Los Angeles Rams general manager Les Snead talks about building through the draft, on-field success of this year’s rookie class, how he feels about holding the 26th pick in this year's NFL Draft, future of specific players on the team, and more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, riche hand and Chad will be going yes
before I open. The only thing I'm going to open
with is this look end of the day. Very fulfilling.
The season journey, all things.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Considered, just ended a couple of weeks too short, so
that's definitely painful. Number two, our head coach is almost
forty today, so he's still a year away from hitting
the forty mark. But happy birthday, Sean someone. You know what,
I'll congratulate Liam Cohen. I think he's a head coach,
(00:35):
he's an alumni here. And isn't it cool to Pete
Carroll's back in the league. And what an AFC West
you got coach Red coach Peyton coach Carroll, coach Harball.
I mean, that's a mount rushmore So, even though football
season is not over yet, some of the let's call
it the the byelines, whatever we're gonna call it for
(01:00):
the upcoming season or starting to come the fruition. I
guess you had any questions, no questions. It was good, Adam,
Let's go ahead. Yeah, unless I'm just curious.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
You know you touched on it, But just overall, what
was your assessment of kind of how this young team
came together and kind of blended with some of the
veteran elements to make the run that it did.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
You know, that was the fulfilling part. If we go
way back, Aaron Donald retiring, coach Shule getting his first
shot being a defensive coordinator, going through the draft, that
bunch being one of the younger bunches, a lot of
those core players on their rookie contracts, you know, they
(01:53):
kind of see them jail uh and then and then
you were thinking going into it that you would rely
on a veteran offense. But to see that that group
go through adversity in terms of attrition early on, right
with with the different kind of key veterans, whether you
know whether it was Hookah even is he a veteran
(02:15):
or not, but had become a core player, Cooper Higbee
coming back, not back yet, Rob Havnstein some of the
So it was just to see that part and then
to dig a hole and then to dig out of it.
And then there was times when we dug out of
the hole where we got to five hundred and we
(02:35):
went back under five hundred. I called it like golf.
It was like, okay, we finally got to Even then
bogie the next hole finally got back to even bogie
the next hole go on the run. Add the adversity
that's way bigger than football. You know that Southern California's
still going through, you know, to host a playoff game
(02:56):
and a division rivals stadium and then to have success there.
So with that being said, that's the fulfilling part of
the journey. Again when you when you look, you know,
when it ends and another team has more points than you. Uh.
And and the way that game ended, right, you had
a chance to get close there to maybe have a
point more than them. That's a that's a painful one.
(03:19):
I was mentioned as someone who's not into football recently.
They're like, what's it like? And I said, you know what,
there's a there's an element of a physical pain that
just it is like you're central, nervous, whatever you're you're
going through it, and it's like it's Monday. It's Tuesday,
and you're like, wow, there's a physical pain here. Then
(03:39):
that dissipates and you wake up and you're like, man,
that achees not there, that's me. But then there's gonna
be some moments during the day. Uh, this is that
time of year where I'm having trouble with power at home,
and when we lose power, there's no Wi Fi. So
the neat thing is I don't get to all of
a sudden walk by the television and there's you know,
(03:59):
there's they're talking about the teams that are playing this week,
and there's that moment where all of a sudden, your
brain starts thinking about what could have been and there's
kind of that pain again. So that's the stage is
a grief because it is it is a long journey,
and it always ends too soon, especially when you're playing
quality football. You're not necessarily banged up, you're playing some
(04:19):
of your best football at the end. There's been seasons
where you kind of limp in and maybe it's not
as painful based on the situation that you're in. But
that's the short answer to why this season was fulfilling.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
You spent the last two years building the team through
the draft and being more selective with veteran additions. I
know part of that was just kind of the cap
restraints that you were under after twenty one and twenty two,
But do you feel like you're still in that stage
of team building of trying to build through the draft,
or at what point would you feel more comfortable being
(05:00):
aggressive in adding veteran talent to the roster as you
have in the past.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
A good question, because I think I always call it
efficacy probably to let's call it go to part two
of your question. You need to know that kind of
who you are and if who you are can actually
have a good chance of right having one more point
(05:24):
than the opponent on any given Sunday, to kind of
really get into let's go into that mode. I do
think I think I do think adding players through the
draft maybe not as much building, but it's it's an
addition that's definitely definitely helpful, impactful, uh, and and then
being you know, selective with your veterans in a nice mix.
(05:44):
The neat thing about the over the last two years
is there is is this core group and and I'm
not just gonna say the last two years, but let's
call it some years. And there's this there's this core
group of players that maybe you're still on their rookie
contracts and in that phase of their career where you
can kind of see that bunch right kind of leading
(06:07):
the Rams into the next iteration. Even though we still
have some players. I mean, the one of the better
moments of the season you want to talk about fulfilling
moment was was at New York when Tyler Higbee made
the catch in the touchdown. But Tyler Higsby somebody that
we drafted right when we got back here in sixteen.
(06:28):
So he's one of those type players, right that's been
a part of the core. But a year ago he
goes down in that playoff game and then he goes
I mean the grueling moments, and I've had stories told
of him working through it and probably him really really
(06:49):
grinding right just to get back to be apart, not
just as an individual, but to be a part of
the collective. But the really really he's always been a
glue guy. And I know they, I know the content
team probably showed a lot of celebration in the locker
room that day, but probably after they turned off the
cameras to see as you to see. I can vividly
(07:14):
remember a Kobe Turner, I can remember Jared Verse, I
can remember Fisk, those guys going, I mean still celebrating
with Higgs and Kobe was there with him master, but
Jared Fifth. Some of the rookies this year they hadn't
even really practiced with Higgs and they just watching that moment,
(07:37):
you realize, Okay, that's that's a glue that's a glue
guy coming to life. However we define a glue guy,
and he's definitely the epitome of that.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
In the past, you've referred to Matthew Stafford and Cooper
cup as weight bearing walls for this organization. Matthew said
he needed to think about his future. Cooper expressed some
uncertainty whether he was in the team's future plans. Do
you still view Matthew and Cooper as weight bearing walls
(08:10):
for this organization.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
They've been, They've definitely been weight bearing walls, So I
know where you're going with that kind of what's next
for them. And again, I think with each player especially,
and it's not just them. You can go to the players,
the Higgs and those are going to be the players
right that have been here a while. You know, they're
still on con they're still in their contract with us,
(08:32):
and usually it's a question about do you want to
keep playing football? Similar with Aaron Donald went through all
the contract structures that you go through, and we'll we'll
continue our philosophy here I know Sean mentioned it. We're
going to decompress. We're going to somehow try to get
through this weekend because it'll be painful watching at least
(08:54):
in the NFC two other teams buy for that conference
championship instead of US earned it. Uh, even though they
earned it, I probably won't watch it. Uh. And then
what we'll try to do is really really really get
rejuvenated and come in because now you've got to start
putting the puzzle together again. Usually, usually the way this
(09:15):
thing goes, there's a subset of players that are on
their rookie contracts. Those are those are pretty much easier players. Right,
they're they're gonna be here, and we'll begin figuring out,
you know, uh ideally how they start the season, and
then we'll compete for how they contribute. There will be
a few of those players that we'll talk about right
that you could you could extend early. There's a subset
(09:38):
of players that our contracts are expiring and we'll have
to work through that. And there's that subset of players
you know that we'll talk about that are on the
back nine of their career and you know, how many
more years are they going to play? NFL football, and
you know how many more years will will work together
as a ram and that that's the that's always the puzzle, ah,
(09:59):
that we have to put together. We haven't done that yet.
We'll figure it out. I can say that, you know,
if you're speaking to Cooper Matthew, I mean it.
Speaker 4 (10:10):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
I don't even know if I could put into words
what they've meant to this organization. I think I probably
have a picture behind me somewhere where it's Cooper Cup
catching a ball at so Far on the last weekend
of the NFL season, a ball thrown by Matthew Stafford
(10:31):
that you know what changed the course of this franchise.
And there's a there's a banner hanging in that stadium
that you know, only one team gets a year. And
I'll say that that What can I say about that?
That moment, That moment's in a lot of memories and
a lot of pictures. That's what they mean to us.
(10:53):
Thank you, Stu.
Speaker 5 (10:57):
He was just when you look at not only Jared
and and Braden's season specifically, but just the production you
got out of this roocky class as a whole. What
do you remember about kind of the vision you had
for those guys in the group collectively, and how did
that meet or exceed expectations based on what you saw
them put together this year.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
I always like to say, you'd like to say it
doesn't exceed expectations. But the neat thing is we can
have a vision. It's always it's neat. On draft day,
that's that moment where I always call a lot of
little kids who are now getting closer to be and
grown men. Dreams come true and that's cool celebration, but
(11:39):
then all of a sudden, you know that dream becomes
their reality. And then you get to this ecosystem and
it's a competitive one. There's an element of always say
stress and drudgery, even though it's very fulfilling, there's a
lot of stress and judgery to come to right the
high of the high and earn a role, earn trust
(12:04):
of your teammates, of your coaches, and a lot of
these players this year in this class. I know we'll
talk about a few that you know that are you know,
kind of up for Rookie of the Year, defense and
things like that, but a lot of those players came
in and not only realize their dream on that draft day,
(12:26):
or a little bit after that draft in what we
call college free agency. But the neat thing is to
see young men go through that element of stress and
drudgery because of the responsibility that it is to be
an NFL player to get a jersey on game day
(12:46):
and to have people like Matthew Stafford, Cooper Cupp, Rob
Haddinston Tyler Higbee trust you rely on you, right that
that's to have a when you get to the end
and all of a sudden, the game of football is
a little bit more than the game, and there's an
(13:07):
element of a city watching you and to have that
responsibility to go out and perform, and in that moment
in that first round playoff game, that's to see to
see I call it a a little kid realizes dream
and then all of a sudden become a pro. That's uh.
(13:28):
That'll get your teary eyed as a human because it's
not easy. It's not Madden. It's not You're gotta Madden
score and you just plug people in and they they
play football on a on a I mean to get
to be that whatever you want to call it, cartoon character,
oh Madden, there is a lot of human h effort perseverance,
(13:53):
grit that goes into getting that rating and performing on
that computer.
Speaker 5 (13:59):
And then your schedule to pick twenty six in the
first round. But obviously there's a little bit gap between
there and the third round with what you guys gave
up to move up to get Rad and Fisk in
last year's draft. Are you comfortable at twenty six overall
or are you giving any thoughts potentially moving back to
maybe close that gap and get more picks.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
To be honest with you, I was hoping more for
a little bit later. Twenty six kind of a gut
punch right now. But yes, that's a and I want
to make sure y'all can hear me. I was. I
kind of got your question, but I got a message
at my poor voice quality. That could be because I'm
(14:37):
still a little horse from a cold. Could be the
computer making sure y'all can hear me. Yeah, we'll figure
out the draft. Twenty six is is an interesting place
to be. Do you move up? Do you do you
move back? Do you stay and pick? That one's a
hard one to we try to guess relatively good. I
know it was neat yesterday, Jake, Timmy, who's it? Kind
(15:01):
of heads up. Our analytics is built a little bit,
continue to refine a model and where you can predict
players to actually go. But twenty six is a hard one, uh,
and it's always a lot of options there.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
Appreciate it. Thanks.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
We're still trying to rejuvenate. We're still trying to figure
out how I get through this weekend and we're moving
back all right. Yeah, hey less bid Dary.
Speaker 6 (15:37):
Hey, we were talking to Sean about this yesterday in
regard to Stafford if he doesn't if he decides to
continue to play, and it sounded like he still thought
he had football in him if he doesn't retire, Can
you say definitively that he's going to be playing for
the Rams next year?
Speaker 2 (15:56):
You know what, I think We're like, I think I
mentioned it earlier. We're going to get through our rejuvenation period.
Circle back to that. I know. The new thing is
Matthews are under contract with us, and I know we
went through a little bit of that last year with him.
He still has years with us, so he's still a Ram.
(16:17):
Uh and we'll I know this, we'll sit down with
all parties to work through that portion of it to
uh when we get to that. But at this point
in time, we're gonna take this rejuvenal. But that's something
that's gonna be a big Lion item. I think Sean
mentioned is you don't want those type issues, you know,
(16:37):
dragging out throughout the offseason and kind of being a
theme going into the season.
Speaker 6 (16:43):
You you know, during your career, especially since you guys
got to LA, have not been averse to taking big swings.
The trade to bring Stafford here, you know with golf
was a big one, and you guys did that. You
you didn't wait that long to rejuvenate. You made that
move pretty quickly.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Number one.
Speaker 6 (17:04):
Do you could you see a scenario where you would
trade Stafford? And if you did, do you think that's
something that you guys would try to do quickly as
opposed to dragging it out.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Yeah, it's interesting on that one. I think Matthew probably
disturbed our rejuvenation period because I think we did play
in the division around that year and and then maybe
a week later is when he when he when it
leaked that hey, he would like to be trading the Lions.
We're thinking of trading. So we had to get back
to work a little bit quicker than we wanted to.
(17:37):
But I haven't on trades garantee it. That's one thing too.
It'll take someone calling or us reaching out we want
to do. That's the things that will be determined down
the road. Here.
Speaker 6 (17:53):
In terms of Cooper with his contract, if he does
not Number one, would you are you going to ask
him to restructure that? And if he doesn't restructure or
will you trade him?
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Don't know the question. I mean, I can't answer either
one of those. And if I did, I wouldn't we
hadn't talked to him first, wouldn't do it here? But Cooper,
all the all of these players right that are at
the end macro level. We're talking about a subset of players,
not just Matthew and Cooper right that are coming to
the end of their career, their contracts. They still have
(18:28):
contracts and rams. Do you keep going forward with that
same contract?
Speaker 4 (18:33):
Do you.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Right restructure in some way? For many reasons those are
those are all issues we really got to sit down
and and talk through. Haven't done it yet.
Speaker 6 (18:47):
And then finally for me, in terms of Jonah Jackson,
you guys signed him to a pretty significant deal. He
did have injuries, but given the way his contract is structured,
do you anticipate that he will be on the roster
next season.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
And I sat down a little bit with Jonah before
we left Great I want to get I think I
want to say this on Jonah is that I really
appreciate him right all that he went what a pro
And I think what ended up. The interesting thing with
that is he's a really good football player. And with
(19:27):
all the injuries and stuff, and we finally got back rolling,
you know, for him to go play center or even
move Steve back to center. We were in the middle
of the season and we had finally gotten a continuity
and we were finally winning. And it was going to
be very, very hard because both of those players, even
though they did some center their and OTAs, had really
(19:49):
not done center during camp. They were both injured and
it was going to be hard to practice your way
back into a routine. So we elected to stay with
the continuity. So I really appreciate Jonah on how he
handled I mean, a starting level player. There's a lot
of teams that would, you know, love to have Jonah
(20:10):
Jackson at guard. So we'll work through that. I know
that I've called it a conundrum, uh, based on some
unforeseen injuries and circumstances and then how hard it is
to to kind of get continuity at center. So elaborate
on him, because that that was a very I mean,
I call it we I mean, he put the team
(20:32):
first in terms of just showing up, going to work
and being a really good scout teamer, played the last
game and and even you know, began working into some
some reps as a jumbo tight end. But I do
know this, Gary, it's take contract out of it. It's
it's hard in this league to move on from quality
offensive lineman. Did you think about our year this year
(20:54):
when all of a sudden, you know, after Week two,
you're you're bringing in three new people that don't even
know you system. So all those things again, put them
in the off season, will have a macro plan, macro cap,
macro budget, and and try to you know, let's call
it engineer a team that kind of moves, keeps the
(21:18):
momentum going from this one, even though next year is
gonna be a totally different year. And all these questions, right,
we all know it. Every every team's different, every team's uh,
there's gonna be new faces, there's gonna be some faces
that aren't here anymore. So every single team in the NFL,
(21:40):
it's different every single year. And to earn the momentum
that we had at the end of the year, that
does not just carry over, it disappears. There's a lot
of months. There's a lot of months between July and
January that it takes to earn that momentum. And there's
gonna be a lot of months between now and July
(22:01):
where all that millenium is lost. Hey, the ability right
of this quarter game, that momentum is there, but still
once you roll into July into August, you got to
earn all of that back.
Speaker 4 (22:17):
Thanks very much, Aria.
Speaker 7 (22:23):
Good morning, Less.
Speaker 8 (22:24):
How are you.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
I'm good? How about you?
Speaker 7 (22:27):
Pretty good? When you talk about the rejuvenation period, do
you make it a point to talk to the players
now when the ending is abrupt like it was, or
do you wait for that period and then individually talk
to them.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
I think we wait. I know. I mean, it's it's interesting.
When you play at Philly you get back. I don't know.
I think I went to sleep at three am that night,
you're back in the next morning round nine am. You know,
there's a there's a file, there's a disappointment. Know, there's
there's a lot of goodbyes, so there's some quick chats.
(23:04):
But it's interesting to a lot of the players, a
lot of the even some of the questions you'll are answering, right,
it's you can't really answer them. Uh. But for the
most part, it's it's, hey, let's it's been a long year,
let's get away, let's recalibrate, let's come back fresh, and
uh and again and and that way, even with with
(23:24):
questions that to be able to answer a question with clarity,
you need clarity and that that will take time.
Speaker 5 (23:32):
You know.
Speaker 7 (23:32):
Also, Sean talked throughout the season about the young group
being so mature for their age. Do you think a
lot of that comes from the coaches, from being around veterans?
What elevated their maturity?
Speaker 9 (23:46):
Do you think?
Speaker 2 (23:48):
I think it starts with trying to identify players with
that maturity. There's a there's an intent there. Then you
bring them to, if you want to use that word,
a mature ecosystem. You know, that's that's alive and well
in this building with teammates and coaches and not just coaches,
athletic performance and things like that. And then I think
(24:10):
all that calm compounds and and even in the process
if you there is an element where you go up,
maybe we'll we'll, we'll identify, try to acquire someone who's
not quite there yet. You're then betting on that them
to get in the ecosystem and kind of go okay, uh,
there's an element where the ecosystem right elevates. Let's call
(24:34):
it a humans standard like Okay, this might have been
what I'm used to, but oh here it's there. I
better jump And it kind of pulls you that way
when you do that. So I think it's a combination
of all those things that the the culture is living
at all times. And and you I always say, we
(24:55):
talk about a lot. You want a competent culture, and
there's times where, like like humans, it could get a
common cold, it could it could get sick at times
and take on a little water. But it is always moving,
is always living, and you're always you're always navigating that
as as Sean will say, hey, we like it where
(25:16):
hey everyone comes in they're a pro. And so all
the amount of energy that you spend in this building
is trying to right dominate your specific role in some
way of elevating rams football. And the more you get
to let's call it that mature, conscientious professional where all
(25:37):
the energy is spent toward ah, right, trying to engineer
a collective, competent football team, and not on other things.
We like to think that it compounds into net positive
results along the way. Thank you, sir.
Speaker 10 (25:58):
Hey LUs, do you anticipate working to sign Kyroen to
an extension this offseason?
Speaker 2 (26:05):
You know, I think that's something that's going to be
on the plate. So those are you know, the interesting
thing on the from a macro level, Usually sometimes it
is tougher to sign someone who's not in let's call
it their final year. It's it's three years and got
a a next year. And the only reason is that
(26:27):
usually could be a difference in in numbers, but a
lot of times there's no real deadline, so it can
drag on. But I know it's he would be someone
right that after three years you could begin discussing, ah,
let's call it renegotiating starting a new because I do
think Karen's someone who is a ram and you know,
(26:51):
has a very impactful role for us.
Speaker 10 (26:54):
How does drafting Blake last year play into the decision
whether to keep Kiren or not?
Speaker 2 (26:59):
I think I think we would probably take the philosophy
that you're going to need more than one running back,
so that we'll always try to keep a keep that
room somewhat healthy in terms of depth. And even with Kyard,
there's a chance that he's had two great years, but
(27:21):
there is a how many there is a possibility right
where hey, he needs a partner to take some load
off of him. He's probably played more than any running
back over the last two years. So that's something to
think about.
Speaker 10 (27:37):
So when you have two very good draft classes in
a row, how does that affect maybe the money, even
though it's not time to pay those guys yet, how
does that affect the mindset maybe free agency this offseason,
thinking about the fact that you might have to start
getting into those extension conversations next year. In the year after, Yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Think we have those whoen sit down with Tony past Stores,
Matthew Share and his group, and you start modeling the
future and kind of what it looks like, so that
that always comes into play. I would say probably eighty percent,
maybe even more than eighty percent, but a good portion
of the percentage you'll be you'll really be thinking about
(28:21):
to twenty five with always the caveat of if you
do this this this is kind of how it affects
twenty six in twenty seven. So or really, I think
the neat thing for us going through what we did
when we recalibrated to get back to a more healthy,
(28:43):
let's call it capta cash type ecosystem in terms of
cap it does allow for flexibility and freedom moving forward
and not get yourself where where all of a sudden,
there's definitely some that's call it debits, come and do
that really terms of dead monies and things like that,
where it really does hinder what you can do.
Speaker 10 (29:05):
Yeah, why.
Speaker 9 (29:09):
He lash, As you've been kind of rebuilding this defensive line,
how do you balance getting players who will you know,
fit together schematically within that unit and guys who you
know will mesh and want to play for each other.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Preferably you would you would not settle, you would, right,
if you don't have one or the other, or if
you don't have both, maybe let them go to another ecosystem.
So that's that's the discipline part of it. If you
can you can find both like that, Whatever our key
(29:50):
variables are, we like to say, look, if they don't
meet those key variables, it's okay to them to go
somewhere else base done. It's a better fit for all
right person and situation to not be in our situation.
Speaker 9 (30:08):
And uh, what about Brandon and Jared fit both of
those criteria for you guys when you're looking at them
in this past year's draft.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
They might they might epitomize that in terms of and
it's interesting you could you can get to know them.
You can talk to people who right got to know them.
You can talk to people who were part of their
evolution from first grade through Florida State. But I mean
(30:39):
the easy part with those two. You can you could
turn on the any any game against Florida State and
and those two are probably jumping off the tape, take
mom Dad got given physical qualities out of it. There's
an element of like, wow, it seems like those two
care a little more than a lot of other people
(31:00):
in the field, based on right, the energy, the urgency,
the tenacity they're playing with. And then there could have
been someone on that field, whether it was an opponent
or teammate at Florida State, that cared just as much
as him, and you add in, you add in their
physical abilities, and it just Okay, it elevates them. So
(31:25):
one of the ones we talked about in replacing Aaron Donald,
he was one that was elite and elite and all
of a sudden it just came to fruition. Right. He
was blessed with a lot and then he cared a lot,
and boy did that come to fruition. On Thursday nights, Sundays,
Sunday nights, Monday nights, maybe a few saturdays in the NFL,
(31:50):
Thank you, Jordan.
Speaker 11 (31:55):
Hey Less. Sean mentioned that you guys will meet as
a leaderleadership group to discuss the futures of players like
Matthew Stafford, Cooper cup Tyler, Rob Havenstein. Who composes that
group in your in your organization.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
You know, I'm not sure. I'm not a part of
that club. I hadn't been invited yet, just kidding, you
know what that I think I'm usually the leadership group.
It's probably myself, Kevin, him and Tony. But I do
know this. We're a very collaborative group. So we'll bring
in We'll bring in our you know, personnelble group, We'll
(32:34):
bring in our athletic performance group. Uh, we'll bring in
coaching staff. So there will be a lot of people.
I'm pretty sure when you mentioned leadership group that was
Kevin Sean, Tony myself.
Speaker 11 (32:53):
And then you brought up the athletic in Sports Performance
group as well. But so much of some of the
team building you guys have done in the past has
tried to figure out when to move before you know
it's it's maybe physically too late for the player. How
(33:14):
has that process evolved for you guys in terms of
deciding which players to keep and which players to part
ways with.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
I'd like to think it is. That's always a very
very hard one to navigate, and there's many variables to
that because there's even this year, you you could see
the blend of let's call it the court that we've
gotten and known, the veteran group there in the back nine,
and the career and how it how it does blend
(33:47):
with the youth and and somehow comes to magic. So
that's always one that you got to work through and
and and and begain and again again there's a lot
of communication involved in terms of roles, and you know,
it take roles in how you practice and and if
(34:09):
you're going to take a player that's a little bit
you know older in the back now in the career,
how do you how do you make sure you from
OTAs to the last game of the season practice and
not practice so that there you know, they can get
through eighteen. There's so many variables that get into that, guess.
(34:30):
But at the end of the day, I think if
a if a player is still passionate about playing football,
still passionate about being a ram, still again wanting to be,
you know, a part of something special that that usually
is a net positive when it's all said and done.
So many variables that get into that this season because
it I mean, even if we get to eighteen games,
(34:54):
at some point it does seem even when the seventeen
games it is, it is a long along it adventure
and I'm not sure all of us have evolved enough.
You have to figure out how to right start and
start no tas and get to January and February to
be the best we can be.
Speaker 11 (35:15):
Slight pivot. But in the last two seasons, you guys
have drafted really well, and in twenty three I think
the plug and play like cheaper veterans when you did
not have money to spend were one of the stories
of the season as well with the success rate on
those guys. But when you guys have had money to
spend on higher cost free agent acquisitions, First of all,
(35:38):
how would you assess those acquisitions the higher cost players
over the I guess in twenty twenty two and twenty
twenty four when you did have some money to spend.
And I'll wait for part two of the question.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
Wow, you might have to you know, I hadn't really
looked at that. I don't have the list in front
of me. Side, it's hard to assess them. Probably right here,
I think with and I do know this with probably
get a macro level with any free agency, especially if
(36:12):
you call it higher costs, I think again, and as
it more than likely should be, there's an element of
if you bring a player in and you're paying him
post on your team, there's a higher expectation and sometimes
it's hard to live up to that expectation. Or the
new thing is is in how they they blend together
(36:35):
or blend in with the collective, and then how does
your collective perform in the end. How much does that
help your collective to be more competent or not? It's
interesting we could The one I'm thinking about right now
is is Joonah Jackson. We paid him seventeen million this
year to not play a lot and a lot of
(36:56):
it wasn't his faults. He was starting until he was injured,
and at a philosophical level, the way he went about
his business not playing it might have weighed more than
him playing, because you that's a that's a guy who
(37:18):
was starting for another team, came here and really really
enjoyed it here, was not playing, went to scout team
and played scout team. Well, uh, without complaining that that's
got away something It might not have been. It might
(37:39):
not have been a good duo block, it might not
have been a catch for a first down. But boy,
that's that's noted. And I mean that's in today's time. You,
I mean in college football, he'd probably go into the
portal halfway through the season. Not Jonah Jackson, because that's
just who he is. But I use as an example,
(38:01):
like you could on an next sale spreadsheet and say
played this many downs, got paid. That not necessarily an
a signing, but when you blend it into the the
collective and then kind of the all the things that
go into a collective that aren't just right stats that
(38:24):
help you become compident. I mean it'll be in rushing
how much that acquisition actually truly weighed in this fulfilling journey.
Speaker 11 (38:33):
And then just the second part of that question, do
you guys plan or do you as a as a
GM plan to revisit elements of your pro personnel and
free agency process this offseason to see, you know, if
there's anything that needs changing or that you want to change.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
I think we always do after action reviews and try
to evolve, regress and now look at the successes, look
at the uh not you know whatever, if you don't
call it less successes uh and then see if there's anything,
if there's anything we could do differently in that. That's
(39:15):
always a free agency bringing bringing another person into another
situation is always again it's it's not mad in football.
So a lot of times even too, with free agents
and families, that's a that's a move. It's not a
young kid just moving to another city and getting another
town home. It's schools involved. There's there's so many elements
(39:38):
that get involved into those moves that oft the time
when you look back on is smooth as ah. Then
let's call it. They might be in Madden, but you
see what I can't say it's a it's a very
important part of you know, let's call it the the
acquisition game theory of our of our league. So uh,
we always want to try to get better at that
(40:00):
or be as good as that as we possibly can.
Speaker 11 (40:04):
Thanks less.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Last time we got to beat you. Hey, lest I mean,
I've been for whatever reason, you've been right there on
my screen. It seems like you've been raising your hand
for about an hour now.
Speaker 4 (40:19):
I apologize for being right on your.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
Stone, you know, but I like the the now. For
some reason, you're talking and you've disappeared from my screen.
I've got Gary, Jordan's, Sarah, Adam, and Stu. I don't
know where you went, Greg, I can hear you. That's
all that came, okay?
Speaker 4 (40:39):
Cool?
Speaker 8 (40:40):
Sarah mentioned Kyron as somebody who could be eligible for
an extension. You've also got two fairly key defensive players
in that draft class who could conceivably get an extension
in Quenton and Kobe. I don't think you've extended defensive
draft picks since a d H. Is there any any
any benefit to having continuity on the defensive side that
you haven't had over the years, I mean, or is
(41:00):
that just the way that the NFL works, and that's
just just how it's going to be in terms of like,
that's how the economics work of drafting guys, paying them
and then and then moving on.
Speaker 2 (41:08):
You know, that's part of the ecosystem. Uh, But yeah, Dan,
But also part of the ecosystem. Some of the better
defenses in league is having an element of continuity and
core players. We went through a time there, especially the
way we had engineered it, where when you had Aaron
and Jalen and some highly paid players, uh that were
(41:32):
still under contract and taking a good chunk of right
cap and cash where it was an element. There's some
players that left that we would have probably in a
more in and if we were to engineered it differently,
would have tried to resign and keep. So it all
depriends on where you're at. But I do think, yes,
(41:54):
the the answer would be at some point here getting
some let's call it a new or different edition of
core players that are going to be around longer than
just four years and keep carrying the torch. You can't
do them all. But what I do know is you
(42:15):
probably can't keep just restarting every year either. That's probably
very hard to do too. So that's a lot of
the puzzle, you know, that that we're gonna have to
sit down and talk about because we we've gone through
the There was a simpler time when oh, these these
five whatever six players are are are getting paid well,
(42:38):
some of the highly paid positions in our team. And
then it was like, we can't extend anyone, right, you
either got to be on a rookie contract, vet men
or one of those guys. And then it was this,
I'm going to keep calling it remodel. Y'all keep saying
our rebuild. I'll go back to our remodel rebuild debate.
But now we're going to get to that stage where, oh,
we don't have the Aaron's and Jalen's right, who you
(43:02):
know some of the how are pay players at the position?
And and how do you begin spreading uh, you know,
let's call it those contracts to other players. So that's
a little bit what we gotta rejuvenate and began thinking
about time time. These two years seem like they've flown
and now we're at this stage.
Speaker 4 (43:22):
Yeah, last one.
Speaker 8 (43:24):
It seems like every off season with the Rams, the
main story is will somebody come back? Next year, Will
Sean McVay decided to coach next year, Will Aaron Donald retire,
Will Matthew Stafford decide to play for the Rams? All
that kind of stuff. You're the Ye're the architect this
whole thing. You're going into your fourteenth year in charge
of the Rams. You're like the fourth longest tenured GM
who doesn't own his team or something like that. How
are you doing and why?
Speaker 4 (43:45):
You know what?
Speaker 8 (43:46):
What's what's your feeling after such a tumultuous year with
you know, all the setback, all the all the you know,
physical you know stuff in terms of the fires and everything.
Speaker 4 (43:55):
How are you doing? How's your energy?
Speaker 10 (43:56):
Man?
Speaker 2 (43:57):
The energy is great. I there's an there's an element
at this stage in the career where you can there
is perspective. There, there is a I'm trying to get
the right word of probably honored, fortunate to be Like
you said, fourteen years in, I can't tell you this.
I turned fifty four.
Speaker 12 (44:21):
On the Sunday that the Eagles beat us, And there's
many times at age fifty four I go and that
that I can say, I take loss is way too hard.
But the neat thing I'm only gonna say that as
I've gotten to fifty four, I now have this outline
(44:41):
in my phone on notes on.
Speaker 2 (44:43):
What I need to get to pretty quickly right to
get over that loss. It's neat that it still hurts.
I think if a loss didn't hurt, I probably wouldn't
do it. Then I'd start thinking, wait a minute, do
I am I just doing this to do it? But
I do know that at the the neat thing about
being somewhat I just called it finally getting mature, is
(45:04):
you can be intentional about Okay, that energy is definitely
not negative. How do I get back to, let's call
it a more reasonable rational perspective and then try to
you know, provide that within the building as a leader.
So but I do know this to be fourteen years
(45:25):
in that that's an honor. That's a lot of luck,
that's a lot of teammates helping you get to this point.
So there's this, there's this, I mean, well, to have
this opportunity and responsibility, I mean, I was one of
those kids one time. Obviously, I don't think I was
ever good enough to truly dream about being an NFL player,
(45:47):
but there was an element of dreaming about, you know,
having a career in football. So I'm still getting to
live that dream. So I'm but I can be it.
I'm looking forward to the next few weeks to be
intentional about rejuvenating and putting the phone on airplane mode
(46:08):
a good bit and then so I can so we
can come back fresh and restart this thing right on.
Speaker 4 (46:15):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (46:18):
Let's we appreciate you, sir. Hey, thanks, enjoyed it, see
y'all and sometime soon had a blast. The neat thing
is I didn't get to see y'all as much during
the It's positive for me during practice because my office
has a window, so I can you can look at
it this way. Oh, the media is still there. I'm
(46:40):
not going out there, or it was more. It was more,
Oh they're still doing stretching in this or that, and
I'll wait till they do team they begin the team stuff,
and then I'll go to practice. I'll let y'all determine
which one it was. But I can't say this. Going
back to the last question, it is it is neat
(47:03):
to get to know each one of y'all. Appreciate your
passion for covering the rams, the sport, doing your part
in the ecosystem to make this rite bigger than a game,
So I can't wait to see y'all again here soon. Hey,
(47:24):
let's see y'all
All right, riche hand and Chad will be going yes
before I open. The only thing I'm going to open
with is this look end of the day. Very fulfilling.
The season journey, all things.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Considered, just ended a couple of weeks too short, so
that's definitely painful. Number two, our head coach is almost
forty today, so he's still a year away from hitting
the forty mark. But happy birthday, Sean someone. You know what,
I'll congratulate Liam Cohen. I think he's a head coach,
(00:35):
he's an alumni here. And isn't it cool to Pete
Carroll's back in the league. And what an AFC West
you got coach Red coach Peyton coach Carroll, coach Harball.
I mean, that's a mount rushmore So, even though football
season is not over yet, some of the let's call
it the the byelines, whatever we're gonna call it for
(01:00):
the upcoming season or starting to come the fruition. I
guess you had any questions, no questions. It was good, Adam,
Let's go ahead. Yeah, unless I'm just curious.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
You know you touched on it, But just overall, what
was your assessment of kind of how this young team
came together and kind of blended with some of the
veteran elements to make the run that it did.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
You know, that was the fulfilling part. If we go
way back, Aaron Donald retiring, coach Shule getting his first
shot being a defensive coordinator, going through the draft, that
bunch being one of the younger bunches, a lot of
those core players on their rookie contracts, you know, they
(01:53):
kind of see them jail uh and then and then
you were thinking going into it that you would rely
on a veteran offense. But to see that that group
go through adversity in terms of attrition early on, right
with with the different kind of key veterans, whether you
know whether it was Hookah even is he a veteran
(02:15):
or not, but had become a core player, Cooper Higbee
coming back, not back yet, Rob Havnstein some of the
So it was just to see that part and then
to dig a hole and then to dig out of it.
And then there was times when we dug out of
the hole where we got to five hundred and we
(02:35):
went back under five hundred. I called it like golf.
It was like, okay, we finally got to Even then
bogie the next hole finally got back to even bogie
the next hole go on the run. Add the adversity
that's way bigger than football. You know that Southern California's
still going through, you know, to host a playoff game
(02:56):
and a division rivals stadium and then to have success there.
So with that being said, that's the fulfilling part of
the journey. Again when you when you look, you know,
when it ends and another team has more points than you. Uh.
And and the way that game ended, right, you had
a chance to get close there to maybe have a
point more than them. That's a that's a painful one.
(03:19):
I was mentioned as someone who's not into football recently.
They're like, what's it like? And I said, you know what,
there's a there's an element of a physical pain that
just it is like you're central, nervous, whatever you're you're
going through it, and it's like it's Monday. It's Tuesday,
and you're like, wow, there's a physical pain here. Then
(03:39):
that dissipates and you wake up and you're like, man,
that achees not there, that's me. But then there's gonna
be some moments during the day. Uh, this is that
time of year where I'm having trouble with power at home,
and when we lose power, there's no Wi Fi. So
the neat thing is I don't get to all of
a sudden walk by the television and there's you know,
(03:59):
there's they're talking about the teams that are playing this week,
and there's that moment where all of a sudden, your
brain starts thinking about what could have been and there's
kind of that pain again. So that's the stage is
a grief because it is it is a long journey,
and it always ends too soon, especially when you're playing
quality football. You're not necessarily banged up, you're playing some
(04:19):
of your best football at the end. There's been seasons
where you kind of limp in and maybe it's not
as painful based on the situation that you're in. But
that's the short answer to why this season was fulfilling.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
You spent the last two years building the team through
the draft and being more selective with veteran additions. I
know part of that was just kind of the cap
restraints that you were under after twenty one and twenty two,
But do you feel like you're still in that stage
of team building of trying to build through the draft,
or at what point would you feel more comfortable being
(05:00):
aggressive in adding veteran talent to the roster as you
have in the past.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
A good question, because I think I always call it
efficacy probably to let's call it go to part two
of your question. You need to know that kind of
who you are and if who you are can actually
have a good chance of right having one more point
(05:24):
than the opponent on any given Sunday, to kind of
really get into let's go into that mode. I do
think I think I do think adding players through the
draft maybe not as much building, but it's it's an
addition that's definitely definitely helpful, impactful, uh, and and then
being you know, selective with your veterans in a nice mix.
(05:44):
The neat thing about the over the last two years
is there is is this core group and and I'm
not just gonna say the last two years, but let's
call it some years. And there's this there's this core
group of players that maybe you're still on their rookie
contracts and in that phase of their career where you
can kind of see that bunch right kind of leading
(06:07):
the Rams into the next iteration. Even though we still
have some players. I mean, the one of the better
moments of the season you want to talk about fulfilling
moment was was at New York when Tyler Higbee made
the catch in the touchdown. But Tyler Higsby somebody that
we drafted right when we got back here in sixteen.
(06:28):
So he's one of those type players, right that's been
a part of the core. But a year ago he
goes down in that playoff game and then he goes
I mean the grueling moments, and I've had stories told
of him working through it and probably him really really
(06:49):
grinding right just to get back to be apart, not
just as an individual, but to be a part of
the collective. But the really really he's always been a
glue guy. And I know they, I know the content
team probably showed a lot of celebration in the locker
room that day, but probably after they turned off the
cameras to see as you to see. I can vividly
(07:14):
remember a Kobe Turner, I can remember Jared Verse, I
can remember Fisk, those guys going, I mean still celebrating
with Higgs and Kobe was there with him master, but
Jared Fifth. Some of the rookies this year they hadn't
even really practiced with Higgs and they just watching that moment,
(07:37):
you realize, Okay, that's that's a glue that's a glue
guy coming to life. However we define a glue guy,
and he's definitely the epitome of that.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
In the past, you've referred to Matthew Stafford and Cooper
cup as weight bearing walls for this organization. Matthew said
he needed to think about his future. Cooper expressed some
uncertainty whether he was in the team's future plans. Do
you still view Matthew and Cooper as weight bearing walls
(08:10):
for this organization.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
They've been, They've definitely been weight bearing walls, So I
know where you're going with that kind of what's next
for them. And again, I think with each player especially,
and it's not just them. You can go to the players,
the Higgs and those are going to be the players
right that have been here a while. You know, they're
still on con they're still in their contract with us,
(08:32):
and usually it's a question about do you want to
keep playing football? Similar with Aaron Donald went through all
the contract structures that you go through, and we'll we'll
continue our philosophy here I know Sean mentioned it. We're
going to decompress. We're going to somehow try to get
through this weekend because it'll be painful watching at least
(08:54):
in the NFC two other teams buy for that conference
championship instead of US earned it. Uh, even though they
earned it, I probably won't watch it. Uh. And then
what we'll try to do is really really really get
rejuvenated and come in because now you've got to start
putting the puzzle together again. Usually, usually the way this
(09:15):
thing goes, there's a subset of players that are on
their rookie contracts. Those are those are pretty much easier players. Right,
they're they're gonna be here, and we'll begin figuring out,
you know, uh ideally how they start the season, and
then we'll compete for how they contribute. There will be
a few of those players that we'll talk about right
that you could you could extend early. There's a subset
(09:38):
of players that our contracts are expiring and we'll have
to work through that. And there's that subset of players
you know that we'll talk about that are on the
back nine of their career and you know, how many
more years are they going to play? NFL football, and
you know how many more years will will work together
as a ram and that that's the that's always the puzzle, ah,
(09:59):
that we have to put together. We haven't done that yet.
We'll figure it out. I can say that, you know,
if you're speaking to Cooper Matthew, I mean it.
Speaker 4 (10:10):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
I don't even know if I could put into words
what they've meant to this organization. I think I probably
have a picture behind me somewhere where it's Cooper Cup
catching a ball at so Far on the last weekend
of the NFL season, a ball thrown by Matthew Stafford
(10:31):
that you know what changed the course of this franchise.
And there's a there's a banner hanging in that stadium
that you know, only one team gets a year. And
I'll say that that What can I say about that?
That moment, That moment's in a lot of memories and
a lot of pictures. That's what they mean to us.
(10:53):
Thank you, Stu.
Speaker 5 (10:57):
He was just when you look at not only Jared
and and Braden's season specifically, but just the production you
got out of this roocky class as a whole. What
do you remember about kind of the vision you had
for those guys in the group collectively, and how did
that meet or exceed expectations based on what you saw
them put together this year.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
I always like to say, you'd like to say it
doesn't exceed expectations. But the neat thing is we can
have a vision. It's always it's neat. On draft day,
that's that moment where I always call a lot of
little kids who are now getting closer to be and
grown men. Dreams come true and that's cool celebration, but
(11:39):
then all of a sudden, you know that dream becomes
their reality. And then you get to this ecosystem and
it's a competitive one. There's an element of always say
stress and drudgery, even though it's very fulfilling, there's a
lot of stress and judgery to come to right the
high of the high and earn a role, earn trust
(12:04):
of your teammates, of your coaches, and a lot of
these players this year in this class. I know we'll
talk about a few that you know that are you know,
kind of up for Rookie of the Year, defense and
things like that, but a lot of those players came
in and not only realize their dream on that draft day,
(12:26):
or a little bit after that draft in what we
call college free agency. But the neat thing is to
see young men go through that element of stress and
drudgery because of the responsibility that it is to be
an NFL player to get a jersey on game day
(12:46):
and to have people like Matthew Stafford, Cooper Cupp, Rob
Haddinston Tyler Higbee trust you rely on you, right that
that's to have a when you get to the end
and all of a sudden, the game of football is
a little bit more than the game, and there's an
(13:07):
element of a city watching you and to have that
responsibility to go out and perform, and in that moment
in that first round playoff game, that's to see to
see I call it a a little kid realizes dream
and then all of a sudden become a pro. That's uh.
(13:28):
That'll get your teary eyed as a human because it's
not easy. It's not Madden. It's not You're gotta Madden
score and you just plug people in and they they
play football on a on a I mean to get
to be that whatever you want to call it, cartoon character,
oh Madden, there is a lot of human h effort perseverance,
(13:53):
grit that goes into getting that rating and performing on
that computer.
Speaker 5 (13:59):
And then your schedule to pick twenty six in the
first round. But obviously there's a little bit gap between
there and the third round with what you guys gave
up to move up to get Rad and Fisk in
last year's draft. Are you comfortable at twenty six overall
or are you giving any thoughts potentially moving back to
maybe close that gap and get more picks.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
To be honest with you, I was hoping more for
a little bit later. Twenty six kind of a gut
punch right now. But yes, that's a and I want
to make sure y'all can hear me. I was. I
kind of got your question, but I got a message
at my poor voice quality. That could be because I'm
(14:37):
still a little horse from a cold. Could be the
computer making sure y'all can hear me. Yeah, we'll figure
out the draft. Twenty six is is an interesting place
to be. Do you move up? Do you do you
move back? Do you stay and pick? That one's a
hard one to we try to guess relatively good. I
know it was neat yesterday, Jake, Timmy, who's it? Kind
(15:01):
of heads up. Our analytics is built a little bit,
continue to refine a model and where you can predict
players to actually go. But twenty six is a hard one, uh,
and it's always a lot of options there.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
Appreciate it. Thanks.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
We're still trying to rejuvenate. We're still trying to figure
out how I get through this weekend and we're moving
back all right. Yeah, hey less bid Dary.
Speaker 6 (15:37):
Hey, we were talking to Sean about this yesterday in
regard to Stafford if he doesn't if he decides to
continue to play, and it sounded like he still thought
he had football in him if he doesn't retire, Can
you say definitively that he's going to be playing for
the Rams next year?
Speaker 2 (15:56):
You know what, I think We're like, I think I
mentioned it earlier. We're going to get through our rejuvenation period.
Circle back to that. I know. The new thing is
Matthews are under contract with us, and I know we
went through a little bit of that last year with him.
He still has years with us, so he's still a Ram.
(16:17):
Uh and we'll I know this, we'll sit down with
all parties to work through that portion of it to
uh when we get to that. But at this point
in time, we're gonna take this rejuvenal. But that's something
that's gonna be a big Lion item. I think Sean
mentioned is you don't want those type issues, you know,
(16:37):
dragging out throughout the offseason and kind of being a
theme going into the season.
Speaker 6 (16:43):
You you know, during your career, especially since you guys
got to LA, have not been averse to taking big swings.
The trade to bring Stafford here, you know with golf
was a big one, and you guys did that. You
you didn't wait that long to rejuvenate. You made that
move pretty quickly.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Number one.
Speaker 6 (17:04):
Do you could you see a scenario where you would
trade Stafford? And if you did, do you think that's
something that you guys would try to do quickly as
opposed to dragging it out.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Yeah, it's interesting on that one. I think Matthew probably
disturbed our rejuvenation period because I think we did play
in the division around that year and and then maybe
a week later is when he when he when it
leaked that hey, he would like to be trading the Lions.
We're thinking of trading. So we had to get back
to work a little bit quicker than we wanted to.
(17:37):
But I haven't on trades garantee it. That's one thing too.
It'll take someone calling or us reaching out we want
to do. That's the things that will be determined down
the road. Here.
Speaker 6 (17:53):
In terms of Cooper with his contract, if he does
not Number one, would you are you going to ask
him to restructure that? And if he doesn't restructure or
will you trade him?
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Don't know the question. I mean, I can't answer either
one of those. And if I did, I wouldn't we
hadn't talked to him first, wouldn't do it here? But Cooper,
all the all of these players right that are at
the end macro level. We're talking about a subset of players,
not just Matthew and Cooper right that are coming to
the end of their career, their contracts. They still have
(18:28):
contracts and rams. Do you keep going forward with that
same contract?
Speaker 4 (18:33):
Do you.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Right restructure in some way? For many reasons those are
those are all issues we really got to sit down
and and talk through. Haven't done it yet.
Speaker 6 (18:47):
And then finally for me, in terms of Jonah Jackson,
you guys signed him to a pretty significant deal. He
did have injuries, but given the way his contract is structured,
do you anticipate that he will be on the roster
next season.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
And I sat down a little bit with Jonah before
we left Great I want to get I think I
want to say this on Jonah is that I really
appreciate him right all that he went what a pro
And I think what ended up. The interesting thing with
that is he's a really good football player. And with
(19:27):
all the injuries and stuff, and we finally got back rolling,
you know, for him to go play center or even
move Steve back to center. We were in the middle
of the season and we had finally gotten a continuity
and we were finally winning. And it was going to
be very, very hard because both of those players, even
though they did some center their and OTAs, had really
(19:49):
not done center during camp. They were both injured and
it was going to be hard to practice your way
back into a routine. So we elected to stay with
the continuity. So I really appreciate Jonah on how he
handled I mean, a starting level player. There's a lot
of teams that would, you know, love to have Jonah
(20:10):
Jackson at guard. So we'll work through that. I know
that I've called it a conundrum, uh, based on some
unforeseen injuries and circumstances and then how hard it is
to to kind of get continuity at center. So elaborate
on him, because that that was a very I mean,
I call it we I mean, he put the team
(20:32):
first in terms of just showing up, going to work
and being a really good scout teamer, played the last
game and and even you know, began working into some
some reps as a jumbo tight end. But I do
know this, Gary, it's take contract out of it. It's
it's hard in this league to move on from quality
offensive lineman. Did you think about our year this year
(20:54):
when all of a sudden, you know, after Week two,
you're you're bringing in three new people that don't even
know you system. So all those things again, put them
in the off season, will have a macro plan, macro cap,
macro budget, and and try to you know, let's call
it engineer a team that kind of moves, keeps the
(21:18):
momentum going from this one, even though next year is
gonna be a totally different year. And all these questions, right,
we all know it. Every every team's different, every team's uh,
there's gonna be new faces, there's gonna be some faces
that aren't here anymore. So every single team in the NFL,
(21:40):
it's different every single year. And to earn the momentum
that we had at the end of the year, that
does not just carry over, it disappears. There's a lot
of months. There's a lot of months between July and
January that it takes to earn that momentum. And there's
gonna be a lot of months between now and July
(22:01):
where all that millenium is lost. Hey, the ability right
of this quarter game, that momentum is there, but still
once you roll into July into August, you got to
earn all of that back.
Speaker 4 (22:17):
Thanks very much, Aria.
Speaker 7 (22:23):
Good morning, Less.
Speaker 8 (22:24):
How are you.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
I'm good? How about you?
Speaker 7 (22:27):
Pretty good? When you talk about the rejuvenation period, do
you make it a point to talk to the players
now when the ending is abrupt like it was, or
do you wait for that period and then individually talk
to them.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
I think we wait. I know. I mean, it's it's interesting.
When you play at Philly you get back. I don't know.
I think I went to sleep at three am that night,
you're back in the next morning round nine am. You know,
there's a there's a file, there's a disappointment. Know, there's
there's a lot of goodbyes, so there's some quick chats.
(23:04):
But it's interesting to a lot of the players, a
lot of the even some of the questions you'll are answering, right,
it's you can't really answer them. Uh. But for the
most part, it's it's, hey, let's it's been a long year,
let's get away, let's recalibrate, let's come back fresh, and
uh and again and and that way, even with with
(23:24):
questions that to be able to answer a question with clarity,
you need clarity and that that will take time.
Speaker 5 (23:32):
You know.
Speaker 7 (23:32):
Also, Sean talked throughout the season about the young group
being so mature for their age. Do you think a
lot of that comes from the coaches, from being around veterans?
What elevated their maturity?
Speaker 9 (23:46):
Do you think?
Speaker 2 (23:48):
I think it starts with trying to identify players with
that maturity. There's a there's an intent there. Then you
bring them to, if you want to use that word,
a mature ecosystem. You know, that's that's alive and well
in this building with teammates and coaches and not just coaches,
athletic performance and things like that. And then I think
(24:10):
all that calm compounds and and even in the process
if you there is an element where you go up,
maybe we'll we'll, we'll identify, try to acquire someone who's
not quite there yet. You're then betting on that them
to get in the ecosystem and kind of go okay, uh,
there's an element where the ecosystem right elevates. Let's call
(24:34):
it a humans standard like Okay, this might have been
what I'm used to, but oh here it's there. I
better jump And it kind of pulls you that way
when you do that. So I think it's a combination
of all those things that the the culture is living
at all times. And and you I always say, we
(24:55):
talk about a lot. You want a competent culture, and
there's times where, like like humans, it could get a
common cold, it could it could get sick at times
and take on a little water. But it is always moving,
is always living, and you're always you're always navigating that
as as Sean will say, hey, we like it where
(25:16):
hey everyone comes in they're a pro. And so all
the amount of energy that you spend in this building
is trying to right dominate your specific role in some
way of elevating rams football. And the more you get
to let's call it that mature, conscientious professional where all
(25:37):
the energy is spent toward ah, right, trying to engineer
a collective, competent football team, and not on other things.
We like to think that it compounds into net positive
results along the way. Thank you, sir.
Speaker 10 (25:58):
Hey LUs, do you anticipate working to sign Kyroen to
an extension this offseason?
Speaker 2 (26:05):
You know, I think that's something that's going to be
on the plate. So those are you know, the interesting
thing on the from a macro level, Usually sometimes it
is tougher to sign someone who's not in let's call
it their final year. It's it's three years and got
a a next year. And the only reason is that
(26:27):
usually could be a difference in in numbers, but a
lot of times there's no real deadline, so it can
drag on. But I know it's he would be someone
right that after three years you could begin discussing, ah,
let's call it renegotiating starting a new because I do
think Karen's someone who is a ram and you know,
(26:51):
has a very impactful role for us.
Speaker 10 (26:54):
How does drafting Blake last year play into the decision
whether to keep Kiren or not?
Speaker 2 (26:59):
I think I think we would probably take the philosophy
that you're going to need more than one running back,
so that we'll always try to keep a keep that
room somewhat healthy in terms of depth. And even with Kyard,
there's a chance that he's had two great years, but
(27:21):
there is a how many there is a possibility right
where hey, he needs a partner to take some load
off of him. He's probably played more than any running
back over the last two years. So that's something to
think about.
Speaker 10 (27:37):
So when you have two very good draft classes in
a row, how does that affect maybe the money, even
though it's not time to pay those guys yet, how
does that affect the mindset maybe free agency this offseason,
thinking about the fact that you might have to start
getting into those extension conversations next year. In the year after, Yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Think we have those whoen sit down with Tony past Stores,
Matthew Share and his group, and you start modeling the
future and kind of what it looks like, so that
that always comes into play. I would say probably eighty percent,
maybe even more than eighty percent, but a good portion
of the percentage you'll be you'll really be thinking about
(28:21):
to twenty five with always the caveat of if you
do this this this is kind of how it affects
twenty six in twenty seven. So or really, I think
the neat thing for us going through what we did
when we recalibrated to get back to a more healthy,
(28:43):
let's call it capta cash type ecosystem in terms of
cap it does allow for flexibility and freedom moving forward
and not get yourself where where all of a sudden,
there's definitely some that's call it debits, come and do
that really terms of dead monies and things like that,
where it really does hinder what you can do.
Speaker 10 (29:05):
Yeah, why.
Speaker 9 (29:09):
He lash, As you've been kind of rebuilding this defensive line,
how do you balance getting players who will you know,
fit together schematically within that unit and guys who you
know will mesh and want to play for each other.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Preferably you would you would not settle, you would, right,
if you don't have one or the other, or if
you don't have both, maybe let them go to another ecosystem.
So that's that's the discipline part of it. If you
can you can find both like that, Whatever our key
(29:50):
variables are, we like to say, look, if they don't
meet those key variables, it's okay to them to go
somewhere else base done. It's a better fit for all
right person and situation to not be in our situation.
Speaker 9 (30:08):
And uh, what about Brandon and Jared fit both of
those criteria for you guys when you're looking at them
in this past year's draft.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
They might they might epitomize that in terms of and
it's interesting you could you can get to know them.
You can talk to people who right got to know them.
You can talk to people who were part of their
evolution from first grade through Florida State. But I mean
(30:39):
the easy part with those two. You can you could
turn on the any any game against Florida State and
and those two are probably jumping off the tape, take
mom Dad got given physical qualities out of it. There's
an element of like, wow, it seems like those two
care a little more than a lot of other people
(31:00):
in the field, based on right, the energy, the urgency,
the tenacity they're playing with. And then there could have
been someone on that field, whether it was an opponent
or teammate at Florida State, that cared just as much
as him, and you add in, you add in their
physical abilities, and it just Okay, it elevates them. So
(31:25):
one of the ones we talked about in replacing Aaron Donald,
he was one that was elite and elite and all
of a sudden it just came to fruition. Right. He
was blessed with a lot and then he cared a lot,
and boy did that come to fruition. On Thursday nights, Sundays,
Sunday nights, Monday nights, maybe a few saturdays in the NFL,
(31:50):
Thank you, Jordan.
Speaker 11 (31:55):
Hey Less. Sean mentioned that you guys will meet as
a leaderleadership group to discuss the futures of players like
Matthew Stafford, Cooper cup Tyler, Rob Havenstein. Who composes that
group in your in your organization.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
You know, I'm not sure. I'm not a part of
that club. I hadn't been invited yet, just kidding, you
know what that I think I'm usually the leadership group.
It's probably myself, Kevin, him and Tony. But I do
know this. We're a very collaborative group. So we'll bring
in We'll bring in our you know, personnelble group, We'll
(32:34):
bring in our athletic performance group. Uh, we'll bring in
coaching staff. So there will be a lot of people.
I'm pretty sure when you mentioned leadership group that was
Kevin Sean, Tony myself.
Speaker 11 (32:53):
And then you brought up the athletic in Sports Performance
group as well. But so much of some of the
team building you guys have done in the past has
tried to figure out when to move before you know
it's it's maybe physically too late for the player. How
(33:14):
has that process evolved for you guys in terms of
deciding which players to keep and which players to part
ways with.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
I'd like to think it is. That's always a very
very hard one to navigate, and there's many variables to
that because there's even this year, you you could see
the blend of let's call it the court that we've
gotten and known, the veteran group there in the back nine,
and the career and how it how it does blend
(33:47):
with the youth and and somehow comes to magic. So
that's always one that you got to work through and
and and and begain and again again there's a lot
of communication involved in terms of roles, and you know,
it take roles in how you practice and and if
(34:09):
you're going to take a player that's a little bit
you know older in the back now in the career,
how do you how do you make sure you from
OTAs to the last game of the season practice and
not practice so that there you know, they can get
through eighteen. There's so many variables that get into that, guess.
(34:30):
But at the end of the day, I think if
a if a player is still passionate about playing football,
still passionate about being a ram, still again wanting to be,
you know, a part of something special that that usually
is a net positive when it's all said and done.
So many variables that get into that this season because
it I mean, even if we get to eighteen games,
(34:54):
at some point it does seem even when the seventeen
games it is, it is a long along it adventure
and I'm not sure all of us have evolved enough.
You have to figure out how to right start and
start no tas and get to January and February to
be the best we can be.
Speaker 11 (35:15):
Slight pivot. But in the last two seasons, you guys
have drafted really well, and in twenty three I think
the plug and play like cheaper veterans when you did
not have money to spend were one of the stories
of the season as well with the success rate on
those guys. But when you guys have had money to
spend on higher cost free agent acquisitions, First of all,
(35:38):
how would you assess those acquisitions the higher cost players
over the I guess in twenty twenty two and twenty
twenty four when you did have some money to spend.
And I'll wait for part two of the question.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
Wow, you might have to you know, I hadn't really
looked at that. I don't have the list in front
of me. Side, it's hard to assess them. Probably right here,
I think with and I do know this with probably
get a macro level with any free agency, especially if
(36:12):
you call it higher costs, I think again, and as
it more than likely should be, there's an element of
if you bring a player in and you're paying him
post on your team, there's a higher expectation and sometimes
it's hard to live up to that expectation. Or the
new thing is is in how they they blend together
(36:35):
or blend in with the collective, and then how does
your collective perform in the end. How much does that
help your collective to be more competent or not? It's
interesting we could The one I'm thinking about right now
is is Joonah Jackson. We paid him seventeen million this
year to not play a lot and a lot of
(36:56):
it wasn't his faults. He was starting until he was injured,
and at a philosophical level, the way he went about
his business not playing it might have weighed more than
him playing, because you that's a that's a guy who
(37:18):
was starting for another team, came here and really really
enjoyed it here, was not playing, went to scout team
and played scout team. Well, uh, without complaining that that's
got away something It might not have been. It might
(37:39):
not have been a good duo block, it might not
have been a catch for a first down. But boy,
that's that's noted. And I mean that's in today's time. You,
I mean in college football, he'd probably go into the
portal halfway through the season. Not Jonah Jackson, because that's
just who he is. But I use as an example,
(38:01):
like you could on an next sale spreadsheet and say
played this many downs, got paid. That not necessarily an
a signing, but when you blend it into the the
collective and then kind of the all the things that
go into a collective that aren't just right stats that
(38:24):
help you become compident. I mean it'll be in rushing
how much that acquisition actually truly weighed in this fulfilling journey.
Speaker 11 (38:33):
And then just the second part of that question, do
you guys plan or do you as a as a
GM plan to revisit elements of your pro personnel and
free agency process this offseason to see, you know, if
there's anything that needs changing or that you want to change.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
I think we always do after action reviews and try
to evolve, regress and now look at the successes, look
at the uh not you know whatever, if you don't
call it less successes uh and then see if there's anything,
if there's anything we could do differently in that. That's
(39:15):
always a free agency bringing bringing another person into another
situation is always again it's it's not mad in football.
So a lot of times even too, with free agents
and families, that's a that's a move. It's not a
young kid just moving to another city and getting another
town home. It's schools involved. There's there's so many elements
(39:38):
that get involved into those moves that oft the time
when you look back on is smooth as ah. Then
let's call it. They might be in Madden, but you
see what I can't say it's a it's a very
important part of you know, let's call it the the
acquisition game theory of our of our league. So uh,
we always want to try to get better at that
(40:00):
or be as good as that as we possibly can.
Speaker 11 (40:04):
Thanks less.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Last time we got to beat you. Hey, lest I mean,
I've been for whatever reason, you've been right there on
my screen. It seems like you've been raising your hand
for about an hour now.
Speaker 4 (40:19):
I apologize for being right on your.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
Stone, you know, but I like the the now. For
some reason, you're talking and you've disappeared from my screen.
I've got Gary, Jordan's, Sarah, Adam, and Stu. I don't
know where you went, Greg, I can hear you. That's
all that came, okay?
Speaker 4 (40:39):
Cool?
Speaker 8 (40:40):
Sarah mentioned Kyron as somebody who could be eligible for
an extension. You've also got two fairly key defensive players
in that draft class who could conceivably get an extension
in Quenton and Kobe. I don't think you've extended defensive
draft picks since a d H. Is there any any
any benefit to having continuity on the defensive side that
you haven't had over the years, I mean, or is
(41:00):
that just the way that the NFL works, and that's
just just how it's going to be in terms of like,
that's how the economics work of drafting guys, paying them
and then and then moving on.
Speaker 2 (41:08):
You know, that's part of the ecosystem. Uh, But yeah, Dan,
But also part of the ecosystem. Some of the better
defenses in league is having an element of continuity and
core players. We went through a time there, especially the
way we had engineered it, where when you had Aaron
and Jalen and some highly paid players, uh that were
(41:32):
still under contract and taking a good chunk of right
cap and cash where it was an element. There's some
players that left that we would have probably in a
more in and if we were to engineered it differently,
would have tried to resign and keep. So it all
depriends on where you're at. But I do think, yes,
(41:54):
the the answer would be at some point here getting
some let's call it a new or different edition of
core players that are going to be around longer than
just four years and keep carrying the torch. You can't
do them all. But what I do know is you
(42:15):
probably can't keep just restarting every year either. That's probably
very hard to do too. So that's a lot of
the puzzle, you know, that that we're gonna have to
sit down and talk about because we we've gone through
the There was a simpler time when oh, these these
five whatever six players are are are getting paid well,
(42:38):
some of the highly paid positions in our team. And
then it was like, we can't extend anyone, right, you
either got to be on a rookie contract, vet men
or one of those guys. And then it was this,
I'm going to keep calling it remodel. Y'all keep saying
our rebuild. I'll go back to our remodel rebuild debate.
But now we're going to get to that stage where, oh,
we don't have the Aaron's and Jalen's right, who you
(43:02):
know some of the how are pay players at the position?
And and how do you begin spreading uh, you know,
let's call it those contracts to other players. So that's
a little bit what we gotta rejuvenate and began thinking
about time time. These two years seem like they've flown
and now we're at this stage.
Speaker 4 (43:22):
Yeah, last one.
Speaker 8 (43:24):
It seems like every off season with the Rams, the
main story is will somebody come back? Next year, Will
Sean McVay decided to coach next year, Will Aaron Donald retire,
Will Matthew Stafford decide to play for the Rams? All
that kind of stuff. You're the Ye're the architect this
whole thing. You're going into your fourteenth year in charge
of the Rams. You're like the fourth longest tenured GM
who doesn't own his team or something like that. How
are you doing and why?
Speaker 4 (43:45):
You know what?
Speaker 8 (43:46):
What's what's your feeling after such a tumultuous year with
you know, all the setback, all the all the you know,
physical you know stuff in terms of the fires and everything.
Speaker 4 (43:55):
How are you doing? How's your energy?
Speaker 10 (43:56):
Man?
Speaker 2 (43:57):
The energy is great. I there's an there's an element
at this stage in the career where you can there
is perspective. There, there is a I'm trying to get
the right word of probably honored, fortunate to be Like
you said, fourteen years in, I can't tell you this.
I turned fifty four.
Speaker 12 (44:21):
On the Sunday that the Eagles beat us, And there's
many times at age fifty four I go and that
that I can say, I take loss is way too hard.
But the neat thing I'm only gonna say that as
I've gotten to fifty four, I now have this outline
(44:41):
in my phone on notes on.
Speaker 2 (44:43):
What I need to get to pretty quickly right to
get over that loss. It's neat that it still hurts.
I think if a loss didn't hurt, I probably wouldn't
do it. Then I'd start thinking, wait a minute, do
I am I just doing this to do it? But
I do know that at the the neat thing about
being somewhat I just called it finally getting mature, is
(45:04):
you can be intentional about Okay, that energy is definitely
not negative. How do I get back to, let's call
it a more reasonable rational perspective and then try to
you know, provide that within the building as a leader.
So but I do know this to be fourteen years
(45:25):
in that that's an honor. That's a lot of luck,
that's a lot of teammates helping you get to this point.
So there's this, there's this, I mean, well, to have
this opportunity and responsibility, I mean, I was one of
those kids one time. Obviously, I don't think I was
ever good enough to truly dream about being an NFL player,
(45:47):
but there was an element of dreaming about, you know,
having a career in football. So I'm still getting to
live that dream. So I'm but I can be it.
I'm looking forward to the next few weeks to be
intentional about rejuvenating and putting the phone on airplane mode
(46:08):
a good bit and then so I can so we
can come back fresh and restart this thing right on.
Speaker 4 (46:15):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (46:18):
Let's we appreciate you, sir. Hey, thanks, enjoyed it, see
y'all and sometime soon had a blast. The neat thing
is I didn't get to see y'all as much during
the It's positive for me during practice because my office
has a window, so I can you can look at
it this way. Oh, the media is still there. I'm
(46:40):
not going out there, or it was more. It was more,
Oh they're still doing stretching in this or that, and
I'll wait till they do team they begin the team stuff,
and then I'll go to practice. I'll let y'all determine
which one it was. But I can't say this. Going
back to the last question, it is it is neat
(47:03):
to get to know each one of y'all. Appreciate your
passion for covering the rams, the sport, doing your part
in the ecosystem to make this rite bigger than a game,
So I can't wait to see y'all again here soon. Hey,
(47:24):
let's see y'all
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.