April 4, 2025 • 34 mins
Get the inside scoop on the NFL annual league meetings! We break down all the important updates and rule changes. Plus, an exclusive, in-depth interview with Cleveland Browns Head Coach Kevin Stefanski!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I enjoy the process. I think so much of this
is I want to get through meetings. I want to
get through April meetings with the coaches. I want to
get through our thirty visits. We get to bring thirty
guys in before the draft, so we're not even halfway
there with those visits. So I think the lead up
to the draft, maybe the week before the draft is
when you really hone in on the plan. But I'm
(00:21):
enjoying this process.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Are you counting if you are? I know you are
if you're keeping score at home, Gibbe, we are three
weeks away from the NFL's Annual Selection Meeting, otherwise known
as the twenty twenty five NFL Draft. In with that,
we welcome you into another edition of BPA, the best
podcast available. At the Home Office. Back from the Annual Meeting,
(00:44):
not the owner's meeting. It's the annual meeting. Back from
the annual meeting. Here, I'm at the home office that
was in Florida. Gibbe is building an arc outside the
Cross Country Mortgage campus with awful storms in Northeast Ohio.
Are you okay?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
I'm great. I got in here before the rain started.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Now getting to my car and then getting home. I've
been told by numerous people is going to be a
little bit of an adventure today. Okay, a lot of
roads flooded out and a lot of things. If you're
if you're in the Cleveland area and watching this or
listening to this, make sure you just take your time
getting around town here for the next twenty four to
thirty six hours and then and then some because it
(01:28):
sounds like this rain maker might go through the weekend.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Two hands on the wheel, please be safe. And I'm
not joking there. Definitely, if you are actually building Noah's Ark,
you need two dogs on that arc of course as
they go two by two onto the arc to get
the heck out of northeast Ohio, or just stay there please.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
I'm good with four dogs and no cats. I'm not
a big cat guy.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Do you have four dogs at them? No?
Speaker 3 (01:52):
But I mean I'm just saying, okay, I see cats,
dogs and just take the dogs brief aside.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
I'm the same way, by the way, with the cats.
Somebody on social media, I don't even remember the guy's name,
but took a shot at me recently and I looked
at his avatar, his like, you know, his profile because
I was stuck in traffic and nothing better to do,
and it was just a picture of a cat. And
I rarely ever clap back. Matter of fact, I don't
clap back friends, kids like, if you're on social media,
(02:21):
just step away. There's no need to clap back. But
I saw the guy's pictures profile picture was just a cat,
and I almost but I didn't. I almost answered you're
a cat, like your picture is a cat, dude, But
it's not worth going there. There's a reason that the
other pod we do the bark Tank. There's a reason
(02:43):
where the dogs, right, there's a reason there's a dog
pad because dogs are better than cats. And there really
is no debate. Matter of fact, I won't allow you
to debate it. People say, oh that's debatable. This is
not debatable, period, full stop. I've already eaten two minutes
of our time. All right, let's get Gibbe to the
annual meeting. There is a lot to take from the
annual meeting. Kevin Stefanski spoke, we will speak to coach
(03:06):
coming up later in this episode. Andrew Barry spoke as well,
and Jimmy and d HASLM Ownership spoke as well, there
are headline grabbing comments from Jimmy about the trade from
Jimmy has them about the Deshaun Watson trade about the
swing and the miss. My two cents though on this,
and I said this on CBD earlier in the week,
is that they need some context after these swing and
(03:28):
a miss comments, which no one can debate right now.
And it is refreshing to hear that, obviously, and the
accountability part of it as well. Or hey listen, one
of the reasons it hasn't worked is because of the
three major injuries. Deshaun is hard at work trying to
get back healthy, we see it on his Instagram, but
the two Achilles injuries and the shoulder injury in twenty
(03:49):
twenty three is a big reason that you classify at
Gibbet as a swing and a miss. But then you
move forward and you look at the second overall pick.
I want people to wrap their head around the fact
that it may not be a quarterback. We've been telling
you for a while it may not be a quarterback.
And that was my one big takeaway. It may not
(04:11):
be a quarterback, but they have to find a way
to fix the quarterback, and it might be at thirty three.
It might be somewhere else in the draft, or wrap
your head around it. It may not be in this draft.
Give me that you find a long term solution.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
From Jimmy Haslam at the league meetings on Monday, in
his meeting with the beat writers and the media that
covered this football team, quote, I think the message is
if the right person's there, we're going to take him.
If not, we'll figure it out for a year or
two until we get the right person. And I just
keep saying we need good football players. There's good football
(04:48):
players in this draft, and we've got to make sure
we get the right ones for us. He talked about
obviously needing to nail this second pick and taking care
of it and getting the right guy and right players
in here not just on Thursday night, but on Friday
night and then on Saturday afternoon. And there is a
lot of talent. And as we get closer to the draft,
(05:11):
we'll go through some of the positions strength wise, from
top to bottom. There's a lot of depth in positions
that we need in addition to the quarterback. So I
understand where he's coming from. I hope that you at
least take one sooner rather than later in this year's draft,
depending on what happens.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Absolutely, and it might be with the thirty third pick,
it might be with the trade back into the first
round to get that fifth year, or to get ahead
of a team that may be taking the quarterback that
you like. Aaron Rodgers is a key part in this
as we sit here and record it on Wednesday afternoon,
twenty two days before the draft. The Steelers don't have
(05:51):
a quarterback now. If Aaron Rodgers goes there, you'd have
to think they're out of the quarterback market at twenty one.
But if they don't get Rogers, if he decides to
sit and take phone calls on FaceTime audio in his
house in Malibu, then they may have to take a
quarterback at twenty one. How does that affect the Browns.
It'll be fascinating once we get to the draft. But
(06:12):
Aaron Rodgers clarity I think would help a lot. Just
keep your mind open to the idea that it is
not quarterback at two. Andrew Berry spoke on Sunday, Sadly,
I had a travel nightmare on Sunday. I got there safely,
but I was not there in time for AB's presser.
Obviously I've listened to and watched the entire thing. The
(06:34):
headline for a lot of people give it is hey,
we're unlikely his words, AB's words to trade up a
number of reasons. This is my analysis. First of all,
it's going to cost so you've got to truly love
the player, and you'd have to assume the player is
cam Ward to actually give up the assets. But number two,
I think the Titans don't want to get out, and
(06:57):
I think they love cam Ward, and for them to
get out, it will cost you an arm and a leg.
It'll cost you the entire Noah's ark. We'll go back
to that, and there has never been a trade two
to one ever in the history of the NFL Draft,
so there's no real precedent. It's going to cost at
least you at least next year is one. The idea
(07:20):
that you could just flip them a third and they'll
do it is not going to work. The only way
that works, Gibbe is if the Titans are bluffing they
don't want cam Ward, and when they are on the clock,
they will literally take anything because it's you know, a
profit one way or the other and move down to two.
But I don't think that's the case.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Yeah, I go back and forth because I don't know
what the value is. Like you said, it's never happened,
so I find it hard to believe it would happen.
And unless Andrew Berry is steering us down a different direction,
it doesn't sound like this football team has an interest
in moving up to They If anything, they're gonna stand
(08:02):
padded two see what happens, or maybe they're gonna move
back to How many spots are they going to move back?
I don't really know, but I mean, I think all
the options around the table, including just staying at number two,
seeing what Tennessee does, and making a pick on Thursday night.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
The only scenario in which the Browns move up to
one is this. The Titans are bluffing, they really don't
want cam Ward, and when they are on the clock,
they let it be known to the Browns, with the
Giants or really whomever. All right, we'll get out who's
got the best offer.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
And that could happen right at eight ten. I believe
when Tennessee goes on the clock.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
I don't think that is a likely scenario, but it
is a scenario. Also a scenario the Browns go get
a veteran quarterback. There's really only one guy left, assuming
it's not Aaron Rodgers, and the Steelers are the only
option for him. That one is the guy that went
to Chipotle and got double chicken with salad. That guy,
(09:07):
he was in a Westlake Chipotle.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
He was here. I did not I wanted to actually fun.
I thought ai or I thought something someone was having
a great old time last week, given all the other
things that we had heard and talked about. But he
was indeed here. Now obviously no contact with the Browns,
and the Browns had no contact with him because the
(09:30):
rules forbid it.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
But he was in Cleveland, Andrew Berry. May it be
known that he was there for reasons other than the Browns.
I don't know what those reasons are. Maybe he thinks
he's going to eventually be with the Browns, and he
hired a realtor or pulled up Redpin on his phone.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
And just wanted to wander around, to be one of
the Cower home in Strongsville.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
I don't know. Maybe yeah, just randomly check out the
west Side. Why not? It's lovely this time, I mean
the best, it is all. I'm an east Side guy personally.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
But you know we can't be perfect.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Well that's where my family is. I understand that. But
I will say this, this season, I got to spend
a lot more time on the West side. Kind of
opened my eyes and I see, I see your opinion there.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
I mean I I my father grew up on the
East Side, so yeah, I just as did Biden. I
have to do some friendly ribbing when it comes to that.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
And I totally get it. I think I'll say it
out loud. This is a team platform. I think Kirk
Cousins is an option. I do think he's an option,
and I do think that can happen. I can also
tell you from conversations that I have had with people
around the league, Kirk Cousins would really like to know
if he's going to a team that's going to draft
a rookie quarterback high with the intent to play that
rookie quarterback, because he doesn't want to have happened this year,
(10:47):
what happened last year where he got pennixed, where the
Falcons drafted a quarterback in the top ten and eventually
handed him the keys. He doesn't want to do that.
You understand why he doesn't want to be in that situation.
The other side of it is, once we get to
and through the draft, there may not be any other
situation left and if he wants to play, it may
(11:08):
have to be here. Clearly, we've gone over and you
know this if you're a listener and a fan, that
Kevin Stefanski and Kirk Cousins have a history together in Minnesota,
and I think Kirk Cousins can play. Not a slam
of Kenny Pickett, but I'd rather have Kirk Cousins right now.
(11:28):
Kenny Pickett's a darn good second option with a guy
with twenty five career starts and still a young guy
on an affordable contract, that might be a quarterback room.
You also have to ask aloud, Gibbie, hey, if the
Browns were to draft a quarterback of the third or
fourth round with less pressure to play immediately, would Cousins
still be amenable? Those are answers that I don't know,
(11:49):
but those are the questions that will be asked as
we get to the draft.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Yeah, it's going to be fascinating to see. I mean,
it's clear that I wouldn't expect anything with Cousins to
happen till after the draft and maybe the biggest competitor
for the Browns for Kirk Cousins. If it becomes that
could be the team that's ninety minutes east of us.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Can you imagine then? No, thank you, I mean give
You's a big Steeler fan. I kid CBD inside.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Joke, lots of funny jokes, funny jokes.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Let me say this too as well. And this is
just my two cents to Browns fans. I know this
sounds odd, but I would root for Aaron Rodgers to
the Steelers. If I'm a Browns fan, I would want
that to happen because it takes some uncertainty out of
draft night. If the Steelers get Aaron Rodgers, you would
have to think, and I would never say never after
what happened in Atlanta obviously last year, but you would
(12:46):
have to think. The Steelers are out of the quarterback
game at twenty one, and now they're not the only
team of the second half of the draft that could
take a quarterback. But it changes things. And with the
Browns picking thirty three, the number one pick on Day two,
top of the second taking a team with a glaring
quarterback need off the board, twelve picks earlier would be
(13:10):
good for the Browns. Doesn't ensure they get their guy
if they want a guy at thirty three, but it
would be beneficial. So I would say, if you're a
Browns fan, you would want Aaron Rodgers to go to Pittsburgh?
Do you buy that?
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Yes? And I would also say, there's a lot of
drama and there's is that juice worth the squeeze if
you're the squealers. I don't really have an answer, but fine,
I'm great with him going there. If it all falls
apart the way it did in New York, That's where
I'm at.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
That's right. Can you imagine a Kirk Cousins Aaron Rodgers
Brown Steelers game. No, he's in no country for old men?
I mean, why not?
Speaker 3 (13:55):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
I'm older than them both, so easy for me to say,
I'm I'm wor older than both we collectively. Yeah, also
coming out, Look, there's a lot of there are a
lot of little headlines there. The doors open clearly for
Nick Chubb. I kind of have a gut feeling he
might be back, but it might be a later in
the summer thing. Don't know. Still, no real world, real answer.
(14:20):
Rather on j Okay, I don't know that. Not not
optimistic there at least I would love to have heard
brighter news. There's stadium news there obviously, mister has I'm
talking about the end of June, obviously in state funding
and potentially moving to Plan B, which would be renovation
on the lake front. That's above my pay grade. But
(14:42):
that news obviously as well, came out of the annual meeting,
and Kevin confirmed what we caught a whiff of back
in Indianapolis that the Browns, well, we did know two
road games in the post in the in the preseason,
only one at home. It was the opposite last year,
so flip this year. So those two road games are
going to be Carolina and Philly, and joint practices with
(15:06):
them both. So joint practices on the road in Carolina
on the road at Philadelphia have been down that road before,
and no Greenbrier trip. Give a sorry, I'm all right,
all wrong.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
My golf game didn't get any better from playing down
there as it did up here. So it is what
it is. I would say this, I like the joint practices,
especially because it forces us to get into pads and
go against someone else. I like how it breaks it up,
and I think, you know, if you're Kevin Stefanski, you're
(15:41):
replacing ten days where the team went to the Greenbrier.
But it was about team camaraderie and building the team
and being away from noise and distraction and everything like that.
I mean, you're essentially going to be on the road.
You got to think. We did the math the other
day in the studio. Nine days on the road with
these two trips, so I mean you're gonna be away
(16:05):
for nine You were away for ten at the Greenbrier.
So I think that this, I think it still gets
done what coach wants to do, and it gets you
going against another team to really see where you were
at and what you need to work on in advance
of week one.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
And the green Brier news was actually news out of
the combine, Kevin said it. Then the joint practices against
these two teams, the Panthers and the Eagles, is the
new news. As they would say on New Heights. One
of them will be one day, the other will be
two days. Two day joint practices. I'm not always a
big fan of because day two is when the fights happen.
(16:43):
Right Day one usually a good day of work day two. EH,
fingers crossed that we get through this. OK. But those
are the two preseason head to heads, if you will,
the Panthers and the Eagles. And then it looks like
home game Week three. Great round out.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
That means we're not going to Seattle for a seven
pm local time.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Gosh, I felt so bad for let's.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Think about that ten o'clock East Coast for a preseason.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Game, knowing to blame there for the Browns. I mean,
the Seahawks wanted that game at night on Saturday evening.
Full disclosure, I got off the play. I think I've
told this story. I was doing games for the Rams
last year, so we had a noon Central kickoff Rams
Texans in Houston. I was already home. I landed, and
I was driving home listening to the broadcast. UH, Jim
(17:33):
and Nathan and UH and draw down to the sideline
listening to the broadcast. In the first quarter when the
game kicked off. That was the final game of the preseason.
Everybody else was basically home at that point. It was awful.
Seattle is lovely, though, but still.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Not that weekend. Exactly what it is doing outside right now.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Now.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
They're known for their reign. But this was a complete
monsoon in Seattle.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Okay, much like today Anyway, I digress. Hey, there's let's
get to from the annual meeting as well on the
league side, of the rule change side and all that.
But before we do that, I want to set this up.
Kevin Stefanski had finished his roundtable with all the writers
and all the assembled media there. All the AFC coaches
do a Monday morning, seven forty five early call where
(18:18):
people gather. They call the AFC Coaches Breakfast. You sit
around the table. There really is no breakfast. But Kevin
answered all the questions about the draft and the Pro
days and this, and the that the Browns will be
in Boulder for shad Or Sanders and Travis Hunter coming
up on Friday the fourth of April this week, so
in two days from when we record this. Now, he
had a lot of stuff to do in meetings to
get back to. I grabbed Kevin for just a couple
(18:41):
of minutes. This is not the definitive sixty minute sit
down here, but this was me and coach on Monday. Kevin,
how's the annual meeting and the coach's breakfast and all
the hoopla here treating you well.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
We're in Palm Beach, Florida, so it can't be very
hard down here. As you know, this is we're in paradise,
the sun shining, it's gorgeous. So these are fun because
while you're at a beautiful setting, you're also around a
lot of your friends and you get to catch up
with a lot of people, coaches, staff, general matters. You
get to be around each other and kind of talk
(19:16):
shop for a couple of days.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
This event's always fun as well. Families are here. Is
kind of a chill, low key event and you've been
on the road for a while as well, so it's
like kind of a culmination or maybe a stop and
all of that. How is the Kevin Stefanski living out
of a suitcase scouting pro day private workout thing going.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Yeah, that living out of the suitcase thing is no fun,
but you know, this is part of it. And this
is kind of the fun part for us to get
around the country, stop at different places and check in
on these players and come down here take a breather. Here,
have my family down here with me, which is great,
and that's the other fun part. My kids get to
play with a bunch of other kids, of some coaches,
(19:53):
and it's a really it is a nice time to
kind of take a breather, if you will.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Do the boys come back to the room and say, Hey, Dad,
I here, we're gonna draft so and so.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
No, that's a good question. I should probably put them
on an intel operation, do a seaful rendezvous at the
pool and they can fill me in on all the
things that they found out.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
What do you find out when you a have the
private workouts, B take these guys to dinner. Because tape
is one thing, game film is one thing. This is
really an hr process as much as it's a football process.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
I think the tape is one thing. It's also the
most important thing. How the guy performs playing the game
is the most important. But to understand a full picture
of the player, you have to get around them, number one,
to understand what their makeup is, what.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Their aptitude is, how they work, what they're like.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
On a day to day basis. And then also the quarterback,
you want to see them throw live. So having been
to the Senior Bowl, obviously gone to some pro days,
some private workouts, you get a feel for how the
ball comes out of their hand, and that's something that's
a little bit harder to pick up when you're just.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Watching tape as anyone sitting to rule themselves out, I'll
do Carter went to less out for example, your rival
high school Jaylen Milroe is a Raven fan. Maybe somebody
had a Chipotle order you didn't like. Has anything come
up like that where you're.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Like, no, no, nothing yet, we're gonna take everybody. We're
not discriminating for any of these reasons, although that Wisow
thing is hard for me, but no, we're not going
to discriminate.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
I get asked a lot the Miles interview after he
was on the podium where I said, you know, the
quarterback plan and he had that smile, that smirk, so
mob to ask you, what did you tell him anything?
Speaker 1 (21:32):
I can't can I don't think I can repeat. I'll
hit you offline and we'll tell you. But it's a big,
well known.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Secret because he was smiling, he was happy.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Yeah, there's a lot of you know, silly seasons. So
there's a lot of looking at people's smirks and looking
at their body language and maybe what words they've used
and kind of move them all around and see if
we're sending a message. It's kind of like a subliminal
message that we're sending to everybody. But it's all right there.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
You just got to look hard. Last thing Ab said
in mobile, how impatient he was. Naturally, we all want
to draft here, right, What has this process been like
for you? And are you equally impatient? And can the
twenty fourth get here fast enough?
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Yeah? I enjoy the process. I think so much of
this is I want to get through meetings. I want
to get through April meetings with the coaches. I want
to get through our thirty visits. We get to bring
thirty guys in before the draft, so we're not even
halfway there with those visits. So I think the lead
up to the draft, maybe the week before the draft
is when you really hone in on the plan. But
(22:28):
I'm enjoying this process.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Okay, And you're not mocking the mox.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Yet not mocking the mox. You won't find me doing
any simulations in the mock draft world. I'm not opposed
to it. I respect everybody that does it, but for us,
it's really we do look at all of them and
then understanding there are some mocks that are better than others.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Kevin enjoy your time at the annual meeting, enjoy the
road show, and maybe seeing Boulder in a couple of days.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Thanks Andrew.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
All right, I think there's a distinction there about the
pro days and what you learn and what you can
get in the private workout. Private workouts are always more
important to me. Here's my analogy. Would you rather hire
somebody at a college job fair or would you rather
have a one on one interview? Pro days have value,
But please don't get caught up in this sports radio
nonsense that if you don't go to a pro day,
(23:12):
you're not doing your job. One on one interviews are
to me far more important, and you get those one
on one interviews this week in Colorado. After that, behind
the scenes, Kevin went over to talk to my good
friend Kevin Clark Omaha on ESPN and that's where they
did the Pearl Jam interview that a lot of you
have seen. And Ryan Fitzpatrick commented on Kevin's fantastic Beard Gibbee.
(23:35):
Also they were getting in there.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
I'm debating it, you know, we'll see. I give it
another few weeks and then the warmer maybe, if it
ever warms up, then I'll get rid of it because
it starts to itch and.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
I hate that, so I hate that too. Kevin also
weighed in on the debate. Right before, he and I
were talking on the tush push, and he said he
supports it. Go ahead. There's no need to ban it.
Don't ban it, just stop it. Don't try to ban
it because you can't stop it. So he was one
of the coaches that said, I am fine with it.
(24:11):
An informal poll of those in the room on Tuesday
tell you that it was right down the middle sixteen
sixteen on quote unquote banning the tush push, and don't
you need twenty four? You need twenty four? Yeah, you
need three quarters. When a vote is tabled, put your
tush on the table. The tushpush got tabled. That generally means,
(24:35):
and this isn't always the case, but it generally means, hey,
this is going to go through. We just need to
whip a couple of more votes and let's talk about
it next time. The next league meeting, the spring meeting,
is May twenty and twenty one in Minneapolis. I think
it's going to pass. Now. I'm not going to tell
you go bet your mortgage on it, but my gut
tells me Gibbie hearing what the commissioner had to say
(24:58):
on Tuesday and what rich McKay had to say on two,
when you ever hear the health and safety aspect brought
into it, I think, and it might be a challenge
to with those eight votes, but I think this is
going to pass. And I think there's a very good
chance that we have seen the end of the pushing
of the tush.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
I'll be honest with you, I don't I think you
should be rewarding coaches that come up with innovative ways
to move the football, and I think that Philly has
found that way. They've been highly successful at it. If
you want to beat them, stop it. And I just
the health and safety thing, I don't know if I buy.
(25:37):
Is there any proof?
Speaker 2 (25:38):
No, right now there is not.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Exactly, So I think you keep the Toush push. It
drives me crazy. I hate playing against it. This past
year when we were in Philadelphia. How many times they
go for it with the Toush push three or four
times on fourth down and it was maddening not being
able to stop it. But it works, it's successful.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
A lot of Eagles fans want to say this is
Philly against the World. I don't think it is. I
think there are bigger things that play here, and I'm
with you, I don't think it should be banned. But
the health and safety issue isn't necessarily stopping Jalen Hurts
on the goal line. The health and safety issue is
everything that the tush push has kind of led to.
So go back to when we were kids. So pre
(26:20):
two thousand and five, you couldn't carry the ball carrier.
You couldn't push the running back. You just couldn't do that.
Like if a running back got stopped on the five
yard line, if William Green got stopped on the five
yard line, Sean O'Hara can't come behind him and shove
them in the back and push them into the end.
So that was illegal. You just couldn't do that. It
(26:40):
wasn't part of the game. And then the rule was
changed and it took fifteen years for someone to really
master the art of it. But the Eagles did that
to their credit, and it isn't necessarily for me, the
health and safety or at least for the league. I
don't think the health and safety right there on the
line of scrimm. It's about all the other plays. So
(27:01):
let's use the Eagles as an example. Jalen Hurts throws
a ten yard hitch to DeVante Smith near the sideline.
What prevents the dB from picking up Davante Smith and
carrying him back five yards. Well, they'll blow the whistle,
they'll say for it, progress has been stopped. Well, why
is the rule different there for the defender trying to
carry the ball carrier than it is for the offense
(27:21):
trying to carry the ball carrier. It shouldn't be different.
And there is more likelihood for an injury, say pushing
a running back on the five yard line on a
long play where the running with a offensive lineman getting
ahead of steam from thirty yards behind the plane crashing
into everybody. More risk of injury there. And they don't
(27:42):
know how to make that all work universally across the field,
if that makes any sense. And I think that's the
curtain from behind which they're going to do this. But
I also think that if they do, the Eagles are
still going to be good at it because look at
the tush push. Not all the players actually have Jalen
(28:03):
Hurts pushed by somebody from behind a lot of them.
It's just great Jeff stoutlin line coaching. They've mastered it
and he's still going to score. So if they ban it,
I don't think it's going to slow the Eagles down.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
Done in the quarterback? Can't the quarterback squat like a
thousand pounds? Yes? Yes, Like there's something to be said
using the legs.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
I don't think it's gonna matter.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
I don't either. I just I can we can we
get an eye in the sky? Can we get some
things figured out with that? Can we can we focus
our time on something other than the tush push? I
think we can't.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
You want to do playoff reseating? You want to hit that,
you want to do it? By the way, I am
all for playoff reseating, See I'm not. I'm not winning
your division should truly mean something? You don't think so? No?
Speaker 3 (28:59):
Why because if you get in and you're all right,
if you get in and you're an eight and nine
team and you win your division, you're rewarded with a
home playoff game against a team that's twelve and four.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Have you ever seen this would be the NBA model? Right?
Basically you just see them whoever they finish. So let
me ask you this after watching AFC North hard knocks
last year, have you ever seen NBA Southeastern Division hard
knocks now? Because no one knows the divisions right in
the NFL, divisions mean something. Those six division games mean something.
(29:31):
There's a reason that teams that have to go overseas
never want to take a division game overseas because those
games mean something. So to say that those six head
to head rivalry games don't mean as much anymore, like
winning your division doesn't mean as much, I'm sorry. I
don't like that.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
I mean that part, Okay, I understand. I just I
think it's amazing, Like in a year where and again,
if you're lucky enough in the division, you're facing maybe
the NFC division, that's the worst division in football, and
you're able to get three or four wins just off
of that, and you're not necessarily playing the best of
(30:14):
the best. You can make the argument, but I just
I believe in rewarding wins and losses, and I can
carry your business and I get the divisional side of things.
But win your division games, go win the division, and
then you're in the playoffs, and that's bigger than anything else.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Two final thoughts on that, I don't think it's going
to pass. It also got tabled. I don't think it's
going to pass this year, but I do think that
if and when, and I think it is if not
when we get to an eighteen game season, I think
there's a chance it would pass then because I think
there'd be a concern about in a longer season, teams
(30:58):
fielding competitive rosters and playing to win late in the
season if divisions were already decided. I think there's another
unspoken side of this, and we actually could tie the
Browns to it if you go back to Week sixteen
when we got flexed out of Thursday Night in Cincinnati,
only time that's happened in two years, and the Chargers
and Broncos win, and that was a great game at
(31:19):
the end, the right decision. There are a lot of
what the NFL calls standalone windows in December, not primetime
games necessarily, but standalone games like the Black Friday game
on Amazon, or the NFL Network triple header late the
season in December, or the game that we played Week eighteen,
a Saturday ESPN doubleheader the day before the final day
(31:41):
of the season. You need good games in those standalone windows,
and the thought is it's kind of under the radar
that if we give teams something to play four, we
don't promise them a home game simply for winning the division.
That there will be more highly competitive matchups late in
(32:06):
the year for those stand alone windows because late the year,
I won't say they had trouble making the schedule, but
I could tell you that there there was some ankst
as to where do you put these games, Like, hey,
we need a good game in this window for this network.
(32:27):
Do we have one?
Speaker 3 (32:29):
No, because people at the end of the season were
sitting guys kids. City didn't play anybody for three weeks.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
And the thought is, if you told Kansas City, even
though you ran away from your division, you still need
to fight, because maybe you draw somebody now that you look.
They're normally in the conversation for the one seed, but
maybe not. Maybe there's a division which a team ran
away from in that year, what is a bad division
(33:00):
and they're going to coast down the stretch because their
division is already wrapped up for all intents and purposes.
But if you remind that team that, hey, you may
have to go on the road, then you get better
games and that would factor more if we go to eighteen.
I think that's the underlying, unspoken part of that.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
You're anning with them, everybody exactly.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Anyway, Colorado Pro Day for Iday one, see me in Boulder.
I won't be there, but the Browns will be there.
It's Kevin Stefanski, as he just told you, living out
of a suitcase on his way to Boulder, Travis Hunter,
Shador Sanders, among others in the Spotlight. It is really
(33:48):
one of the final check marks here on the path
to the draft, as they call it to the network.
But the private workouts still could be happening, and the
thirty visits do continue as we march towards the graft
or the draft or the graft. Three weeks everybody, three
weeks and three weeks to remind your friends and neighbors
(34:09):
to subscribe and to like and to share this the
best podcast available that is Jason Gibbs. My name is
Andrew Siciliano g Thank you kindly. We'll see you next time.
So long, anybody
I enjoy the process. I think so much of this
is I want to get through meetings. I want to
get through April meetings with the coaches. I want to
get through our thirty visits. We get to bring thirty
guys in before the draft, so we're not even halfway
there with those visits. So I think the lead up
to the draft, maybe the week before the draft is
when you really hone in on the plan. But I'm
(00:21):
enjoying this process.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Are you counting if you are? I know you are
if you're keeping score at home, Gibbe, we are three
weeks away from the NFL's Annual Selection Meeting, otherwise known
as the twenty twenty five NFL Draft. In with that,
we welcome you into another edition of BPA, the best
podcast available. At the Home Office. Back from the Annual Meeting,
(00:44):
not the owner's meeting. It's the annual meeting. Back from
the annual meeting. Here, I'm at the home office that
was in Florida. Gibbe is building an arc outside the
Cross Country Mortgage campus with awful storms in Northeast Ohio.
Are you okay?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
I'm great. I got in here before the rain started.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Now getting to my car and then getting home. I've
been told by numerous people is going to be a
little bit of an adventure today. Okay, a lot of
roads flooded out and a lot of things. If you're
if you're in the Cleveland area and watching this or
listening to this, make sure you just take your time
getting around town here for the next twenty four to
thirty six hours and then and then some because it
(01:28):
sounds like this rain maker might go through the weekend.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Two hands on the wheel, please be safe. And I'm
not joking there. Definitely, if you are actually building Noah's Ark,
you need two dogs on that arc of course as
they go two by two onto the arc to get
the heck out of northeast Ohio, or just stay there please.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
I'm good with four dogs and no cats. I'm not
a big cat guy.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Do you have four dogs at them? No?
Speaker 3 (01:52):
But I mean I'm just saying, okay, I see cats,
dogs and just take the dogs brief aside.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
I'm the same way, by the way, with the cats.
Somebody on social media, I don't even remember the guy's name,
but took a shot at me recently and I looked
at his avatar, his like, you know, his profile because
I was stuck in traffic and nothing better to do,
and it was just a picture of a cat. And
I rarely ever clap back. Matter of fact, I don't
clap back friends, kids like, if you're on social media,
(02:21):
just step away. There's no need to clap back. But
I saw the guy's pictures profile picture was just a cat,
and I almost but I didn't. I almost answered you're
a cat, like your picture is a cat, dude, But
it's not worth going there. There's a reason that the
other pod we do the bark Tank. There's a reason
(02:43):
where the dogs, right, there's a reason there's a dog
pad because dogs are better than cats. And there really
is no debate. Matter of fact, I won't allow you
to debate it. People say, oh that's debatable. This is
not debatable, period, full stop. I've already eaten two minutes
of our time. All right, let's get Gibbe to the
annual meeting. There is a lot to take from the
annual meeting. Kevin Stefanski spoke, we will speak to coach
(03:06):
coming up later in this episode. Andrew Barry spoke as well,
and Jimmy and d HASLM Ownership spoke as well, there
are headline grabbing comments from Jimmy about the trade from
Jimmy has them about the Deshaun Watson trade about the
swing and the miss. My two cents though on this,
and I said this on CBD earlier in the week,
is that they need some context after these swing and
(03:28):
a miss comments, which no one can debate right now.
And it is refreshing to hear that, obviously, and the
accountability part of it as well. Or hey listen, one
of the reasons it hasn't worked is because of the
three major injuries. Deshaun is hard at work trying to
get back healthy, we see it on his Instagram, but
the two Achilles injuries and the shoulder injury in twenty
(03:49):
twenty three is a big reason that you classify at
Gibbet as a swing and a miss. But then you
move forward and you look at the second overall pick.
I want people to wrap their head around the fact
that it may not be a quarterback. We've been telling
you for a while it may not be a quarterback.
And that was my one big takeaway. It may not
(04:11):
be a quarterback, but they have to find a way
to fix the quarterback, and it might be at thirty three.
It might be somewhere else in the draft, or wrap
your head around it. It may not be in this draft.
Give me that you find a long term solution.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
From Jimmy Haslam at the league meetings on Monday, in
his meeting with the beat writers and the media that
covered this football team, quote, I think the message is
if the right person's there, we're going to take him.
If not, we'll figure it out for a year or
two until we get the right person. And I just
keep saying we need good football players. There's good football
(04:48):
players in this draft, and we've got to make sure
we get the right ones for us. He talked about
obviously needing to nail this second pick and taking care
of it and getting the right guy and right players
in here not just on Thursday night, but on Friday
night and then on Saturday afternoon. And there is a
lot of talent. And as we get closer to the draft,
(05:11):
we'll go through some of the positions strength wise, from
top to bottom. There's a lot of depth in positions
that we need in addition to the quarterback. So I
understand where he's coming from. I hope that you at
least take one sooner rather than later in this year's draft,
depending on what happens.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Absolutely, and it might be with the thirty third pick,
it might be with the trade back into the first
round to get that fifth year, or to get ahead
of a team that may be taking the quarterback that
you like. Aaron Rodgers is a key part in this
as we sit here and record it on Wednesday afternoon,
twenty two days before the draft. The Steelers don't have
(05:51):
a quarterback now. If Aaron Rodgers goes there, you'd have
to think they're out of the quarterback market at twenty one.
But if they don't get Rogers, if he decides to
sit and take phone calls on FaceTime audio in his
house in Malibu, then they may have to take a
quarterback at twenty one. How does that affect the Browns.
It'll be fascinating once we get to the draft. But
(06:12):
Aaron Rodgers clarity I think would help a lot. Just
keep your mind open to the idea that it is
not quarterback at two. Andrew Berry spoke on Sunday, Sadly,
I had a travel nightmare on Sunday. I got there safely,
but I was not there in time for AB's presser.
Obviously I've listened to and watched the entire thing. The
(06:34):
headline for a lot of people give it is hey,
we're unlikely his words, AB's words to trade up a
number of reasons. This is my analysis. First of all,
it's going to cost so you've got to truly love
the player, and you'd have to assume the player is
cam Ward to actually give up the assets. But number two,
I think the Titans don't want to get out, and
(06:57):
I think they love cam Ward, and for them to
get out, it will cost you an arm and a leg.
It'll cost you the entire Noah's ark. We'll go back
to that, and there has never been a trade two
to one ever in the history of the NFL Draft,
so there's no real precedent. It's going to cost at
least you at least next year is one. The idea
(07:20):
that you could just flip them a third and they'll
do it is not going to work. The only way
that works, Gibbe is if the Titans are bluffing they
don't want cam Ward, and when they are on the clock,
they will literally take anything because it's you know, a
profit one way or the other and move down to two.
But I don't think that's the case.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Yeah, I go back and forth because I don't know
what the value is. Like you said, it's never happened,
so I find it hard to believe it would happen.
And unless Andrew Berry is steering us down a different direction,
it doesn't sound like this football team has an interest
in moving up to They If anything, they're gonna stand
(08:02):
padded two see what happens, or maybe they're gonna move
back to How many spots are they going to move back?
I don't really know, but I mean, I think all
the options around the table, including just staying at number two,
seeing what Tennessee does, and making a pick on Thursday night.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
The only scenario in which the Browns move up to
one is this. The Titans are bluffing, they really don't
want cam Ward, and when they are on the clock,
they let it be known to the Browns, with the
Giants or really whomever. All right, we'll get out who's
got the best offer.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
And that could happen right at eight ten. I believe
when Tennessee goes on the clock.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
I don't think that is a likely scenario, but it
is a scenario. Also a scenario the Browns go get
a veteran quarterback. There's really only one guy left, assuming
it's not Aaron Rodgers, and the Steelers are the only
option for him. That one is the guy that went
to Chipotle and got double chicken with salad. That guy,
(09:07):
he was in a Westlake Chipotle.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
He was here. I did not I wanted to actually fun.
I thought ai or I thought something someone was having
a great old time last week, given all the other
things that we had heard and talked about. But he
was indeed here. Now obviously no contact with the Browns,
and the Browns had no contact with him because the
(09:30):
rules forbid it.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
But he was in Cleveland, Andrew Berry. May it be
known that he was there for reasons other than the Browns.
I don't know what those reasons are. Maybe he thinks
he's going to eventually be with the Browns, and he
hired a realtor or pulled up Redpin on his phone.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
And just wanted to wander around, to be one of
the Cower home in Strongsville.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
I don't know. Maybe yeah, just randomly check out the
west Side. Why not? It's lovely this time, I mean
the best, it is all. I'm an east Side guy personally.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
But you know we can't be perfect.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Well that's where my family is. I understand that. But
I will say this, this season, I got to spend
a lot more time on the West side. Kind of
opened my eyes and I see, I see your opinion there.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
I mean I I my father grew up on the
East Side, so yeah, I just as did Biden. I
have to do some friendly ribbing when it comes to that.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
And I totally get it. I think I'll say it
out loud. This is a team platform. I think Kirk
Cousins is an option. I do think he's an option,
and I do think that can happen. I can also
tell you from conversations that I have had with people
around the league, Kirk Cousins would really like to know
if he's going to a team that's going to draft
a rookie quarterback high with the intent to play that
rookie quarterback, because he doesn't want to have happened this year,
(10:47):
what happened last year where he got pennixed, where the
Falcons drafted a quarterback in the top ten and eventually
handed him the keys. He doesn't want to do that.
You understand why he doesn't want to be in that situation.
The other side of it is, once we get to
and through the draft, there may not be any other
situation left and if he wants to play, it may
(11:08):
have to be here. Clearly, we've gone over and you
know this if you're a listener and a fan, that
Kevin Stefanski and Kirk Cousins have a history together in Minnesota,
and I think Kirk Cousins can play. Not a slam
of Kenny Pickett, but I'd rather have Kirk Cousins right now.
(11:28):
Kenny Pickett's a darn good second option with a guy
with twenty five career starts and still a young guy
on an affordable contract, that might be a quarterback room.
You also have to ask aloud, Gibbie, hey, if the
Browns were to draft a quarterback of the third or
fourth round with less pressure to play immediately, would Cousins
still be amenable? Those are answers that I don't know,
(11:49):
but those are the questions that will be asked as
we get to the draft.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Yeah, it's going to be fascinating to see. I mean,
it's clear that I wouldn't expect anything with Cousins to
happen till after the draft and maybe the biggest competitor
for the Browns for Kirk Cousins. If it becomes that
could be the team that's ninety minutes east of us.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Can you imagine then? No, thank you, I mean give
You's a big Steeler fan. I kid CBD inside.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Joke, lots of funny jokes, funny jokes.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Let me say this too as well. And this is
just my two cents to Browns fans. I know this
sounds odd, but I would root for Aaron Rodgers to
the Steelers. If I'm a Browns fan, I would want
that to happen because it takes some uncertainty out of
draft night. If the Steelers get Aaron Rodgers, you would
have to think, and I would never say never after
what happened in Atlanta obviously last year, but you would
(12:46):
have to think. The Steelers are out of the quarterback
game at twenty one, and now they're not the only
team of the second half of the draft that could
take a quarterback. But it changes things. And with the
Browns picking thirty three, the number one pick on Day two,
top of the second taking a team with a glaring
quarterback need off the board, twelve picks earlier would be
(13:10):
good for the Browns. Doesn't ensure they get their guy
if they want a guy at thirty three, but it
would be beneficial. So I would say, if you're a
Browns fan, you would want Aaron Rodgers to go to Pittsburgh?
Do you buy that?
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Yes? And I would also say, there's a lot of
drama and there's is that juice worth the squeeze if
you're the squealers. I don't really have an answer, but fine,
I'm great with him going there. If it all falls
apart the way it did in New York, That's where
I'm at.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
That's right. Can you imagine a Kirk Cousins Aaron Rodgers
Brown Steelers game. No, he's in no country for old men?
I mean, why not?
Speaker 3 (13:55):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
I'm older than them both, so easy for me to say,
I'm I'm wor older than both we collectively. Yeah, also
coming out, Look, there's a lot of there are a
lot of little headlines there. The doors open clearly for
Nick Chubb. I kind of have a gut feeling he
might be back, but it might be a later in
the summer thing. Don't know. Still, no real world, real answer.
(14:20):
Rather on j Okay, I don't know that. Not not
optimistic there at least I would love to have heard
brighter news. There's stadium news there obviously, mister has I'm
talking about the end of June, obviously in state funding
and potentially moving to Plan B, which would be renovation
on the lake front. That's above my pay grade. But
(14:42):
that news obviously as well, came out of the annual meeting,
and Kevin confirmed what we caught a whiff of back
in Indianapolis that the Browns, well, we did know two
road games in the post in the in the preseason,
only one at home. It was the opposite last year,
so flip this year. So those two road games are
going to be Carolina and Philly, and joint practices with
(15:06):
them both. So joint practices on the road in Carolina
on the road at Philadelphia have been down that road before,
and no Greenbrier trip. Give a sorry, I'm all right,
all wrong.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
My golf game didn't get any better from playing down
there as it did up here. So it is what
it is. I would say this, I like the joint practices,
especially because it forces us to get into pads and
go against someone else. I like how it breaks it up,
and I think, you know, if you're Kevin Stefanski, you're
(15:41):
replacing ten days where the team went to the Greenbrier.
But it was about team camaraderie and building the team
and being away from noise and distraction and everything like that.
I mean, you're essentially going to be on the road.
You got to think. We did the math the other
day in the studio. Nine days on the road with
these two trips, so I mean you're gonna be away
(16:05):
for nine You were away for ten at the Greenbrier.
So I think that this, I think it still gets
done what coach wants to do, and it gets you
going against another team to really see where you were
at and what you need to work on in advance
of week one.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
And the green Brier news was actually news out of
the combine, Kevin said it. Then the joint practices against
these two teams, the Panthers and the Eagles, is the
new news. As they would say on New Heights. One
of them will be one day, the other will be
two days. Two day joint practices. I'm not always a
big fan of because day two is when the fights happen.
(16:43):
Right Day one usually a good day of work day two. EH,
fingers crossed that we get through this. OK. But those
are the two preseason head to heads, if you will,
the Panthers and the Eagles. And then it looks like
home game Week three. Great round out.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
That means we're not going to Seattle for a seven
pm local time.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Gosh, I felt so bad for let's.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Think about that ten o'clock East Coast for a preseason.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Game, knowing to blame there for the Browns. I mean,
the Seahawks wanted that game at night on Saturday evening.
Full disclosure, I got off the play. I think I've
told this story. I was doing games for the Rams
last year, so we had a noon Central kickoff Rams
Texans in Houston. I was already home. I landed, and
I was driving home listening to the broadcast. UH, Jim
(17:33):
and Nathan and UH and draw down to the sideline
listening to the broadcast. In the first quarter when the
game kicked off. That was the final game of the preseason.
Everybody else was basically home at that point. It was awful.
Seattle is lovely, though, but still.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Not that weekend. Exactly what it is doing outside right now.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Now.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
They're known for their reign. But this was a complete
monsoon in Seattle.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Okay, much like today Anyway, I digress. Hey, there's let's
get to from the annual meeting as well on the
league side, of the rule change side and all that.
But before we do that, I want to set this up.
Kevin Stefanski had finished his roundtable with all the writers
and all the assembled media there. All the AFC coaches
do a Monday morning, seven forty five early call where
(18:18):
people gather. They call the AFC Coaches Breakfast. You sit
around the table. There really is no breakfast. But Kevin
answered all the questions about the draft and the Pro
days and this, and the that the Browns will be
in Boulder for shad Or Sanders and Travis Hunter coming
up on Friday the fourth of April this week, so
in two days from when we record this. Now, he
had a lot of stuff to do in meetings to
get back to. I grabbed Kevin for just a couple
(18:41):
of minutes. This is not the definitive sixty minute sit
down here, but this was me and coach on Monday. Kevin,
how's the annual meeting and the coach's breakfast and all
the hoopla here treating you well.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
We're in Palm Beach, Florida, so it can't be very
hard down here. As you know, this is we're in paradise,
the sun shining, it's gorgeous. So these are fun because
while you're at a beautiful setting, you're also around a
lot of your friends and you get to catch up
with a lot of people, coaches, staff, general matters. You
get to be around each other and kind of talk
(19:16):
shop for a couple of days.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
This event's always fun as well. Families are here. Is
kind of a chill, low key event and you've been
on the road for a while as well, so it's
like kind of a culmination or maybe a stop and
all of that. How is the Kevin Stefanski living out
of a suitcase scouting pro day private workout thing going.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Yeah, that living out of the suitcase thing is no fun,
but you know, this is part of it. And this
is kind of the fun part for us to get
around the country, stop at different places and check in
on these players and come down here take a breather. Here,
have my family down here with me, which is great,
and that's the other fun part. My kids get to
play with a bunch of other kids, of some coaches,
(19:53):
and it's a really it is a nice time to
kind of take a breather, if you will.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Do the boys come back to the room and say, Hey, Dad,
I here, we're gonna draft so and so.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
No, that's a good question. I should probably put them
on an intel operation, do a seaful rendezvous at the
pool and they can fill me in on all the
things that they found out.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
What do you find out when you a have the
private workouts, B take these guys to dinner. Because tape
is one thing, game film is one thing. This is
really an hr process as much as it's a football process.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
I think the tape is one thing. It's also the
most important thing. How the guy performs playing the game
is the most important. But to understand a full picture
of the player, you have to get around them, number one,
to understand what their makeup is, what.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Their aptitude is, how they work, what they're like.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
On a day to day basis. And then also the quarterback,
you want to see them throw live. So having been
to the Senior Bowl, obviously gone to some pro days,
some private workouts, you get a feel for how the
ball comes out of their hand, and that's something that's
a little bit harder to pick up when you're just.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Watching tape as anyone sitting to rule themselves out, I'll
do Carter went to less out for example, your rival
high school Jaylen Milroe is a Raven fan. Maybe somebody
had a Chipotle order you didn't like. Has anything come
up like that where you're.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Like, no, no, nothing yet, we're gonna take everybody. We're
not discriminating for any of these reasons, although that Wisow
thing is hard for me, but no, we're not going
to discriminate.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
I get asked a lot the Miles interview after he
was on the podium where I said, you know, the
quarterback plan and he had that smile, that smirk, so
mob to ask you, what did you tell him anything?
Speaker 1 (21:32):
I can't can I don't think I can repeat. I'll
hit you offline and we'll tell you. But it's a big,
well known.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Secret because he was smiling, he was happy.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Yeah, there's a lot of you know, silly seasons. So
there's a lot of looking at people's smirks and looking
at their body language and maybe what words they've used
and kind of move them all around and see if
we're sending a message. It's kind of like a subliminal
message that we're sending to everybody. But it's all right there.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
You just got to look hard. Last thing Ab said
in mobile, how impatient he was. Naturally, we all want
to draft here, right, What has this process been like
for you? And are you equally impatient? And can the
twenty fourth get here fast enough?
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Yeah? I enjoy the process. I think so much of
this is I want to get through meetings. I want
to get through April meetings with the coaches. I want
to get through our thirty visits. We get to bring
thirty guys in before the draft, so we're not even
halfway there with those visits. So I think the lead
up to the draft, maybe the week before the draft
is when you really hone in on the plan. But
(22:28):
I'm enjoying this process.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Okay, And you're not mocking the mox.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Yet not mocking the mox. You won't find me doing
any simulations in the mock draft world. I'm not opposed
to it. I respect everybody that does it, but for us,
it's really we do look at all of them and
then understanding there are some mocks that are better than others.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Kevin enjoy your time at the annual meeting, enjoy the
road show, and maybe seeing Boulder in a couple of days.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Thanks Andrew.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
All right, I think there's a distinction there about the
pro days and what you learn and what you can
get in the private workout. Private workouts are always more
important to me. Here's my analogy. Would you rather hire
somebody at a college job fair or would you rather
have a one on one interview? Pro days have value,
But please don't get caught up in this sports radio
nonsense that if you don't go to a pro day,
(23:12):
you're not doing your job. One on one interviews are
to me far more important, and you get those one
on one interviews this week in Colorado. After that, behind
the scenes, Kevin went over to talk to my good
friend Kevin Clark Omaha on ESPN and that's where they
did the Pearl Jam interview that a lot of you
have seen. And Ryan Fitzpatrick commented on Kevin's fantastic Beard Gibbee.
(23:35):
Also they were getting in there.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
I'm debating it, you know, we'll see. I give it
another few weeks and then the warmer maybe, if it
ever warms up, then I'll get rid of it because
it starts to itch and.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
I hate that, so I hate that too. Kevin also
weighed in on the debate. Right before, he and I
were talking on the tush push, and he said he
supports it. Go ahead. There's no need to ban it.
Don't ban it, just stop it. Don't try to ban
it because you can't stop it. So he was one
of the coaches that said, I am fine with it.
(24:11):
An informal poll of those in the room on Tuesday
tell you that it was right down the middle sixteen
sixteen on quote unquote banning the tush push, and don't
you need twenty four? You need twenty four? Yeah, you
need three quarters. When a vote is tabled, put your
tush on the table. The tushpush got tabled. That generally means,
(24:35):
and this isn't always the case, but it generally means, hey,
this is going to go through. We just need to
whip a couple of more votes and let's talk about
it next time. The next league meeting, the spring meeting,
is May twenty and twenty one in Minneapolis. I think
it's going to pass. Now. I'm not going to tell
you go bet your mortgage on it, but my gut
tells me Gibbie hearing what the commissioner had to say
(24:58):
on Tuesday and what rich McKay had to say on two,
when you ever hear the health and safety aspect brought
into it, I think, and it might be a challenge
to with those eight votes, but I think this is
going to pass. And I think there's a very good
chance that we have seen the end of the pushing
of the tush.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
I'll be honest with you, I don't I think you
should be rewarding coaches that come up with innovative ways
to move the football, and I think that Philly has
found that way. They've been highly successful at it. If
you want to beat them, stop it. And I just
the health and safety thing, I don't know if I buy.
(25:37):
Is there any proof?
Speaker 2 (25:38):
No, right now there is not.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Exactly, So I think you keep the Toush push. It
drives me crazy. I hate playing against it. This past
year when we were in Philadelphia. How many times they
go for it with the Toush push three or four
times on fourth down and it was maddening not being
able to stop it. But it works, it's successful.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
A lot of Eagles fans want to say this is
Philly against the World. I don't think it is. I
think there are bigger things that play here, and I'm
with you, I don't think it should be banned. But
the health and safety issue isn't necessarily stopping Jalen Hurts
on the goal line. The health and safety issue is
everything that the tush push has kind of led to.
So go back to when we were kids. So pre
(26:20):
two thousand and five, you couldn't carry the ball carrier.
You couldn't push the running back. You just couldn't do that.
Like if a running back got stopped on the five
yard line, if William Green got stopped on the five
yard line, Sean O'Hara can't come behind him and shove
them in the back and push them into the end.
So that was illegal. You just couldn't do that. It
(26:40):
wasn't part of the game. And then the rule was
changed and it took fifteen years for someone to really
master the art of it. But the Eagles did that
to their credit, and it isn't necessarily for me, the
health and safety or at least for the league. I
don't think the health and safety right there on the
line of scrimm. It's about all the other plays. So
(27:01):
let's use the Eagles as an example. Jalen Hurts throws
a ten yard hitch to DeVante Smith near the sideline.
What prevents the dB from picking up Davante Smith and
carrying him back five yards. Well, they'll blow the whistle,
they'll say for it, progress has been stopped. Well, why
is the rule different there for the defender trying to
carry the ball carrier than it is for the offense
(27:21):
trying to carry the ball carrier. It shouldn't be different.
And there is more likelihood for an injury, say pushing
a running back on the five yard line on a
long play where the running with a offensive lineman getting
ahead of steam from thirty yards behind the plane crashing
into everybody. More risk of injury there. And they don't
(27:42):
know how to make that all work universally across the field,
if that makes any sense. And I think that's the
curtain from behind which they're going to do this. But
I also think that if they do, the Eagles are
still going to be good at it because look at
the tush push. Not all the players actually have Jalen
(28:03):
Hurts pushed by somebody from behind a lot of them.
It's just great Jeff stoutlin line coaching. They've mastered it
and he's still going to score. So if they ban it,
I don't think it's going to slow the Eagles down.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
Done in the quarterback? Can't the quarterback squat like a
thousand pounds? Yes? Yes, Like there's something to be said
using the legs.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
I don't think it's gonna matter.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
I don't either. I just I can we can we
get an eye in the sky? Can we get some
things figured out with that? Can we can we focus
our time on something other than the tush push? I
think we can't.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
You want to do playoff reseating? You want to hit that,
you want to do it? By the way, I am
all for playoff reseating, See I'm not. I'm not winning
your division should truly mean something? You don't think so? No?
Speaker 3 (28:59):
Why because if you get in and you're all right,
if you get in and you're an eight and nine
team and you win your division, you're rewarded with a
home playoff game against a team that's twelve and four.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Have you ever seen this would be the NBA model? Right?
Basically you just see them whoever they finish. So let
me ask you this after watching AFC North hard knocks
last year, have you ever seen NBA Southeastern Division hard
knocks now? Because no one knows the divisions right in
the NFL, divisions mean something. Those six division games mean something.
(29:31):
There's a reason that teams that have to go overseas
never want to take a division game overseas because those
games mean something. So to say that those six head
to head rivalry games don't mean as much anymore, like
winning your division doesn't mean as much, I'm sorry. I
don't like that.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
I mean that part, Okay, I understand. I just I
think it's amazing, Like in a year where and again,
if you're lucky enough in the division, you're facing maybe
the NFC division, that's the worst division in football, and
you're able to get three or four wins just off
of that, and you're not necessarily playing the best of
(30:14):
the best. You can make the argument, but I just
I believe in rewarding wins and losses, and I can
carry your business and I get the divisional side of things.
But win your division games, go win the division, and
then you're in the playoffs, and that's bigger than anything else.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Two final thoughts on that, I don't think it's going
to pass. It also got tabled. I don't think it's
going to pass this year, but I do think that
if and when, and I think it is if not
when we get to an eighteen game season, I think
there's a chance it would pass then because I think
there'd be a concern about in a longer season, teams
(30:58):
fielding competitive rosters and playing to win late in the
season if divisions were already decided. I think there's another
unspoken side of this, and we actually could tie the
Browns to it if you go back to Week sixteen
when we got flexed out of Thursday Night in Cincinnati,
only time that's happened in two years, and the Chargers
and Broncos win, and that was a great game at
(31:19):
the end, the right decision. There are a lot of
what the NFL calls standalone windows in December, not primetime
games necessarily, but standalone games like the Black Friday game
on Amazon, or the NFL Network triple header late the
season in December, or the game that we played Week eighteen,
a Saturday ESPN doubleheader the day before the final day
(31:41):
of the season. You need good games in those standalone windows,
and the thought is it's kind of under the radar
that if we give teams something to play four, we
don't promise them a home game simply for winning the division.
That there will be more highly competitive matchups late in
(32:06):
the year for those stand alone windows because late the year,
I won't say they had trouble making the schedule, but
I could tell you that there there was some ankst
as to where do you put these games, Like, hey,
we need a good game in this window for this network.
(32:27):
Do we have one?
Speaker 3 (32:29):
No, because people at the end of the season were
sitting guys kids. City didn't play anybody for three weeks.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
And the thought is, if you told Kansas City, even
though you ran away from your division, you still need
to fight, because maybe you draw somebody now that you look.
They're normally in the conversation for the one seed, but
maybe not. Maybe there's a division which a team ran
away from in that year, what is a bad division
(33:00):
and they're going to coast down the stretch because their
division is already wrapped up for all intents and purposes.
But if you remind that team that, hey, you may
have to go on the road, then you get better
games and that would factor more if we go to eighteen.
I think that's the underlying, unspoken part of that.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
You're anning with them, everybody exactly.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Anyway, Colorado Pro Day for Iday one, see me in Boulder.
I won't be there, but the Browns will be there.
It's Kevin Stefanski, as he just told you, living out
of a suitcase on his way to Boulder, Travis Hunter,
Shador Sanders, among others in the Spotlight. It is really
(33:48):
one of the final check marks here on the path
to the draft, as they call it to the network.
But the private workouts still could be happening, and the
thirty visits do continue as we march towards the graft
or the draft or the graft. Three weeks everybody, three
weeks and three weeks to remind your friends and neighbors
(34:09):
to subscribe and to like and to share this the
best podcast available that is Jason Gibbs. My name is
Andrew Siciliano g Thank you kindly. We'll see you next time.
So long, anybody
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