WEBVTT - Happy Half Hour Episode 71: Baker Mayfield 0:00:01.200 --> 0:00:03.600 Winning a playoff game, period is a big deal. Winning 0:00:03.640 --> 0:00:07.000 playoff game in Cleveland or the Browns, who hadn't done 0:00:07.000 --> 0:00:09.160 that in a long time. That's a thing he did 0:00:09.480 --> 0:00:11.319 last year. When Sam comes in, there was a lot 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:13.400 of projecting of what it could be or what he 0:00:13.400 --> 0:00:16.160 could turn into in a different situation. This guy has 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:19.720 at least already done the thing. It's time for the 0:00:19.920 --> 0:00:24.640 Happy Half Hour with your friends. Kristen Balboni, Will Brian, 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:33.159 and Darren Gant. Welcome to an emergency edition of the 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:37.040 Happy Half Hour podcast. Christian Balboni here with the Panther's 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:40.800 incredible team of writers. Everyone knows Darren Gant. Everyone who 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:43.280 listens to this podcast or read Panthers dot com. You 0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:46.599 know Darren. He is here and Will is out this 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:54.480 week because he is getting married. But special assignment, that's right. 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:57.680 But in Will's place, we are introducing our newest writer. 0:00:57.840 --> 0:01:00.400 She's amazing, Augusta Stone. You may have already he read 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:02.160 some of her work on Panthers dot Com and I 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:06.600 know she's got great stuff coming everyone's way. Augusta, how's 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:09.679 it going going great? Kristin, thanks so much for having me. 0:01:09.760 --> 0:01:11.960 This is so exciting. I was I was telling before 0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:14.040 we hit record. This is my first time in front 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:17.360 of a microphone since the pandemic stuff. So I'm getting 0:01:17.440 --> 0:01:21.160 the real podcast feel right now. It's not just on Zoom. 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:23.200 It's kind of chill, so I like it. I'm excited, 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:26.160 very excited. Well, it's the perfect time to do it 0:01:26.200 --> 0:01:30.240 because we have big breaking news. Will is getting married 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:33.840 now I'm just kidding. Baker Mayfield is now a Panther. 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:36.760 So we all had to get together. And speaking of Zoom, 0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:38.680 I am at home. I plan to be at home 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:42.920 watching my little one today. Darren is just recovering UM 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:46.080 from COVID and is back in the swing of things UM, 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:48.280 and we had to all get together in whatever way 0:01:48.320 --> 0:01:52.400 we could to talk about this Baker breaking news. So, Darren, 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:55.960 without further ado, you are the man that knows everything. 0:01:56.040 --> 0:02:00.160 You've been following this and following this, so tell us more. 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:03.000 Baker Mayfield is now a Panther. He was he was 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:05.240 traded for what seems like a very good deal for 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:07.800 the Panthers. What what can you tell us of? Yeah, 0:02:07.960 --> 0:02:10.360 and and and that's one of the things that I 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:12.679 think now that this thing settled in for a few 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:15.400 hours and we've kind of absorbed it a little bit. 0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:17.360 One of the things to me that is the biggest 0:02:17.360 --> 0:02:22.200 deal about this trade is didn't cost nothing. I mean, 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:24.400 he Baker took a pay cut to come here. The 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:26.960 Browns are paying part of the fright. The Panthers are 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:29.920 on the hook for this and five million dollars worth 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:32.519 of the salary, and only gave up a conditional fifth 0:02:32.600 --> 0:02:37.160 round pick in twenty four, not twenty five. So while 0:02:37.280 --> 0:02:39.880 there's been criticism in the past if deals they've made 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:41.960 or this or that or cost too much or this 0:02:42.000 --> 0:02:45.840 amount of money, this one's basically a free shot at 0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:48.520 a guy who is a quarterback who has one a 0:02:48.600 --> 0:02:50.840 game in the playoffs, and if you can get one 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:54.440 of those for no cost, you might as well give 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:56.160 it a shot. That was one of the things I 0:02:56.200 --> 0:02:59.960 was talking to Jake Delome, who has a little knowledge 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:04.080 about quarterback competitions in Cleveland and the Carolina Panthers, and 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:06.760 Jake was like him, for the price, you can't you 0:03:06.840 --> 0:03:09.480 gotta do it. I mean, that's just the bottom line. 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:13.200 And while this is going to be a competitive situation 0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:15.520 and Sam is going to have a chance to hang 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:19.400 onto this job that he's the incumbent at Uh, they 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:21.800 are going to go to camp and they're going to compete. 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:25.200 And when you've added a guy, if Baker Mayfield goes 0:03:25.240 --> 0:03:29.000 back to being twenty Baker Mayfield, I think the reasonable 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:32.400 expectation is he's inevitably going to be the guy. But 0:03:32.600 --> 0:03:36.120 it's not free and it's not being given. So I 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:42.000 think considering you're really buying low, uh, coming off the injury, 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:44.560 and Cleveland didn't need him anymore, and they were worried 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:48.560 about it being a toxic situation up there because he 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:50.880 he wanted to get out and they didn't know how 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:53.480 that was gonna work when people go to training camp 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:56.200 without knowing that other thing that's going on up there. 0:03:56.680 --> 0:04:01.040 And so it was an opportunity for Carolina Panthers to 0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:03.760 really buy low and add somebody to the room who's 0:04:03.800 --> 0:04:05.800 got a lot of talent and can do a lot 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:08.360 of things. And so it's going to be a fascinating 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:11.960 um training camp this year, no question about that. Yeah, 0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:14.440 it sure is. So right now, there there are four 0:04:14.520 --> 0:04:17.400 quarterbacks that the Panthers are carrying. We'll go down the 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:21.400 training camp will actually five. Don't forget David's cheek from Ellen. 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:26.120 That's right, that's right. My apologies. David's five. So we 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:28.120 go down a training camp and that is a couple 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:30.200 of things that I wanted to to just talk about 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:33.160 off the bat. Is that it will be a quarterback competition, 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:35.480 which you got. I mean, I think it makes all 0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:38.600 the sense in the world right to go down. Why 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:41.840 why would you not have a quarterback competition? Right? And 0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:45.000 and you might as well. I mean, there's no you know, 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:48.480 the whole point of this was stabilizing the room, and 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:51.440 that's what I wrote about yesterday on the website. Kind 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:54.320 of the the why of this trade is you had 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:57.479 done so much other work to stabilize every other area 0:04:57.520 --> 0:04:59.920 of the offense. They knew they needed to shore a 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:01.840 coaching staff. They go out and hire a bunch of 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:04.760 veteran assistance. They knew they needed to fix offensive line. 0:05:05.080 --> 0:05:08.640 They signed starters and drafted Ikya kuanu Uh. They did 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:11.480 all this other stuff in the off season, including extending 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:15.359 d J. Moore, But making the quarterback room better makes 0:05:15.360 --> 0:05:18.320 all that stuff matter a little bit more. So now 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:20.760 you go to training camp and we see what these 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:23.640 guys can do, and and we don't know, we don't 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:25.320 know what it's gonna be like. We don't know what 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:28.719 Baker's physical status is gonna be. How healthy is we assume, 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:31.159 you know, based on the physical he's gonna take later 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:34.960 this afternoon if he passes that, and everything's cordin to plan, 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:37.400 and then he'll go into training camp ready to go. 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:40.920 But we're dealing with a lot of unknowns from that standpoint. 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:45.440 So it's while Baker Mayfield is good and Baker Mayfield 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:49.279 has some credentials, it's not like they trade for Aaron Rodgers. 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:52.000 It's not like, oh my god, this automatic, so go 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:55.040 to camp, let him compete and listen, Baker's got a 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:57.520 vested interest in this deal too, kind of like Sam. 0:05:57.560 --> 0:05:59.600 He's got one year left on a contract and then 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:02.799 he's said to be a free agent. So it's worth 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:05.720 it to Baker Mayfield to bring his best game to 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:08.120 the Carolina Panthers. Well exactly. And it's kind of like 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:09.839 you mentioned in your story as well, all of the 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:13.920 pieces around him. He's not going into a bad situation necessarily, 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:16.960 and is it an unknown situation partially. I mean there's 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:19.679 a lot of pieces, especially with the reworked offensive line. 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:22.919 But I think it's good that he's going into a 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:25.120 situation where there are pieces in front of him. I 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:27.479 think D J. Moore is a huge piece. Christian McCaffrey. 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:29.400 I think he works well with a good running back. 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:32.039 I think that's something that's very good for Baker. I 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:34.560 think the way he plays, I think that's a good 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:36.920 chance for him. Like you said, it's an opportunity for him. 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:39.200 And I think when you have the pieces around him, 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:43.560 he's he's stepping into a situation that could in theory, 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:45.400 it could be way worse than I think when you 0:06:45.480 --> 0:06:48.040 have that piece. Of course, it's a bunch of unknowns, 0:06:48.080 --> 0:06:50.800 but there's just an element of that where there's a 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:52.719 reason for optimism. And like you said, I think it 0:06:52.800 --> 0:06:54.760 was a good choice for Baker. I think it makes sense. 0:06:54.760 --> 0:06:56.479 I mean, he wanted out, but I don't think the 0:06:56.480 --> 0:06:58.919 Panthers are necessarily one of those last ditch you know, 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:01.880 I wanted out. It's honestly, the way it's written in 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:04.920 the stars, it's not that bad. It's it's pretty solid. 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:07.880 I think, yeah, it could definitely be worse. And I've 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:10.520 kind of laughed over the last twenty four hours watching 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:14.560 the national reaction UH to this trade, and and part 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:16.800 of one of the things people say about Baker as 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:20.760 if it's a slur, is Baker Mayfield's a league average quarterback? 0:07:21.280 --> 0:07:24.280 A really long time since Carolina Panthers have had league 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:27.920 average quarterback play. Nothing wrong with the league average quarter 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:30.720 And if you're in, if you're among the fifteen to 0:07:30.920 --> 0:07:34.800 seventeen best quarterbacks in the NFL, that's okay. Uh, that's 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:37.880 pretty good. And honestly since t J Wytt cam Newton 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:41.360 in the shoulder, Uh, we haven't seen that level of 0:07:41.400 --> 0:07:43.920 play around here in a long time. So I think 0:07:43.960 --> 0:07:47.560 it's good. You know, it's good to add to the mix. 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:49.440 And that's what they wanted to do. That's what they 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:52.320 did at so many other positions. Now they did at quarterback. Yeah, 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:54.000 and as you said, it was in your article you 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:57.000 touched on it, and as Augusta said, there's they've improved 0:07:57.360 --> 0:07:59.480 where they have said they were going to improve. And 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:02.080 you know the offensive line, which is what you mentioned 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:04.480 that in great detail in your article. In addition to 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:08.520 everyone that Augusta just talked about, if if if Baker 0:08:08.560 --> 0:08:10.960 Mayfield wants a shot, if Sam Donald wants a shot, 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:13.720 the pieces are in place, like Augustus said, in order 0:08:13.760 --> 0:08:16.560 to to go out there and give it all you 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:18.920 can and and try to put together a great season 0:08:19.040 --> 0:08:21.760 for the Panthers and for themselves. I think to another 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:26.440 thing about the Baker situation is, you know, I think 0:08:27.480 --> 0:08:31.200 one it was the non shoulder throwing shoulder injury, wasn't 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:33.560 necessarily a great year for Baker. But I think we're 0:08:33.679 --> 0:08:36.120 kind of sometimes, like you said, with like the national 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:39.679 things I've seen, it's short term memory lossy wasn't bad 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:43.079 for Baker. His first year wasn't bad. So it's it's 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:45.320 almost like a back and forth sort of pendulum. We've 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:49.439 seen ten you know, decent, really good Rickie debut twenty nineteen, 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:53.200 a little bit down, broken offense. Good year for Baker. 0:08:54.000 --> 0:08:57.280 One he was you know, dealing with the mechanics issues 0:08:57.320 --> 0:08:59.000 with the with the broke, with the with the shoulder, 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:02.280 with the arm non non throwing shoulder injury, which was good. 0:09:02.280 --> 0:09:06.000 But it's like I think it's a solid you know, 0:09:06.600 --> 0:09:10.080 you can go in with Baker in a competition optimistically, 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:13.320 because it has almost been this up and down sort 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:16.319 of flow of the ocean almost kind of thing with him, 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:18.560 where you know, I think saying, oh he had a 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:23.800 bad one, you know, he's average, you know, bow value 0:09:24.080 --> 0:09:27.559 mid whatever I've seen all over. I think it's almost 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:31.400 like having this this short term memory thing where it's 0:09:31.559 --> 0:09:34.959 it's Baker wasn't that bad two years ago? Right, you know? Seven? 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:38.080 And again seventeen months ago, there was a lot of 0:09:38.120 --> 0:09:41.120 projecting going on when the Panthers traded for Sam Donald, 0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:42.959 there was a lot of well, he hadn't been in 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:46.560 a good situation. And frankly, Sam came here and Christian 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:49.240 McCaffrey gets hurt and end up firing an offensive coordinator 0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:51.640 in the middle of the season and starting fourteen combinations 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:54.760 aliment in seventeen games. Wasn't a good situation for Sam 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:58.839 last year here either, Uh, either Sam or Baker is 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:02.280 walking into a better place than they then Sam walked 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:05.320 into a year ago. And also, I mean, let's be honest, 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:09.320 what the baseline is higher on Baker Mayfield. Baker has 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:12.840 has one a playoff game. That's a pretty big deal, 0:10:12.960 --> 0:10:15.600 and and people are going to keep going back to that. 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:18.400 But winning a playoff game, period is a big deal. 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:22.439 Winning playoff game in Cleveland for the Browns, who hadn't 0:10:22.480 --> 0:10:24.760 done that in a long time. That's a thing he 0:10:24.800 --> 0:10:29.120 did that's still pretty good. So I think while last 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:30.840 year when Sam comes in, there was a lot of 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:33.079 projecting of what it could be or what he could 0:10:33.120 --> 0:10:35.920 turn into in a different situation. This guy has at 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:39.400 least already done the thing. Yes, yes, if he could 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:43.199 get back to that, then Panthers would be in pretty 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:46.000 good shape. So I want to ask you guys about 0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:49.480 what you're hearing about Baker Darren. You mentioned that he 0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:52.559 is going through a physical later today. We are recording 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:57.440 this Thursday, right around noon. Um that aside, I know 0:10:57.480 --> 0:11:00.280 you'd like to you poke around, you call, you talk 0:11:00.360 --> 0:11:03.719 to people. UM, what have you heard about where he 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:06.440 is physically or have you heard anything. I have not 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:09.520 heard any indication that would suggest he's not going to 0:11:09.600 --> 0:11:12.000 be ready for training camp. That being said, I I 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:14.400 don't know that the physicals necessarily a lay up. I mean, 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:16.520 they do want to look at that left shoulder. They 0:11:16.559 --> 0:11:19.160 do want to know what's going on in there and 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:23.000 how ready this guy is. So everything is pending. Physical 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:25.959 deals not done, deals agreed to, you know, all those 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:29.160 kind of things. And and my understanding is he's flying 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:33.640 into Charlotte, UM later today, he will take a physical 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:35.840 and then immediately leave. So it's not like he's gonna 0:11:35.840 --> 0:11:38.400 be hanging around town. This is also the dead time 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:40.760 of year when he can't do stuff. One of the 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:44.959 things I did yesterday, uh afternoon, right after we got 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:48.120 the news out, I made a lap through the football 0:11:48.200 --> 0:11:50.280 side of the building on the second floor here and 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:54.880 Bank of America Stadium, and there was literally no one 0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:58.400 on the side of the building where coaches and scouts 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:01.120 and personnel people all see it. It was just a 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:03.600 ghost town because those guys are all out on vacation. 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:06.400 Half of them are in other countries or out with 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:09.400 their family or doing different stuff. Scott was on the road, 0:12:09.480 --> 0:12:12.400 so um, and we should just clarify for anyone who 0:12:12.440 --> 0:12:14.839 doesn't know. Even me working in sports wouldn't know this 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:17.800 off the top of my head. This is a designated 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:22.000 time these up until training camp, where the players leave 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:25.960 the building, the coaches leaked the building. Almost every NFL team, 0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:28.360 the coaching staff, front office are are out of the 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:30.199 building at this time because it is a very small 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:33.360 window where people get to take breaks. So that is 0:12:33.440 --> 0:12:35.480 not saying that they weren't in the building and could 0:12:35.520 --> 0:12:37.319 have been or anything like that. They probably have these 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:40.040 vacations planned out. But six of my year in advance 0:12:40.080 --> 0:12:43.240 six months in advance. I think Augustine College. Don't they 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:45.600 call at the dead period when you can't recruit. That's 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:48.720 effectively what's going on right now. So there is a 0:12:48.800 --> 0:12:50.920 ceiling on what they can do. I think they can 0:12:50.960 --> 0:12:54.240 send him a playbook. But it's not like he's doing 0:12:54.679 --> 0:12:57.520 eight hours worth of zoom calls every day with Ben 0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:00.199 Macadoo or anything, because as far as I know been 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:02.560 Macadoo could be sitting on a beach with his feet 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:05.600 in the sand enjoying a coal one right now. I mean, 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:08.720 so it's not like there's a lot he can do 0:13:08.840 --> 0:13:11.320 until he gets on the ground in Spartanburg. Well, it's 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:14.360 one of those things too. I've been thinking about it myself. 0:13:14.679 --> 0:13:17.679 How much is he coming in, you know, starting up 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:19.480 right at training camp? Is he coming in with any 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:22.880 sort of uh, I guess behind on anything right? And then, 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:25.880 um so I'll admit I got here toward the Tale 0:13:25.880 --> 0:13:27.160 and of O T. A. S. And I saw the 0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:28.720 three days of Mini Camp and that was kind of 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:31.560 my start. But I did see Mini Camp and something 0:13:31.760 --> 0:13:35.559 that um I found interesting where that's weren't really participating, 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:37.400 you know, that was like what Rule said, it was 0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:38.840 one of those things that they were doing where they 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:40.400 were letting them rest, you know, kind of seeing where 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:43.400 their depth was before they headed into training camp. Um. 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:46.640 Obviously it would have been more ideal for Baker and 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:48.960 for you know, getting to know Bien Macadoo system and 0:13:49.000 --> 0:13:52.440 everything to have been here, but at least from what 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:54.000 I've seen. Again, like I said, I was here for 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:56.480 four practice days when I started my job, so I'm 0:13:56.480 --> 0:13:59.200 also very fresh. But I think it's one of those 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:02.760 things where he's not He's not coming like is the 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:05.720 dead period. I think a lot of the quarterbacks are 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:08.400 still getting a grasp of what's going on right now. 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:10.640 Matt Corral was very open about that when he met 0:14:10.679 --> 0:14:13.120 with the media about how he was, you know, still learning. 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:16.280 I think Sam Donald's still learning. Everyone's still learning, so 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:19.960 that learning atmosphere sets him up for a more even 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:22.760 competition than like even though he wasn't here through even 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:25.080 though he wasn't here through many camps. It's one thing 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:28.200 if he would have arrived in April and had all 0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:30.080 of O. T A s to work through this thing. 0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:33.400 But this thing has been lingering for a while and 0:14:33.440 --> 0:14:36.320 it could have happened practically at any time. So that 0:14:36.480 --> 0:14:40.360 I think the difference between happening on July six versus 0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:45.880 happening on June is probably pretty negligible. Yeah, completely agree, 0:14:46.560 --> 0:14:49.720 And I want to touch on that Darren, that this 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:51.440 has kind of been out in the ether, But before 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:53.600 we do, I just want to follow up on on 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:56.400 what Augusta was saying. And Darren, you have been to 0:14:56.720 --> 0:15:00.760 how many training camps Ballpark? All of them, all of them, 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:05.480 all of the training cants. You're the perfect You're the 0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:08.040 perfect person to ask about this, and I think it's 0:15:08.040 --> 0:15:10.040 something for it that that fans would want to know, 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:12.680 and certainly I want to know. Um it will of 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:16.680 course day one will be a big deal with Baker, Mayfield, 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:18.840 Tim Donald competing. Day two will be a big thing, 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:21.120 but we can already see what it's gonna look like 0:15:21.160 --> 0:15:24.080 and how everyone will cover it. Will all be looking 0:15:24.120 --> 0:15:26.680 for the tiniest things. The national media will be doing 0:15:26.840 --> 0:15:31.000 the same new offensive coordinator as Augusta was just talking about, 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:32.600 he said a little bit longer with some of the 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:35.360 other guys, Baker's coming in. What do you want to 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:38.280 see from these guys, and that let's say that first 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:42.280 week down in Spartanburg, if you're Ben Macundo. What's realistic 0:15:42.320 --> 0:15:45.400 and what might be overblown? Yeah, I I think what's 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:49.640 going to be overblown at first, obviously is snap counts. 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:52.440 It's gonna be oh my god, Sam. Sam took the 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:54.880 first snap and he's out there with Taylor Molten and 0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:57.800 Pat elf Line and Austin Corbett and the you know 0:15:57.880 --> 0:15:59.880 and all that kind of stuff. That's gonna be a thing. 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:04.400 And Okay, Sam got seven seven, seven snaps with the ones, 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:07.320 and then Baker came in and got six snaps with 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:09.520 the two. Yeah, that's gonna be our life for a 0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:12.320 couple of days in July for sure, and probably the 0:16:12.480 --> 0:16:15.480 entire training camp. But uh, you know, I I think 0:16:15.480 --> 0:16:18.760 it will. Early on, it's just gonna be learning the language. 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:21.960 Baker's going to have that book, He's going to know 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:23.680 what things are called, but he's gonna have to go 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:26.280 into a huddle and call umn with people he's meeting 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:29.240 on the fly. So I think it's going to be 0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:32.040 interesting to see how much he's actually doing early on, 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:35.440 and how much he's able to do exactly, and what 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:38.320 the progression looks like as we go through the practices 0:16:38.320 --> 0:16:42.480 down in Spartanburg up to joint practices, Um, do you 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:45.080 think that they'll come out of the let's say, by 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:47.200 the joint practices of New England, that will have a 0:16:47.280 --> 0:16:50.480 sense of of who this might be, which way they're leaning. 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:57.479 I know there's no way you can answer that. Competitive situations, Yeah, 0:16:57.560 --> 0:17:00.800 I think you'd like to have an idea sooner rather 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:04.560 than later. But again, I think the fact that this 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:08.359 is all the first insult and all these guys who 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:10.160 have been around for O. T A s have gone 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:14.520 through this book three times now and Baker has gone 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:18.280 through at zero times now, So I think that's going 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:21.119 to buy them time to make a decision. I imagine 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:24.439 it would drag on for most of the UM, for 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:31.040 most of the preseason leading up to the Pompompomp opener 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:37.720 against le Brons. The NFL scheduling crew is is truly visionary, 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:40.600 that's for sure, Um. But but I want to talk about, 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:43.520 as you said, this has kind of been out there 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:47.240 in in the ether a little bit, UM, what has 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:50.280 that been like for the both of you? And how 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:53.159 surprised were you, Darren, that it happened yesterday and that 0:17:53.280 --> 0:17:58.120 happened at all? I am not surprised that it happened 0:17:58.160 --> 0:18:01.240 at all. Uh, it was always a bit of a 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:05.159 surprise whenever it happens. But I was a boy scout 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:07.120 when I was a kid, and be prepared as kind 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:10.720 of part of my life. So, uh, you should see 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:14.080 some of the stories that I have written that I 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:17.239 have not been published. Um now, I mean this has 0:18:17.280 --> 0:18:20.600 been kind of percolating really since the draft weekend, and 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:23.080 it was pretty known that during the second round of 0:18:23.080 --> 0:18:26.120 the draft they were talking to Cleveland and the hang 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:28.760 up then was compensation. It was how much of the 0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:30.840 contract are you gonna pay? How much of the contract 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:33.240 are you gonna pay? What are we getting in return? 0:18:33.359 --> 0:18:36.760 What's going back the other direction? And so that never 0:18:36.840 --> 0:18:39.960 got worked out. So that's just kind of on me. 0:18:40.040 --> 0:18:43.240 I mean, listen, I've been around here for a minute 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:46.919 and and know that quarterback transitions are part of the 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:49.600 deal here and until they find the quarterback, they're gonna 0:18:49.680 --> 0:18:51.760 keep looking. So I've got a file with a lot 0:18:51.800 --> 0:18:56.639 of available quarterbacks. Um, you know, different things prepped and 0:18:56.640 --> 0:18:59.720 ready in case. But it's like, you know, it's a 0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:02.040 whole lot of premp as much as you can and 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:03.920 then be ready for the phone to ring and say, 0:19:03.920 --> 0:19:07.800 all right, this is coming this afternoon, so it's you 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:11.960 never really know. But I I was genuinely afraid because 0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:19.080 I am pretty obsessive about preparation and pretty obsessive about 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:22.360 stalking my pantry with enough groceries to get me through 0:19:22.400 --> 0:19:27.560 a snowstorm even in July. But which my wife hates 0:19:27.640 --> 0:19:30.439 because some people call it clutter. I don't know. I 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:34.840 mean to me, it's preparedness. But UM, yeah, I was 0:19:34.880 --> 0:19:37.520 afraid I had scared poor Gusta all phone or first day, 0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:39.880 I honestly did. That's what I was going to say. 0:19:39.920 --> 0:19:42.120 My very first day here, early June. I I don't 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:43.600 remember the date, and I should I should have it, 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:45.400 you know, committed in my heart to memory. I think 0:19:45.400 --> 0:19:47.440 it may have been June eight. I'm not sure. Um, 0:19:47.440 --> 0:19:50.160 but one of those very early June days, I walk 0:19:50.200 --> 0:19:52.080 in and I'll never forget Darren telling me the day 0:19:52.080 --> 0:19:53.480 before my first day, you know, telling me how to 0:19:53.480 --> 0:19:55.560 get to the building and everything, and then he goes, 0:19:55.760 --> 0:19:58.800 you may be walking into a fire. And I mean 0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:02.200 I felt like until yesterday, every day, you know, it's 0:20:02.240 --> 0:20:04.959 all it could happen. Maybe I don't know, maybe, um 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:08.040 maybe not. But um, like you said, with the preparedness 0:20:08.040 --> 0:20:09.959 side of it. I mean I've known about it, you know, 0:20:10.119 --> 0:20:13.159 being a possibility since i started, which again not that 0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:15.480 long ago. But it's it's fun to be able, I 0:20:15.520 --> 0:20:17.520 will say to kind of have I know, like the 0:20:17.600 --> 0:20:19.320 burst out. You know, it's like when you shake up 0:20:19.320 --> 0:20:21.280 a can of cola and then you let it go 0:20:21.359 --> 0:20:22.840