Speaker 1: A Omar. Thanks Max, Thanks for taking some time. We
Speaker 1: appreciated sitting down here. Obviously, the annual meetings busy time.
Speaker 1: Just kind of want to set the stage right. We're
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks into free agency, a couple weeks
Speaker 1: away from the draft. You guys have been busy this
Speaker 1: time of year, and of course one of those most
Speaker 1: notable moves the acquisition of DK Metcalf and the trade.
Speaker 1: Just kind of talk to me about how that all
Speaker 1: transpired and what all went down with that.
Speaker 2: Sure, you know, as is customary, you know amongst the gms,
Speaker 2: we have conversations leading into the off season getting a
Speaker 2: feel for, you know, where people might have some access
Speaker 2: or if you're looking to trade someone or kind of
Speaker 2: get understanding what their needs are, see if there's something
Speaker 2: we have that could work. And it just sort of
Speaker 2: worked out. You know, we talked to Seattle and we
Speaker 2: felt like we made a good offer and I came
Speaker 2: together relatively quickly. You know, we got a deal done
Speaker 2: and you can't say enough about how excited we are
Speaker 2: to have him.
Speaker 1: In your position, obviously, you're responsible for building the roster,
Speaker 1: and so when you look at a guy like a DK,
Speaker 1: what are you hoping he can bring to the team
Speaker 1: and add to the offense.
Speaker 2: I talked to the combine about how important it was
Speaker 2: first to add some playmakers, and that's what he is
Speaker 2: in our mind, you know, I think he's going to
Speaker 2: be a great asset to our offense and the city
Speaker 2: and the organization, and I'm excited about what's to come.
Speaker 1: A lot of movement at the quarterback position for the Steelers.
Speaker 1: Three guys from last year not there there. There are
Speaker 1: new clubs now, but you also bring in a Mason
Speaker 1: Rudolph and also a Skyler. Thompson, coach said yesterday Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers came in. You all had a great conversation, a
Speaker 1: great visit with him. He kind of give us an
Speaker 1: update on the status of that position.
Speaker 2: Sure, you know, right now we have two guys under
Speaker 2: contract Max as you know, and as you mentioned, ideally,
Speaker 2: you know, we go to camp with four at least
Speaker 2: four quarterbacks on the roster. So right now, all options
Speaker 2: are on the table, you know, whether it's filling those
Speaker 2: those needs, whether by with free agents or via trade
Speaker 2: or obviously of the draft that's coming up in a
Speaker 2: few weeks. And we spend a lot of time on
Speaker 2: all three phases of that, and I've viewed his time
Speaker 2: as a friend not necessarily as something negative. So you know,
Speaker 2: we'll we got time to figure it out. We feel
Speaker 2: good about our process, right.
Speaker 1: Also why I want to shift our attention to the
Speaker 1: defense side of the ball because there were some major
Speaker 1: acquisitions as well. Darius Slay. Yeah, I mean coming off
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl season, a guy who brings a lot
Speaker 1: of man experience to that corner position. Can you just
Speaker 1: kind of talk about what it was to go and
Speaker 1: identify and then bring in a guy like Darius Slay.
Speaker 2: Sure, he was available. Obviously he's a world champion. That's
Speaker 2: where we're seeking to be too, So love that about him.
Speaker 2: He's very talented. I think his career speaks for itself.
Speaker 2: Our interaction has been great with him so far, and
Speaker 2: I'm excited about what he's gonna do for that defensive
Speaker 2: back room.
Speaker 1: No, absolutely, And I think also another guy Wan thorn Hill, right,
Speaker 1: I mean focusing on that secondary brings a lot of
Speaker 1: starting safety experience and you were able to get him
Speaker 1: that second week of free agency. Just kind of talk
Speaker 1: about what made him him one of those ideal guys
Speaker 1: in candidates that you wanted to bring in as well.
Speaker 2: I don't want to necessarily say we had and needed
Speaker 2: the position, but he was out there and we felt
Speaker 2: good about adding him. You know, he's got great experience. Again,
Speaker 2: it's been a part of some good teams and that
Speaker 2: was important to us and experience, and he's been a
Speaker 2: part of a couple of different defenses. And obviously we
Speaker 2: know him from being in Cleveland, and you know, we've
Speaker 2: seen him when he was at Kansas City and we
Speaker 2: did a lot of homework on him leading up to
Speaker 2: the draft.
Speaker 1: So as a GM, you're responsible for kind of getting
Speaker 1: everything ready for the start of free agency, and then
Speaker 1: there's like that wave of releases like we saw it
Speaker 1: right before the start of free agency. You know, how
Speaker 1: hard is that for you and your staff when you're
Speaker 1: looking through and getting ready for that, Like you have
Speaker 1: a plan about who's the noted guys, but then you
Speaker 1: see these releases. How hard is that to kind of
Speaker 1: transition and move through that effectively.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, hopefully when when all that starts to happen,
Speaker 2: we have a pretty good idea of what's to come.
Speaker 2: Cole Mark who does a great job of projecting things
Speaker 2: for us, and he works very close with the PRO
Speaker 2: department when that's when we're leading up to that time.
Speaker 2: I'm just fortunate to have those good people around me.
Speaker 2: They've kind of given me an idea of what's to come,
Speaker 2: and so far over the last couple of years have
Speaker 2: been pretty accurate and give me some good information.
Speaker 1: Now, as I know, the entire college recruiting staff, they
Speaker 1: do a tremendous job going out there. Sato and all
Speaker 1: those guys just kind of talk to me about, like,
Speaker 1: you know, PRO Day's the one on one visits, Just
Speaker 1: what does it mean to spend that extra time with
Speaker 1: these college kids as they're getting ready for this process,
Speaker 1: and what kind of stuff do you and the entire
Speaker 1: staff kind of get from those experiences.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know what, for us, that's really important trying
Speaker 2: to identify the right players for us to write people
Speaker 2: for us. You know, Coach Dommon and I have been
Speaker 2: on the road a bunch of the last few weeks
Speaker 2: and been at some really good schools to see some
Speaker 2: great players and really met some great, great young men
Speaker 2: that could help us. Having that one on one time
Speaker 2: with the guys and really getting to know them. It's
Speaker 2: hard to put a value on that, and you know,
Speaker 2: we're fortunately that we get out there and spend some
Speaker 2: time with these guys, and it's not done. You know,
Speaker 2: we still have thirty visits. We have thirty visits that
Speaker 2: are coming. We have the opportunity to do zooms with
Speaker 2: players which we plan to take advance. Uh, but it's
Speaker 2: part of the process and it's uh, you know, it's
Speaker 2: it's really important, but you know we're working hard trying
Speaker 2: to get it right.
Speaker 1: Omar just kind of one of one of my last questions.
Speaker 1: You know, how free agency has gone thus far and
Speaker 1: how you've kind of hit that. How does that change
Speaker 1: the targets that you guys look at for the draft
Speaker 1: based on what's available in the free agency pools you
Speaker 1: get nearer to draft day.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Max, I'll just say, you know, are our goal
Speaker 2: is always to put ourselves in a position where we
Speaker 2: don't have to take a guy, uh a specific position,
Speaker 2: and I feel like we've added some key pieces to
Speaker 2: what we're trying to accomplish. And uh, this draft is
Speaker 2: you know, there's some really good players in this draft
Speaker 2: that can help us at various positions. And you know,
Speaker 2: we've been working hard at trying to make sure we
Speaker 2: set our board right and there's more more worth to come.
Speaker 2: This is the next was it? Three or four weeks
Speaker 2: are going to be really important, but we're right in
Speaker 2: the middle of it and feel good about it.