to power,
Speaker 2: of quickness of counter moves, you know. And the thing
Speaker 2: that the thing that really impressed us about BJ is
Speaker 2: not only meeting with him at the combine, but then
Speaker 2: also you know BJ wears the number eighteen jersey at LSU,
Speaker 2: and the number eighteen jersey is a you know, it's
Speaker 2: a pretty big honor that they give out that the staff,
Speaker 2: the coaches there, they vote on and and really that's
Speaker 2: given to a player that exhibits the top program characteristics,
Speaker 2: not not necessarily the best player, but the best the
Speaker 2: guy that works hard, does things right, that goes about
Speaker 2: things the right way, and that that was really important
Speaker 2: to us. So, you know, not only BJ's ability on
Speaker 2: the field to rush the passer, to set the edge
Speaker 2: to do multiple things in our defense, but also the
Speaker 2: makeup of BJ was really attractive to us at that point.
Speaker 1: John Gains. You, guys, taking the fourth round, how important
Speaker 1: was it for you to really address the offensive line
Speaker 1: in this draft?
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think I think line of scrimmage players
Speaker 2: are always going to be important to us. You know,
Speaker 2: I think I think the game, the game starts up
Speaker 2: there on both sides of the ball, and you know,
Speaker 2: so I think I think that was definitely an area
Speaker 2: that that we wanted to address. You know, with John
Speaker 2: an interesting guy. You know, played played mainly guard at
Speaker 2: U C. L A, but also saw time at center.
Speaker 2: And then when when he went to the the All
Speaker 2: Star Game, he played at the East West All Star
Speaker 2: Game that was in Vegas, he he worked even more
Speaker 2: so at center. So, you know, those interior guys that
Speaker 2: that have that versatility to play multiple positions, that's always
Speaker 2: going to be intriguing. And then our ability to meet
Speaker 2: with him, our scouts to meet with him in Las Vegas,
Speaker 2: and then also for us to continue the process through
Speaker 2: the from the combine through the through the Zoom process.
Speaker 2: You know, Zoom has has allowed us to reach out
Speaker 2: and and just logistically be more efficient with our time.
Speaker 2: But John did an extremely good job with our coaches
Speaker 2: on the zoom. Just liked his makeup and his intellect
Speaker 2: and his ability to handle the hand, the center position,
Speaker 2: handle the guard position. You know. So that was attractive
Speaker 2: about Adam John to our group.
Speaker 1: So you look at the quarterback room. Look, no, nobody
Speaker 1: in the NFL is like Kyler. But you know, Colt
Speaker 1: and Kyler are pretty different. They're they're on different ends
Speaker 1: of the spectrum. Where where do you think Clayton Tune,
Speaker 1: who you guys took on the fifth round from Houston?
Speaker 1: Where does he fit there? What did you guys see
Speaker 1: in him that you think? You know, at some point
Speaker 1: if we had to play this kid, we think he
Speaker 1: could go in and win.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I mean, and we'll we'll see how that
Speaker 2: all shakes out. I mean, we got we got a
Speaker 2: long way to go here. We got to get Clayton
Speaker 2: here and and you know, get him, get him in
Speaker 2: doctrine to our offense and and get him in the group.
Speaker 2: But you know, with Clayton, we we did have an
Speaker 2: interesting perspective with him, you know, are he he was
Speaker 2: a participant down at the Senior Bowl this year and
Speaker 2: at the time, are who are our current quarterback coach? Now?
Speaker 2: Is he? Wolfwork was with Cleveland at the time, and
Speaker 2: he had a chance to coach down in the Senior
Speaker 2: Bowl and one of his Clayton, was on his team,
Speaker 2: so we had we had a positive impression. Is he is?
Speaker 2: He talked very highly of Clayton coming out of there,
Speaker 2: and you know, Clayton was a highly productive player. And
Speaker 2: you know, I think with a guy like Clayton, you know,
Speaker 2: he's put up good passing numbers and and he's obviously
Speaker 2: got a throwing talent, but it's he's also got good
Speaker 2: athleticism for a for a bigger quarterback. I mean, he
Speaker 2: ran well at the Combine. He ran for I want
Speaker 2: to say, over five hundred yards this year in Houston's offense.
Speaker 2: And so, you know, I think he does bring some
Speaker 2: versatility that he's not just a he's just not a
Speaker 2: pocket passer, that he can do some things outside the pocket,
Speaker 2: play extension, some r P RPO type stuff. So we're
Speaker 2: excited about adding him to our group and we'll see
Speaker 2: where that shakes out.
Speaker 1: Just a few more rapid fire, we'll get you out
Speaker 1: of here. I really appreciate the time money Kyler's recovered.
Speaker 1: You guys have a sense yet of when Kyler's going
Speaker 1: to be available to play?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean Kyler's here every day. Kyler's grinding, he's
Speaker 2: working hard, he's getting better, he's improving every day. You know,
Speaker 2: I don't I don't have a timeline. I don't have
Speaker 2: an update on that. You know, Kyler is We're We're
Speaker 2: going to put him out there when he's ready, and
Speaker 2: he'll He's doing everything he can now. He's in meetings,
Speaker 2: he's learned, he's trying to take in the new offense
Speaker 2: and doing what he can on that front. He just
Speaker 2: can't be out on the field right now and he's
Speaker 2: he's just physically not ready to do that. But when
Speaker 2: he I know, he's doing everything he can, and when
Speaker 2: he's ready, we'll get him out there and we're excited
Speaker 2: to get him back out there.
Speaker 1: This obviously is not the first time that you've been
Speaker 1: part of an organization where you've got veteran players that
Speaker 1: are unhappy. They either want to be traded or they
Speaker 1: want a contract extension, or you've got players like d
Speaker 1: Hop that have a huge cap number. I'm talking about
Speaker 1: Buddha and de Hop in particular, Now that you're in
Speaker 1: the chair and you're making the call, how have you
Speaker 1: managed those request slash situations?
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think the key to to to both
Speaker 2: those situations is communication. And both both d Hop and
Speaker 2: Buddha have been great with communicating with me back and
Speaker 2: forth with their you know, their representation. So I think
Speaker 2: you know understanding that that players have opinions and ideas
Speaker 2: and things that go through their head. Hey, that's that's
Speaker 2: human nature. We all have that that that happens for
Speaker 2: all of us. But I think just continuing to have
Speaker 2: those conversations and and keeping them informed and in our
Speaker 2: thought process and and the things that we have going
Speaker 2: on here. I mean, there's it's it's exciting here right now.
Speaker 2: There's a there's a good energy in the building. And
Speaker 2: and you know, I think the guys that are here
Speaker 2: that have been working are seeing that and seeing some
Speaker 2: of the things that we're doing and and some of
Speaker 2: the changes that we made. So so we're excited about that,
Speaker 2: and I think we're just going to continue to keep
Speaker 2: those lines of communication open, all right.
Speaker 1: Last one, Isaiah Simmons, you guys deciding not to pick
Speaker 1: up the option. What all went into that?
Speaker 2: Sure, Yeah, yeah, so you know, I think I think
Speaker 2: those are discussions. You know, I wouldn't read anything other.
Speaker 2: And then you know that that just probably wasn't the
Speaker 2: best decision for us to do right now. Just as
Speaker 2: as a team, you know, we're excited about working with
Speaker 2: Isaiah we and we think he's extremely talented and has
Speaker 2: a lot to offer versatility in our defense. But just
Speaker 2: right now, I think that that the decision to not
Speaker 2: pick up that option right now is just probably the
Speaker 2: best for the team right now.
Speaker 1: Hey, Man, I really appreciate this. I think if you're
Speaker 1: a Cardinal fan, you got a lot out of this
Speaker 1: and you get to know MANI. Awesome for it a
Speaker 1: little bit more so, appreciate you stupping by.
Speaker 2: Man, Dave. Thanks for the time, Appreciate it. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Terrific stuff for MANI. My biggest takeaway, and I'm hoping
Speaker 1: this is yours as well, is just how good of
Speaker 1: a guy MANI is very personable, professional, polite, and I
Speaker 1: think for you guys out there and for me as well,
Speaker 1: it's just great to get brought inside that draft room
Speaker 1: and what it's really like when the pressures on the
Speaker 1: clock is ticking, you've got to make a deal. And
Speaker 1: the relationships that these guys have with one another, it's
Speaker 1: a very tight knit community in the scouting world, and
Speaker 1: to be able to make deals with guys you know,
Speaker 1: is very helpful. And because there's honest conversations going on
Speaker 1: about players and draft picks that you can get and
Speaker 1: when you're in that fifteen minute time window and you've
Speaker 1: got to pull the trigger, just the kind of press
Speaker 1: that you're dealing with. And also the fact too, I
Speaker 1: thought was really interesting was that just like us, even
Speaker 1: Moni and the rest of the league wasn't sure exactly
Speaker 1: what Houston was going to do at number two, and
Speaker 1: then how that triggered so many different scenarios for the
Speaker 1: Cardinals and for other teams in the NFL. So great
Speaker 1: to catch up with Mani on a lot of things.
Speaker 1: Hope you really enjoyed that. One of the things we
Speaker 1: didn't get a chance to talk about is the new uniforms.
Speaker 1: And with all the excitement around the Cardinals surrounding the
Speaker 1: draft picks and all the trades, the uniform unveiled was
Speaker 1: recent and was obviously a big story. We're going to
Speaker 1: go behind the scenes with the latest Cardinals flight plan.
Speaker 1: It airs Thursday for the first time at noon on
Speaker 1: the Cardinals YouTube channel. You can go inside what happened
Speaker 1: on that night and also what went into the Cardinals
Speaker 1: making the decision to go with the new uniforms. Really
Speaker 1: good stuff. My favorite the all white. If I had
Speaker 1: to pick, I love them all, but the all white
Speaker 1: to me was was the coolest uniform the Cardinals I
Speaker 1: have ever had. I can't wait to see the Cardinals
Speaker 1: and bust those unis up. Maybe week one, depending on
Speaker 1: the schedule obviously that comes out May eleventh, we'll know
Speaker 1: for sure who the Cardinals are playing week one. We're
Speaker 1: presented by BETMGM, the official sports betting partner of the
Speaker 1: Arizona Cardinals in by Hila River Resorts and Casinos. You
Speaker 1: can follow us on Twitter at pashpod. You can also
Speaker 1: rate us tell us what you think by going to
Speaker 1: your podcast platform. Thanks to you for listening to another
Speaker 1: edition of the Day Pash Podcast, and thanks again to
Speaker 1: our guest, Arizona Cardinals General manager Manias and Forth.