February 26, 2025 • 36 mins
On season debut episode of The Best Podcast Available, Andrew Siciliano and Jason Gibbs are in Indy for the 2025 NFL Combine! Assistant GM & Vice President of Football Operations Catherine Hickman joins the show to talk the team's approach to the offseason, the crew reacts to news coming out of Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski's press conferences, and more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to another edition of the Best podcast Available. I'm
the best player available, the best podcast available. BPA is back.
Everybody is officially Draft season. It is back with the
rock of the show, the man to my left, the
man who towers above me. This is going to be
(00:21):
a bit the entire off season. It will. I'm Andrews Ciciliado.
This is the Great Gibbe Jason Gibbs. Not behind the
glass right on CBD, I know, but like here live and.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
In person, and they put me on camera at in Indy.
I was telling these guys, I haven't been in this
stadium for the combine. I've only been on Radio Row.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
They've never let you in.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
No, No, And probably there's a reason for that, and
it's probably a good reason because I'd like to cause
a little trouble periodically. But yeah, the only time I
was in here, we had Radio Row over in the
atrium and it was Jared Goff and Carson Wentz and
it was insanity at its finest. And they quickly realized
(01:12):
they couldn't keep it in the atrium and moved it
to a bigger location.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
So, for those who don't know the lay of the land, here,
the convention Center is about a block over there, and
that's where everyone sets up. That's where the podiums are.
That's where you're watching CBD every day. And then really
there's not many of any media here now at the
stadium for the drills, it's an NFL Network ESPN event
and they have those sets. And then the riff raff.
(01:37):
The media kept me over there at the convention Center.
Wasn't calling him riff raff, but you know, you just
don't need They don't want a scenario in which people
are going up to the suites and you know, grabbing
a GM or accosting a coach. It's all the scouts
down here at the stop watches where they're doing the
forty and you see that set up and you see
the table. I don't know if you can see it
(01:57):
or not because Gibbey's blocking it, but you get my point,
and then everyone watches on TV. But now you're actually
in the building, will you be working out or do
you choose like maybe Abdul Carter and others, he has
a legitimate injury to not work out here.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
At the combine. My workout was walking over here. Okay,
there's a lot of steps I've gotten my steps in.
The fitbit. I think thinks that the fitbit was put
on someone else, and the fitbit is questioning a lot
of things right now. But I've gotten my steps in.
It's good. It's good.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
I love this city. I love it.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
If you can get to anywhere indoors, if you want
to walk outside, it's actually nice enough to walk out.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Saturday degrees to day. It's beautiful. Yeah, Bobby in shorts.
Let's get to the actual content, and coming up we
will talk to Kat Hickman, Brown's assistant. G I'm really
good stuff going behind the scenes on what these draft
meetings are like, because the workouts are one thing. The
combine is about the medical and the draft meetings like
meeting these players, getting in the room, putting them on
(02:56):
the board, asking him about that time they did something
stupid in college, and trying to find out who this
player is and do we want this player as part
of our organization. Kat is really good insight is what
that process is like. Is there like a Pete Carroll
Moullman where he's dripping off his shirt? Does Kevin do that?
Hint he doesn't. But what are those meetings like, Kat
takes behind the scenes coming up a little bit later,
(03:16):
and then both Andrew Barry and Kevin Stefanski speak as
the coaches and gms always do here in Indie. We'll
get to Stefanski in a little bit. Let's hit on
Andrew Barry, who spoke on Tuesday the number one headline
and he got it out of a way immediately. Good
for him. I just want to say this, guys, and
that is nothing has changed with Miles Garrett. We still,
as he said in Mobile, do not want to trade him.
(03:38):
He was pressed repeatedly, we'll have teams cold. It's like
it doesn't matter. We do not want to trade him,
and it just doesn't matter. So nothing has changed. While
many people thought that that would be the dominant storyline
here and it is certainly in storyline, maybe Miles gets
traded this week. No, it's does Matthew Stafford get this week?
(04:00):
That is actually likely Miles not gonna happen. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Between that, you're watching Kirk Cousins. The Falcons say they're
going to keep him for now. The Browns are as
of what is today today's Wednesday Here at the NFL Combine,
you lose track of days. They're not getting rid of them.
They'll field your calls, they'll tell you thank you and
good luck somewhere else. So I think it's a great
(04:26):
move by Andrew Berry. He's under contract financially, it really
doesn't make sense to try to trade him or to
trade him. I just think it's a great move by
the organization. You're under contract playball.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
I asked another GM for another team yesterday that shall
remain nameless, and one of the teams, I'll just say
this that has people have speculated well that might be
a good fit of team that would want Miles. I said, hey,
can you just tell me this? I mean, have you
at least called, right, because that is the job of
a GM. Guys like you with your fantasy team, it
(04:59):
is your job to call your buddy and go, hey,
would you ever consider And your buddy says no, you know,
go jump in a lake. And so I said to
this GM, yeah, if you at least called, like we're texted,
how'd that go for you? And he was like, I
don't want to comment on that. I'm like like, come on,
like like you've you've at least shot a text. I
(05:21):
don't want to comment. Look, they're gonna get shut down
if you try.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
If you were a GM in the NFL, there are
thirty two of them, thirty one of them. You're not
doing your due diligence if you don't make a phone
call or send an email, just reach out and go
what would it take? And if you're Andrew Berry, sit back.
He's under contract. Let's go, we move forward, and we'll
cross another bridge if we have to at a certain point.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Yeah, And I keep getting asked, well, what's kind of happen? Guys.
It's a long off season. There are benchmarks throughout this
off season. I keep going back. If the situation was
very different to Lamar Jackson in mid March last year,
who hit send on a similar Instagram post, an IG
post or I'm sorry Twitter post in which he said,
I thank the fans of Baltimore, it's been nice. I've
(06:10):
asked for a trade. I love you guys. Very very similar. Now,
that was a bit different. We knew that Lamar Jackson's
statement was all about the money. He was also represented
by his mother. There are a lot of different things here.
He got the contract, Miles says, maintained it isn't only
about the money, but we have the start of the
new league year March ten, March twelve, negotiation on March ten,
(06:33):
the actual new league year on March twelve, and then
you have OTAs and then you have mini camps. You
got a long win.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yes, absolutely, And I mean even with David Nijoku a
few years ago, you know Najo Nayuk last year. Yeah, correct,
A lot of things can happen that the change of
player's mind. He wants to see what the organization is
going to do here going forward. And there's a lot
of questions for this Browns front office and coaching staff
as we as we approach the twenty twenty five season,
(07:02):
and we're two months from the NFL Draft, We're just
a couple weeks away from the start of free agency.
So a lot can happen between now and draft, and
then a lot more can happen between now and when
we report to training camp at the end of July.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Speaking of free agency, Andrew Berry did say, not on
the podium, but in a scrum talking to local reporters
Cleveland reporters after he got off the podium, as he
always does here, that he expects Nick Chubb to hit
free agency, which, again, the negotiation period is on Monday
the tenth, and then Wednesday, the twelfth at four pm
is the start of the newly gear. It's not exactly
(07:36):
shocking Nick's contract is up. As ab did point out,
there wasn't much more detail beyond that. He did say
that they would continue to speak to Nick Chubb's representatives.
I kind of read, and this is my reading only
as a hey, go see what the market is. Nick
is a veteran running back who has made it clear
that he wants to come back to the Browns. I
have to find the right price. I personally do think
(07:59):
that a year removed from that surgery right and nearly
two years removed from the injury, sure that he will
be a better player. It is tough out there, however,
for a veteran running back. I don't want to see
him go play anywhere else. No, we all agree. I
think they got to find that number. What does that
process look like. I just want to warn you it
(08:20):
may not be a March twelve thing. It might be
an April thing. It might be a May thing with
an open dialogue that it's he's going to be out there.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Yeah, I mean it sucks, It's part of the business.
You hope that he's back. I mean, he's given a
lot to this organization. He's one of the best running
backs in the league for a four year stretch. It's
a very tough injury to come back from. He's working
his way back. I think we all agree if anybody
can come back fully or ninety percent basically from what
(08:51):
he had, it's him. But there's still a ways to
go for him. And that's there. It goes back to
there's a lot of tough decisions for this front office
to make, especially from a salary cap standpoint, you know.
I mean that's unfortunately parting ways with jan Thornhill and
Charlie Hewlett, who had started one hundred and fifty two
games for this organization, second longest tenured player on the
football team behind Joel Botonio. You don't know what's going
(09:13):
to happen with Botonio. There's a lot of salary on
this football team right now and some tough decisions still
to be made.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
I have a feeling absolutely and they likely will happen.
Joel Potonio said that he is leaning one way, and
we'll have to find that out relatively soon because the
calendar with the extended season now and the seventeenth game
is accelerated, right. The calendar is very tight. Now. Two
(09:41):
weeks after everyone leaves New Orleans, they are flying here
to Indianapolis for the combine and then look, the franchise
tag window and the Browns are not expected to use.
The franchise tag closes next Tuesday. It's like this, they'll
sell quarterbacks here on this field behind us, you will
not see cam Ward and should Or Sanders. However, the
(10:01):
Browns are meeting with both quarterbacks here and other quarterbacks
as well. There's also the pro day for Colorado coming
up on March nineteen. That is where should Or Sanders
is expected to work out. Cam Ward's is March thirtieth,
down of Miami, and the same thing. They'll also do
private workouts. They will collect all the information possible. The
(10:22):
Browns are sitting at two and I think one thing, Gibbe,
we could agree on here as we make our way
around town these last couple of days. No one really
knows what the Titans are doing, so the Browns can
figure out who they like the best. And I mean,
i'd be a quarterback. Prepare yourself for that. But we
don't know what the Titans are gonna do. And that's
the big question mark on this draft.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
There's four main players you think at one, yeah, at
one for them, Abduel Carter Travis Hunter, the top two
quarterbacks in the NFL Draft. I don't know what direction
Tennessee's leaning. I mean their GM yesterday was saying a
couple things that were maybe I raising. I mean, they
have made comments since they were brought into the building
that they want a franchise, changing generation reality.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yes, the word now that was said in January. I
think it was very intentional. Hey, we're going to throw
that into the ether. Let that. Let that get out
there for three months and circulate. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
So, I mean there's a lot to do. But if
you're the Browns, trust your process. I mean, you have
a front office that's been in place now since twenty twenty.
You have a coaching staff that's been here since twenty twenty.
Let them do their research, let them do their jobs.
The interviews, what would you say, is the interview here?
(11:37):
What's more important? The interview here or the interview if they.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
End up coming to the facility. I think both. Okay,
the interview here is definitely significant. You put them on
the board, you ask questions, they're not a conferentt heat. Well, look,
every team's different, and we're going to talk about this
with kat Nick Sirianni, Like does Papa shot right? And
you know, everything's different. Everyone is different. Some teams are
(12:02):
like get in your face, right, not for every player.
Some teams are fun, like you got to find the
right mix for the right player. You also want to
hear some honesty, like everyone's done something stupid in their past, right,
you want to hear them own up to it and
not play mothers. And that goes for the play that
you show on the board as well. Hew, you threw
(12:23):
a pick here, explain well, the wide receiver ran the
wrong route. Not always the best answer, right, So it's
how do you deal with those situations. But the visits
to the cross Country mortgage field house or to wherever,
it's about how you work with the whole building. Are
you nice to the security guard? Are you holding the
door for other people? Not that? But it you know,
it's a job interview where you meet everybody. Yeah. Well,
(12:45):
and it's also the research part of it.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
For the Browns, you know, Glenn Cook was on Cleveland
Browns Daily earlier in the week, and he talked about, like,
you know, sending people to these colleges, finding out us
go and you go and sit in a bar and
you go, hey, person, ever been in here?
Speaker 1 (12:59):
What they like? How do they behave? You know? Are
they good people?
Speaker 2 (13:04):
You know, you go to their hometown, you talk to
their high school coach, you talk to their high school teacher.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
He's not exaggerating about it, like that's what you do. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
I mean, there's a lot of research that goes into it.
And I think that if you're the Browns, you focus
on what you have to do at number two. I'm
sure they're going to field phone calls about that number
two pick, especially if you know Tennessee doesn't take a quarterback.
Things change dramatically, I think for a number of teams
that are behind the Browns. But I think if you're
(13:34):
the Browns, you just focus on what you have to do.
You know where your weaknesses are, you know where you
have to get better. You talked about it earlier, great
quarterback spot, you got to have a quarterback. I understand
that maybe it's not in play at number two. Maybe
it's in play on day two. Maybe it's in play
on Day three. Maybe it's through free agency or a
trade or both, or.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Or all of the above meaning veteran end. Yes, you
get one and your draft one. Yeah, but you also
have to make sure that the one you're signing or
trading for is and does understand by the way you're
prime mentory or or you might be the backup to
the guy that we just can't keep on the bench
(14:17):
in September. Like all of that can and maybe is true.
And I don't know we've said this enough. Your thirty
third pick, in my eyes, is as well, maybe not
as important as two. Your thirty third pick, the first
pick of the second round. That guy's that guy should
be a Day one starter. Yeah, okay, Nick Chubb top
of the second round, right, Like, like guys like that.
(14:39):
I'm not saying you're you're drafting a borderline Hall of famer,
but you need a guy that you put in the
lineup day one and that pick. You know, people always
say between the first round of the second round, that's
the most valuable pick in the draft because everybody wants
to Those trades never happen. They they almost never happen
(15:01):
because you're sitting there going wait a minute, we had
a first round grade on this guy. Yeah, and he's
sitting there at thirty three. You can call me all
you want Friday morning, but I'm probably taking it.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
You're resetting the board Thursday nights and you're going, Okay,
what's here, what's available? What do we need to get better?
I mean, that pick is unbelievably valuable. It's not as
valuable as number two, but you're looking at hopefully two starters, Yeah,
in September from your first two picks.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
I'm not saying they have two first round picks they
don't correct, but thirty three. And it's different because it's
not a five year contract. It's a four year contract.
But thirty three is a massively significant and valuable Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
And again you're talking on a rookie salary scale, right,
which you have to do right now given your salary
cap restrictions.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Yeah. I'll take it a step further. If you look
at the four teams, four teams that made it to
the conference championship, all of them had at least five
rookies that played sixteen games. The Rams had like fourteen,
and that was the most in thirty years. So cheap labor,
(16:16):
and I'm not trying to be a wise acre here.
As my dad would say, it is significant. If you
have to devote big portions of your cap to veteran
players who have earned those contracts, then you need to
find younger and more cap friendly starter.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Youah, nine draft picks, might have eleven with compensates right
picks before it's all said and done. So there's a
lot of ways to get better real quick in the
NFL Draft.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
I'll leave it at this as we get ready for
Kat Hickman here. The defensive lineman of linebackers were on
the podium on Wednesday morning, so the first time we
had a chance to hear from the possible number one
pick in Abdual Carter penn State's number eleven. He was asked,
he said, he's the best player in the draft and
wants to go number one. Great, he's an Eagles fan,
went to the game as an Eagles fan with his
(17:02):
old man, had a jersey and everything. So he's not
getting to the Eagles, I'll tell you that. But he
he also went asked what would it be like to
play with Miles Garrett? He said it would be dope
in here. You know, it's also dope do you guys
remember My Giant, the movie with Billy Crystal and Georgie
Marrason and the NBA legend Big number seventy seven. That's
(17:26):
what this is right here. It's like this. It's like this.
I think it works like Gibby. Gibby could be sitting
on this, but this is not. No, it's not. This
is stable. But you got like I don't want you
tumbling into the sands.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
It'd be good we get some clicks. We would maybe
a hospital visit, but that's a minor d. We're here
for the medical, but we have medical, great medical here.
Our team docs are all here. We're perfect, We're good,
all right.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
And now we're actually going to talk to an adult
on the best podcast available. We've had on Andrew Barry,
we've had on Kevin Stefanski. This is gonna be my
favorite interview because like this is the real boss here.
Kat Hickman, the Browns assistant GM here the combine on
best pod available. Great to see you, great to see you,
(18:17):
Thanks for having me, of course, thank you for being here.
What combine number is this?
Speaker 3 (18:21):
This is gonna be six?
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Okay, and have you like done the sant Almos and
the shrimp cocktail yet and.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
All that not yet?
Speaker 1 (18:28):
How many miles have you walked from hotel to convention center?
Speaker 3 (18:32):
This is actually my favorite part, the steps that we get.
We just came off our February draft meetings, which are
like fourteen days of grind sitting watching tape. So I
do enjoy the steps that we get here now, walking
back and forth.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
So walking off that stake, which you probably have not
had a chance.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
To have yet, right, but it's on the itinerary.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
It is. And I say you haven't had the chance
to have it because it's literally all work. I mean,
it is around the clock here, and you mentioned draft meetings.
It's really about the meetings here. And I know fans
sometimes get disappointed, Well, this quarterback's not going to throw
or this guy's not going to work at that's the
TV show, behind the scenes on the TV show. This
is really the organizations, all thirty two organizations, first chance
(19:14):
to sit down and meet these players. Take me behind
the scenes. What are those meetings like for you?
Speaker 3 (19:22):
So you're dead on these are our opportunities to sit
with them. I mean, we do really two main things
while we're here. It's the medical information that we gather
on these players and it's really sitting down with them
with our coaches and talking football with some of them.
It's addressing some things in the character in the background,
and we want to make sure we dive into some
specifics that we've identified through the fall process and making
(19:45):
sure that we get closer to our full picture, in
our full process in getting to know these guys not
just as players, but as human beings. And that's a
huge component of what we do here.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
I've heard from so many coaches in GMS over the
years when you say, hey, how did the meeting go
with so and so, And it's all these guys are
coached so much now, right, the agents prepare them as
well they should yep. Right, that's why they're getting paid
for these scenarios.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
So how do you cut through that?
Speaker 3 (20:12):
That's a great question. I mean it's twenty minutes, so
right there, you're limited with time as well. So I
think for us, it's using the entire process to come
up with the answers that we want. So there's various avenues.
It's not just here. There's top thirty visits that we're
going to have as well. There's going to be you know,
you know, different private workouts or pro days that we're
going to attend, So we use every single opportunity to
(20:35):
keep adding pieces to the puzzle. So really here it's
a starting point. It's a great first opportunity, but it's
just one piece of many to come.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
What's the style? Are you shooting hoops like Nick sirianni
is is ab or Kevin pulling his shirt off like
Pete Carroll did famously with DK Metcalf years ago. What's
the vibe?
Speaker 3 (20:55):
Definitely not hoop likening, although I really enjoyed when he
was doing that. To check on competitiveness, I think for
us it's really about assessing where they're at from a
football standpoint. A lot of our conversations are our football
driven coaches are running a lot of those, and we're
trying to understand like where are they, how do they
(21:16):
learn best? Where are they in terms of, you know,
what they were allowed or exposed to in college? And
for some of them, again it's more background related. So
really we really tailor our plan to who the individual
is and what are some of the answers we need
to get. So I would say that it varies based
on the prospect.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Are you trying to make them uncomfortable? I don't mean
in a confrontational way, but like some guys, you do
want you do have questions about background.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
Yeah, I think it's part of some of the strategies
where you want to figure out how they're going to
respond in certain situations. I think there's a fine and
healthy balance between building trust relationships, starting to I would say,
because you don't do that in twenty minutes, but really
starting to build that relationship so you can unlock more
things as you go through the process. Because again, this
(22:05):
is one step in stone to many more steps that
we're going to do through the month of March and April.
So how can we get the most out of those?
And again it's very tailored to who we're.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Talking to, talking to Kat Hickman here, the Brons assistant
GM who leads them. Do you guys rotate like Kevin
may start or AB may start.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Yes, primarily a B and Kevin in terms of starting,
but then depending on the type of interview we're going
with the position, coach is going to run a lot
of the questions too, what is.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
And I've asked Kevin this too, what is for you
when you evaluate a quarterback. The first thing that you
want to see, the most important thing, the non negotiable
for you.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
I'll go on field, and I could give you a
non negotiable off the field as well. So let's go
on field on field, really thinking through what kind of
rollodex of situations he's acquired over the years of experience
he's had in terms of decision making and again, situations
he's seen. I think over the course of the year.
That's something that as I evaluated quarterback, I found to
(23:11):
be very important in how you can project future future
success in performance. Not that it's a perfect science, but
what kind of situation decision making process they have been
exposed to in college and for how long, I think
is pretty important.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
Do you think it's necessary to see how they've dealt
with failure adversity?
Speaker 3 (23:34):
For sure, And I don't think that's limited to quarterback.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
I think maybe more for a quarterback, especially in the
leadership position.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Yes, that's a fair point, because they are going to
be under the Spotlight's the most important position in football,
so most definitely adversity. Like what's the clutch factor? Like,
you know how many games they bring back the team?
How did you respond after an interception? How did you respond?
And you know, down moments in the season, those are
all really really important because they're going to have to
do with that in the pro Like you know, every
(24:02):
season has its ups and downs. But I really want
to emphasize that it's important at every position. I've seen
a lot of times in my career players who had
had limited adversity throughout their entire journey, either football or personal.
And not that it's a bad thing, but when it's
the first time that it hits you as a pro,
(24:22):
we got to be prepared to support them in the
best way we can. And that's what this process is.
It's about understanding their journey and being prepared to support
them at the next level.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
And it's a perfect tie. And actually to a guy
that just won a Super Bowl and you were there
when Jalen Hurts was taking fifty third overall, he certainly
faced adversity, lost a job transferred obviously didn't was in
the first round quarterback. You guys took him in the
second round. He faced that he beat that he just
won the Lombardi Do how do I phrase this philosophically?
(24:53):
If you go to the Division A round he was
the only guy that wasn't a first round pick in
the divisional round, right, the other seven were. Are you
of the book leaf? It sounds like a loaded question.
I'm not saying we've taken a quarterback at two, but
of the belief that to get there, you kind of
got a need one of those guys. Because even though
the second day quarterbacks this year are really interesting, second
(25:14):
day quarterbacks other than Jalen Hurts really don't hit that often.
I mean, Dak was a third day quarterback, but there
aren't that many examples.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
I mean, the thing I would say, I looked at
this past this past playoff, only six of the fourteen
quarterbacks on the team were an initial top fifteen selection
with the club they were playing with. So it's to
show I think it shows that, yes, that's definitely a
very viable path, but there's different ways to skin the cat.
(25:44):
And to your point, some of them may have been
first round pick but with a different team now, so
there's different methods of acquisition. And I think that's how
we like to look at everything. It's like, how can
we look at all avenues and you know, there's a
fine balance between your needs between best player available between
the value matches the slot where we're going to pick them.
So how do y'all put this together and really also
(26:07):
make sure that you get great people. The one thing
you can't miss on, you can't miss on the person.
And those are things that we are very intentional and
relentless when it comes to figuring out who these guys are,
both on and off the field.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
One more Eagles connection here. Howie Roseman said yesterday that
he is maybe uncomfortably obsessed with scouting O line, D line,
that you can't have enough O line, D line or
you of the same mind. Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
I think that's something I learned from him when I
was at the Eagles. I think they've done a phenomenal
job with their line of scrimmage. I think, I mean
some of their depth and backup players would be starting
for other teams, you know, and.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Could likely leave for free agency and do that. Yep.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
And the thing that I really admire about their process
is they say they're about the line of scrimmage and
they're going to win the trenches, But what do they
what do they do to make sure they execute that?
And they're very intentional. Relentless is a word that comes
to mind when I think of how we in player
acquisition and making sure that they take They take a
(27:14):
significant look at how they're going to build the starters
and the depth. They have one of the best offensive
line coach in the league, so the invest significant resources
and the position coach there. They invest significant time in
player development with their program Connor Barwin, who's who's leading
their efforts and making sure that they develop those guys.
So there's a lot of relentlessness and intentionality and building
(27:37):
the trenches. And I think that's why they've been so successful,
is because they that's the path and they don't deviate
from it.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
I was trying to remember the phrase it was uncomfortable obsession.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
He said, yeah, I mean, that's perfectly describing him. I
think he is about He is like that about building
a team like I rarely met someone like him who
sleep breeds. You know, you get a text at you know,
midnight because he just had an eye and we got
to work on it the next morning and it's fantastic.
So I think he's very that. If there was one
takeaway I got from him is how relentless he is
(28:07):
about team building. And that's how I aspire to be
if I get a chance to run a club.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Do you read the text at midnight or because like
personally I can't. I don't want to my night saying
I'm going to hear the vibration, I put it on
the carpet and then I don't hear the vibration. Then
I look at it at five or whenever. Yeah, I
wake up. You actually grabbed your phone at midnight?
Speaker 3 (28:24):
If I'm up, yes, If I'm not, it's going to
go to the next day. But if I'm up, I'm
pretty late late night work because I have young kids,
so I normally have to like put them down and
go back to work for a minute. So if I'm up, yes,
I do it. Just get my mind rolling though, so
sometimes those leads to not much sleep at night. But
that's what I love doing, so I definitely don't mind it.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Are you getting I was talking before? You should get
a Super Bowl ring, by the way, because you were
there when half this team was built.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
I mean, it's credit to them, it's credit to the coast,
of course, and I'm just happy for them.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Of course. But if you got a package on your
front door that you had to sign for, that would
also be nice. I'm saying it. You don't have to say. Finally,
who's your favorite Canadian in this draft?
Speaker 3 (29:13):
That's a great question.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
Do you need names? There's the wide receivert stamperd, there's
Nathan Rooked, the quarterback in Indiana. It's not Actually there's
Elger's mother, although he's probably not gonna get drafted. The
quarterback was at the Senior boyd. Yes, it's not a
long list this year.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
It's not, and it hasn't been. It probably hasn't been
as much as like in previous years. But what I
will say is I've been incredibly impressed with how much
more Canadian talent we can get on the side of
the border. And whether they get drafted or they make
it onto a teams or even through the CFL scouting process,
some guys, you know, make their way for a couple
(29:49):
of years or whatnot. Like I mean, Alex Singleton is
always going to be one that I was with him.
I mean I was not with the Stampeders when you
was in the CFL, but I was in the CFL
at the same time as him, and then we both
went to the Eagles, and I think his story is
like so wonderful and I love to see more Canadian
succeed in involvement in the NFL because there's talent out
(30:10):
there too, not as deep as the pool here, but
there's definitely some great talents.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Well, there's plenty of talent on this field when they
get going, when the workouts get going. With over three
hundred players of the Combine, maybe not like three hundred
and twenty nine actually working out, but they'll be working
out here and you can keep on following them at
Cleveland Browns dot com. And Kat Hickman will be here
for all of them. Thank you for joining the best
part of ill Thank you. Great stuff there from Kat
Hickman taking you behind the curtain er into the suite.
(30:36):
All the teams have suites here in Indianapolis where they
are meeting with the players, not just the quarterbacks. It's
more than just the quarterbacks, but all of the players,
over three hundred of them at the Combine. Did you notice,
through the magic of television or if you're listening to
the audio version, we'll paint the picture for you. We
have gone from Lucas Oil Stadium to Jason Gibbs inside
(30:59):
the Media Center. This is a room full. If you
can look behind us of media, interviewing media. That's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
I think Kyle brand on Good Morning Football summed up
exactly how this goes. Quick conversations, always looking over the shoulder,
maybe for the next person to talk to. When'd you
get here? He's taking the super Bowl? But no, they
totally apply as they apply.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
And I can tell you that we are staying at
a hotel downtown where we get Marrio points. There's like
ten of them, so good luck figuring that out. Anyway,
moving on, you get a lot of points on this trip. Yeah,
I know it's a good one. Good for you. Andrew
Berry spoke. We spoke of his press conference earlier on
the pod. Kevin Stefanski did his media session earlier this afternoon.
(31:48):
We're taping this on Wednesday. Hit some of the same
things AB did. Not a lot of clarity on Nick
Chubby is going to hit the free agent market. Kevin
Sevanski also added no Greenbrier this year. They've been two
previous training camp trips. I know you're upset to West Virginia.
Also sounds like joint practices, not one, but more than one.
(32:12):
Not ready yet to announce those for later in the
summer when we get to training camp. Also, he talked
about the quarterbacks. The Browns did meet with Shador Sanders
today Wednesday. They have also met with camp Ward in Indianapolis.
Stefanski said he is impressed with both different guys, different personalities,
but he was impressed with both. What goes into that meeting,
(32:34):
Kat Hickman told you a little bit on the board,
a little bit like just get to know you.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Yeah, absolutely, And we had a number of guys on
Cleveland Browns Daily today and that's what coach said it himself.
You know, this is a process where for some of
these guys, it started with the Senior Bowl and getting
to know some of those seniors, getting to know him
a little bit more here, doing some more research as
we talked about earlier on the podcast, at their homes
where they grew up, at their colleges, and then you'll
(33:02):
have the individual visits and the individual workouts, and then
you'll have the workouts at their respective universities. So a
lot goes into it still and we've worked two months away.
We're gonna jam pack a lot of stuff here in
the next couple months to determine who the Browns eventually
end up taking it to pick number two.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
And Stefanski did say that he will be on the
road for these pro days you haven't always seen that.
He didn't say which ones. I think it's safe to
assume that for the quarterbacks potentially at the top of
the draft. And I don't want to speak for him,
but those would be ones you would want to attend.
March nineteenth and Colorado March thirty attentatively scheduled down there
(33:40):
at Miami. What else stood out? He got pressed a
lot about is this a return to the old offense?
As he said last month on the Bark Tank, It's
not exactly a return because you want to move forward.
But I think a lot of the stuff that this
team valued a few years ago are going to be
(34:00):
things in the offense they value moving forward.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
And he said it on Cleveland Brown's Daily. Really excited
to have Tommy Reese in the fold as his OC
and excited to see what he can do. He's well
thought of at the highest levels. Nick Saban, Bill Belichick,
a lot of some of the top coaches in the
profession with a lot of great things to say about
Tommy Reese going to get his chance now as the
OC and I think it's going to be a really
(34:23):
good thing for Kevin Stefanski in this offense.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
And I buried the lead a bit. Stefanski also, much
like Andrew Berry said, don't want to trade Miles Garrett
and use the phrase present and future. He says Miles
is a part of the team's present and a part
of the team's future. Not going to trade him. Said
he has spoken to Miles, but was not corroll back
(34:45):
the curtain as to how those conversations.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
I mean, it's been uniformish since yesterday when Ab talked
and today when Kevin Stefanski talked Miles Garrett at Cleveland Brown,
and we're figuring that he's going to be a Cleveland
Brown for a few more years to come in least.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
But that said, everybody that stops either of us walking
down the street in Indianapolis will ask, yes, to whom
is he getting traded? And I will say the same thing,
not getting traded. No, right, not going anywhere, not as
far as I know. If training camp or you can go, well,
it's a long offseason. Conversations can be revisited. The team
(35:21):
is firm right now, not getting traded. We're also firm
that we invite you back to another edition of best
podcast Available. I mean, there are a lot of NFL
memes going around right now. This one might be the best.
Right that my giant, Well done, Jeff, That one might
be the best. We are back for a Friday edition
where the aforementioned Tommy Reese, the Browns new offensive coordinator,
(35:44):
is scheduled to join. Just but how many years ago, seven, eight, nine,
maybe ten years ago he was getting ready for the combine.
Now he's here as the Browns OC And I'll be
better at math once I remember how old Tommy is.
And that will come up on Friday. For Jason Gibbs,
I'm andrews cciliano. This is we hope, the best podcast
(36:10):
for Mail
Speaker 2 (36:16):
M
Welcome to another edition of the Best podcast Available. I'm
the best player available, the best podcast available. BPA is back.
Everybody is officially Draft season. It is back with the
rock of the show, the man to my left, the
man who towers above me. This is going to be
(00:21):
a bit the entire off season. It will. I'm Andrews Ciciliado.
This is the Great Gibbe Jason Gibbs. Not behind the
glass right on CBD, I know, but like here live and.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
In person, and they put me on camera at in Indy.
I was telling these guys, I haven't been in this
stadium for the combine. I've only been on Radio Row.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
They've never let you in.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
No, No, And probably there's a reason for that, and
it's probably a good reason because I'd like to cause
a little trouble periodically. But yeah, the only time I
was in here, we had Radio Row over in the
atrium and it was Jared Goff and Carson Wentz and
it was insanity at its finest. And they quickly realized
(01:12):
they couldn't keep it in the atrium and moved it
to a bigger location.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
So, for those who don't know the lay of the land, here,
the convention Center is about a block over there, and
that's where everyone sets up. That's where the podiums are.
That's where you're watching CBD every day. And then really
there's not many of any media here now at the
stadium for the drills, it's an NFL Network ESPN event
and they have those sets. And then the riff raff.
(01:37):
The media kept me over there at the convention Center.
Wasn't calling him riff raff, but you know, you just
don't need They don't want a scenario in which people
are going up to the suites and you know, grabbing
a GM or accosting a coach. It's all the scouts
down here at the stop watches where they're doing the
forty and you see that set up and you see
the table. I don't know if you can see it
(01:57):
or not because Gibbey's blocking it, but you get my point,
and then everyone watches on TV. But now you're actually
in the building, will you be working out or do
you choose like maybe Abdul Carter and others, he has
a legitimate injury to not work out here.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
At the combine. My workout was walking over here. Okay,
there's a lot of steps I've gotten my steps in.
The fitbit. I think thinks that the fitbit was put
on someone else, and the fitbit is questioning a lot
of things right now. But I've gotten my steps in.
It's good. It's good.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
I love this city. I love it.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
If you can get to anywhere indoors, if you want
to walk outside, it's actually nice enough to walk out.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Saturday degrees to day. It's beautiful. Yeah, Bobby in shorts.
Let's get to the actual content, and coming up we
will talk to Kat Hickman, Brown's assistant. G I'm really
good stuff going behind the scenes on what these draft
meetings are like, because the workouts are one thing. The
combine is about the medical and the draft meetings like
meeting these players, getting in the room, putting them on
(02:56):
the board, asking him about that time they did something
stupid in college, and trying to find out who this
player is and do we want this player as part
of our organization. Kat is really good insight is what
that process is like. Is there like a Pete Carroll
Moullman where he's dripping off his shirt? Does Kevin do that?
Hint he doesn't. But what are those meetings like, Kat
takes behind the scenes coming up a little bit later,
(03:16):
and then both Andrew Barry and Kevin Stefanski speak as
the coaches and gms always do here in Indie. We'll
get to Stefanski in a little bit. Let's hit on
Andrew Barry, who spoke on Tuesday the number one headline
and he got it out of a way immediately. Good
for him. I just want to say this, guys, and
that is nothing has changed with Miles Garrett. We still,
as he said in Mobile, do not want to trade him.
(03:38):
He was pressed repeatedly, we'll have teams cold. It's like
it doesn't matter. We do not want to trade him,
and it just doesn't matter. So nothing has changed. While
many people thought that that would be the dominant storyline
here and it is certainly in storyline, maybe Miles gets
traded this week. No, it's does Matthew Stafford get this week?
(04:00):
That is actually likely Miles not gonna happen. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Between that, you're watching Kirk Cousins. The Falcons say they're
going to keep him for now. The Browns are as
of what is today today's Wednesday Here at the NFL Combine,
you lose track of days. They're not getting rid of them.
They'll field your calls, they'll tell you thank you and
good luck somewhere else. So I think it's a great
(04:26):
move by Andrew Berry. He's under contract financially, it really
doesn't make sense to try to trade him or to
trade him. I just think it's a great move by
the organization. You're under contract playball.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
I asked another GM for another team yesterday that shall
remain nameless, and one of the teams, I'll just say
this that has people have speculated well that might be
a good fit of team that would want Miles. I said, hey,
can you just tell me this? I mean, have you
at least called, right, because that is the job of
a GM. Guys like you with your fantasy team, it
(04:59):
is your job to call your buddy and go, hey,
would you ever consider And your buddy says no, you know,
go jump in a lake. And so I said to
this GM, yeah, if you at least called, like we're texted,
how'd that go for you? And he was like, I
don't want to comment on that. I'm like like, come on,
like like you've you've at least shot a text. I
(05:21):
don't want to comment. Look, they're gonna get shut down
if you try.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
If you were a GM in the NFL, there are
thirty two of them, thirty one of them. You're not
doing your due diligence if you don't make a phone
call or send an email, just reach out and go
what would it take? And if you're Andrew Berry, sit back.
He's under contract. Let's go, we move forward, and we'll
cross another bridge if we have to at a certain point.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Yeah, And I keep getting asked, well, what's kind of happen? Guys.
It's a long off season. There are benchmarks throughout this
off season. I keep going back. If the situation was
very different to Lamar Jackson in mid March last year,
who hit send on a similar Instagram post, an IG
post or I'm sorry Twitter post in which he said,
I thank the fans of Baltimore, it's been nice. I've
(06:10):
asked for a trade. I love you guys. Very very similar. Now,
that was a bit different. We knew that Lamar Jackson's
statement was all about the money. He was also represented
by his mother. There are a lot of different things here.
He got the contract, Miles says, maintained it isn't only
about the money, but we have the start of the
new league year March ten, March twelve, negotiation on March ten,
(06:33):
the actual new league year on March twelve, and then
you have OTAs and then you have mini camps. You
got a long win.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yes, absolutely, And I mean even with David Nijoku a
few years ago, you know Najo Nayuk last year. Yeah, correct,
A lot of things can happen that the change of
player's mind. He wants to see what the organization is
going to do here going forward. And there's a lot
of questions for this Browns front office and coaching staff
as we as we approach the twenty twenty five season,
(07:02):
and we're two months from the NFL Draft, We're just
a couple weeks away from the start of free agency.
So a lot can happen between now and draft, and
then a lot more can happen between now and when
we report to training camp at the end of July.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Speaking of free agency, Andrew Berry did say, not on
the podium, but in a scrum talking to local reporters
Cleveland reporters after he got off the podium, as he
always does here, that he expects Nick Chubb to hit
free agency, which, again, the negotiation period is on Monday
the tenth, and then Wednesday, the twelfth at four pm
is the start of the newly gear. It's not exactly
(07:36):
shocking Nick's contract is up. As ab did point out,
there wasn't much more detail beyond that. He did say
that they would continue to speak to Nick Chubb's representatives.
I kind of read, and this is my reading only
as a hey, go see what the market is. Nick
is a veteran running back who has made it clear
that he wants to come back to the Browns. I
have to find the right price. I personally do think
(07:59):
that a year removed from that surgery right and nearly
two years removed from the injury, sure that he will
be a better player. It is tough out there, however,
for a veteran running back. I don't want to see
him go play anywhere else. No, we all agree. I
think they got to find that number. What does that
process look like. I just want to warn you it
(08:20):
may not be a March twelve thing. It might be
an April thing. It might be a May thing with
an open dialogue that it's he's going to be out there.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Yeah, I mean it sucks, It's part of the business.
You hope that he's back. I mean, he's given a
lot to this organization. He's one of the best running
backs in the league for a four year stretch. It's
a very tough injury to come back from. He's working
his way back. I think we all agree if anybody
can come back fully or ninety percent basically from what
(08:51):
he had, it's him. But there's still a ways to
go for him. And that's there. It goes back to
there's a lot of tough decisions for this front office
to make, especially from a salary cap standpoint, you know.
I mean that's unfortunately parting ways with jan Thornhill and
Charlie Hewlett, who had started one hundred and fifty two
games for this organization, second longest tenured player on the
football team behind Joel Botonio. You don't know what's going
(09:13):
to happen with Botonio. There's a lot of salary on
this football team right now and some tough decisions still
to be made.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
I have a feeling absolutely and they likely will happen.
Joel Potonio said that he is leaning one way, and
we'll have to find that out relatively soon because the
calendar with the extended season now and the seventeenth game
is accelerated, right. The calendar is very tight. Now. Two
(09:41):
weeks after everyone leaves New Orleans, they are flying here
to Indianapolis for the combine and then look, the franchise
tag window and the Browns are not expected to use.
The franchise tag closes next Tuesday. It's like this, they'll
sell quarterbacks here on this field behind us, you will
not see cam Ward and should Or Sanders. However, the
(10:01):
Browns are meeting with both quarterbacks here and other quarterbacks
as well. There's also the pro day for Colorado coming
up on March nineteen. That is where should Or Sanders
is expected to work out. Cam Ward's is March thirtieth,
down of Miami, and the same thing. They'll also do
private workouts. They will collect all the information possible. The
(10:22):
Browns are sitting at two and I think one thing, Gibbe,
we could agree on here as we make our way
around town these last couple of days. No one really
knows what the Titans are doing, so the Browns can
figure out who they like the best. And I mean,
i'd be a quarterback. Prepare yourself for that. But we
don't know what the Titans are gonna do. And that's
the big question mark on this draft.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
There's four main players you think at one, yeah, at
one for them, Abduel Carter Travis Hunter, the top two
quarterbacks in the NFL Draft. I don't know what direction
Tennessee's leaning. I mean their GM yesterday was saying a
couple things that were maybe I raising. I mean, they
have made comments since they were brought into the building
that they want a franchise, changing generation reality.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yes, the word now that was said in January. I
think it was very intentional. Hey, we're going to throw
that into the ether. Let that. Let that get out
there for three months and circulate. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
So, I mean there's a lot to do. But if
you're the Browns, trust your process. I mean, you have
a front office that's been in place now since twenty twenty.
You have a coaching staff that's been here since twenty twenty.
Let them do their research, let them do their jobs.
The interviews, what would you say, is the interview here?
(11:37):
What's more important? The interview here or the interview if they.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
End up coming to the facility. I think both. Okay,
the interview here is definitely significant. You put them on
the board, you ask questions, they're not a conferentt heat. Well, look,
every team's different, and we're going to talk about this
with kat Nick Sirianni, Like does Papa shot right? And
you know, everything's different. Everyone is different. Some teams are
(12:02):
like get in your face, right, not for every player.
Some teams are fun, like you got to find the
right mix for the right player. You also want to
hear some honesty, like everyone's done something stupid in their past, right,
you want to hear them own up to it and
not play mothers. And that goes for the play that
you show on the board as well. Hew, you threw
(12:23):
a pick here, explain well, the wide receiver ran the
wrong route. Not always the best answer, right, So it's
how do you deal with those situations. But the visits
to the cross Country mortgage field house or to wherever,
it's about how you work with the whole building. Are
you nice to the security guard? Are you holding the
door for other people? Not that? But it you know,
it's a job interview where you meet everybody. Yeah. Well,
(12:45):
and it's also the research part of it.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
For the Browns, you know, Glenn Cook was on Cleveland
Browns Daily earlier in the week, and he talked about, like,
you know, sending people to these colleges, finding out us
go and you go and sit in a bar and
you go, hey, person, ever been in here?
Speaker 1 (12:59):
What they like? How do they behave? You know? Are
they good people?
Speaker 2 (13:04):
You know, you go to their hometown, you talk to
their high school coach, you talk to their high school teacher.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
He's not exaggerating about it, like that's what you do. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
I mean, there's a lot of research that goes into it.
And I think that if you're the Browns, you focus
on what you have to do at number two. I'm
sure they're going to field phone calls about that number
two pick, especially if you know Tennessee doesn't take a quarterback.
Things change dramatically, I think for a number of teams
that are behind the Browns. But I think if you're
(13:34):
the Browns, you just focus on what you have to do.
You know where your weaknesses are, you know where you
have to get better. You talked about it earlier, great
quarterback spot, you got to have a quarterback. I understand
that maybe it's not in play at number two. Maybe
it's in play on day two. Maybe it's in play
on Day three. Maybe it's through free agency or a
trade or both, or.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Or all of the above meaning veteran end. Yes, you
get one and your draft one. Yeah, but you also
have to make sure that the one you're signing or
trading for is and does understand by the way you're
prime mentory or or you might be the backup to
the guy that we just can't keep on the bench
(14:17):
in September. Like all of that can and maybe is true.
And I don't know we've said this enough. Your thirty
third pick, in my eyes, is as well, maybe not
as important as two. Your thirty third pick, the first
pick of the second round. That guy's that guy should
be a Day one starter. Yeah, okay, Nick Chubb top
of the second round, right, Like, like guys like that.
(14:39):
I'm not saying you're you're drafting a borderline Hall of famer,
but you need a guy that you put in the
lineup day one and that pick. You know, people always
say between the first round of the second round, that's
the most valuable pick in the draft because everybody wants
to Those trades never happen. They they almost never happen
(15:01):
because you're sitting there going wait a minute, we had
a first round grade on this guy. Yeah, and he's
sitting there at thirty three. You can call me all
you want Friday morning, but I'm probably taking it.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
You're resetting the board Thursday nights and you're going, Okay,
what's here, what's available? What do we need to get better?
I mean, that pick is unbelievably valuable. It's not as
valuable as number two, but you're looking at hopefully two starters, Yeah,
in September from your first two picks.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
I'm not saying they have two first round picks they
don't correct, but thirty three. And it's different because it's
not a five year contract. It's a four year contract.
But thirty three is a massively significant and valuable Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
And again you're talking on a rookie salary scale, right,
which you have to do right now given your salary
cap restrictions.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Yeah. I'll take it a step further. If you look
at the four teams, four teams that made it to
the conference championship, all of them had at least five
rookies that played sixteen games. The Rams had like fourteen,
and that was the most in thirty years. So cheap labor,
(16:16):
and I'm not trying to be a wise acre here.
As my dad would say, it is significant. If you
have to devote big portions of your cap to veteran
players who have earned those contracts, then you need to
find younger and more cap friendly starter.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Youah, nine draft picks, might have eleven with compensates right
picks before it's all said and done. So there's a
lot of ways to get better real quick in the
NFL Draft.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
I'll leave it at this as we get ready for
Kat Hickman here. The defensive lineman of linebackers were on
the podium on Wednesday morning, so the first time we
had a chance to hear from the possible number one
pick in Abdual Carter penn State's number eleven. He was asked,
he said, he's the best player in the draft and
wants to go number one. Great, he's an Eagles fan,
went to the game as an Eagles fan with his
(17:02):
old man, had a jersey and everything. So he's not
getting to the Eagles, I'll tell you that. But he
he also went asked what would it be like to
play with Miles Garrett? He said it would be dope
in here. You know, it's also dope do you guys
remember My Giant, the movie with Billy Crystal and Georgie
Marrason and the NBA legend Big number seventy seven. That's
(17:26):
what this is right here. It's like this. It's like this.
I think it works like Gibby. Gibby could be sitting
on this, but this is not. No, it's not. This
is stable. But you got like I don't want you
tumbling into the sands.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
It'd be good we get some clicks. We would maybe
a hospital visit, but that's a minor d. We're here
for the medical, but we have medical, great medical here.
Our team docs are all here. We're perfect, We're good,
all right.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
And now we're actually going to talk to an adult
on the best podcast available. We've had on Andrew Barry,
we've had on Kevin Stefanski. This is gonna be my
favorite interview because like this is the real boss here.
Kat Hickman, the Browns assistant GM here the combine on
best pod available. Great to see you, great to see you,
(18:17):
Thanks for having me, of course, thank you for being here.
What combine number is this?
Speaker 3 (18:21):
This is gonna be six?
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Okay, and have you like done the sant Almos and
the shrimp cocktail yet and.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
All that not yet?
Speaker 1 (18:28):
How many miles have you walked from hotel to convention center?
Speaker 3 (18:32):
This is actually my favorite part, the steps that we get.
We just came off our February draft meetings, which are
like fourteen days of grind sitting watching tape. So I
do enjoy the steps that we get here now, walking
back and forth.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
So walking off that stake, which you probably have not
had a chance.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
To have yet, right, but it's on the itinerary.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
It is. And I say you haven't had the chance
to have it because it's literally all work. I mean,
it is around the clock here, and you mentioned draft meetings.
It's really about the meetings here. And I know fans
sometimes get disappointed, Well, this quarterback's not going to throw
or this guy's not going to work at that's the
TV show, behind the scenes on the TV show. This
is really the organizations, all thirty two organizations, first chance
(19:14):
to sit down and meet these players. Take me behind
the scenes. What are those meetings like for you?
Speaker 3 (19:22):
So you're dead on these are our opportunities to sit
with them. I mean, we do really two main things
while we're here. It's the medical information that we gather
on these players and it's really sitting down with them
with our coaches and talking football with some of them.
It's addressing some things in the character in the background,
and we want to make sure we dive into some
specifics that we've identified through the fall process and making
(19:45):
sure that we get closer to our full picture, in
our full process in getting to know these guys not
just as players, but as human beings. And that's a
huge component of what we do here.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
I've heard from so many coaches in GMS over the
years when you say, hey, how did the meeting go
with so and so, And it's all these guys are
coached so much now, right, the agents prepare them as
well they should yep. Right, that's why they're getting paid
for these scenarios.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
So how do you cut through that?
Speaker 3 (20:12):
That's a great question. I mean it's twenty minutes, so
right there, you're limited with time as well. So I
think for us, it's using the entire process to come
up with the answers that we want. So there's various avenues.
It's not just here. There's top thirty visits that we're
going to have as well. There's going to be you know,
you know, different private workouts or pro days that we're
going to attend, So we use every single opportunity to
(20:35):
keep adding pieces to the puzzle. So really here it's
a starting point. It's a great first opportunity, but it's
just one piece of many to come.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
What's the style? Are you shooting hoops like Nick sirianni
is is ab or Kevin pulling his shirt off like
Pete Carroll did famously with DK Metcalf years ago. What's
the vibe?
Speaker 3 (20:55):
Definitely not hoop likening, although I really enjoyed when he
was doing that. To check on competitiveness, I think for
us it's really about assessing where they're at from a
football standpoint. A lot of our conversations are our football
driven coaches are running a lot of those, and we're
trying to understand like where are they, how do they
(21:16):
learn best? Where are they in terms of, you know,
what they were allowed or exposed to in college? And
for some of them, again it's more background related. So
really we really tailor our plan to who the individual
is and what are some of the answers we need
to get. So I would say that it varies based
on the prospect.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Are you trying to make them uncomfortable? I don't mean
in a confrontational way, but like some guys, you do
want you do have questions about background.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
Yeah, I think it's part of some of the strategies
where you want to figure out how they're going to
respond in certain situations. I think there's a fine and
healthy balance between building trust relationships, starting to I would say,
because you don't do that in twenty minutes, but really
starting to build that relationship so you can unlock more
things as you go through the process. Because again, this
(22:05):
is one step in stone to many more steps that
we're going to do through the month of March and April.
So how can we get the most out of those?
And again it's very tailored to who we're.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Talking to, talking to Kat Hickman here, the Brons assistant
GM who leads them. Do you guys rotate like Kevin
may start or AB may start.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Yes, primarily a B and Kevin in terms of starting,
but then depending on the type of interview we're going
with the position, coach is going to run a lot
of the questions too, what is.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
And I've asked Kevin this too, what is for you
when you evaluate a quarterback. The first thing that you
want to see, the most important thing, the non negotiable
for you.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
I'll go on field, and I could give you a
non negotiable off the field as well. So let's go
on field on field, really thinking through what kind of
rollodex of situations he's acquired over the years of experience
he's had in terms of decision making and again, situations
he's seen. I think over the course of the year.
That's something that as I evaluated quarterback, I found to
(23:11):
be very important in how you can project future future
success in performance. Not that it's a perfect science, but
what kind of situation decision making process they have been
exposed to in college and for how long, I think
is pretty important.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
Do you think it's necessary to see how they've dealt
with failure adversity?
Speaker 3 (23:34):
For sure, And I don't think that's limited to quarterback.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
I think maybe more for a quarterback, especially in the
leadership position.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Yes, that's a fair point, because they are going to
be under the Spotlight's the most important position in football,
so most definitely adversity. Like what's the clutch factor? Like,
you know how many games they bring back the team?
How did you respond after an interception? How did you respond?
And you know, down moments in the season, those are
all really really important because they're going to have to
do with that in the pro Like you know, every
(24:02):
season has its ups and downs. But I really want
to emphasize that it's important at every position. I've seen
a lot of times in my career players who had
had limited adversity throughout their entire journey, either football or personal.
And not that it's a bad thing, but when it's
the first time that it hits you as a pro,
(24:22):
we got to be prepared to support them in the
best way we can. And that's what this process is.
It's about understanding their journey and being prepared to support
them at the next level.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
And it's a perfect tie. And actually to a guy
that just won a Super Bowl and you were there
when Jalen Hurts was taking fifty third overall, he certainly
faced adversity, lost a job transferred obviously didn't was in
the first round quarterback. You guys took him in the
second round. He faced that he beat that he just
won the Lombardi Do how do I phrase this philosophically?
(24:53):
If you go to the Division A round he was
the only guy that wasn't a first round pick in
the divisional round, right, the other seven were. Are you
of the book leaf? It sounds like a loaded question.
I'm not saying we've taken a quarterback at two, but
of the belief that to get there, you kind of
got a need one of those guys. Because even though
the second day quarterbacks this year are really interesting, second
(25:14):
day quarterbacks other than Jalen Hurts really don't hit that often.
I mean, Dak was a third day quarterback, but there
aren't that many examples.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
I mean, the thing I would say, I looked at
this past this past playoff, only six of the fourteen
quarterbacks on the team were an initial top fifteen selection
with the club they were playing with. So it's to
show I think it shows that, yes, that's definitely a
very viable path, but there's different ways to skin the cat.
(25:44):
And to your point, some of them may have been
first round pick but with a different team now, so
there's different methods of acquisition. And I think that's how
we like to look at everything. It's like, how can
we look at all avenues and you know, there's a
fine balance between your needs between best player available between
the value matches the slot where we're going to pick them.
So how do y'all put this together and really also
(26:07):
make sure that you get great people. The one thing
you can't miss on, you can't miss on the person.
And those are things that we are very intentional and
relentless when it comes to figuring out who these guys are,
both on and off the field.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
One more Eagles connection here. Howie Roseman said yesterday that
he is maybe uncomfortably obsessed with scouting O line, D line,
that you can't have enough O line, D line or
you of the same mind. Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
I think that's something I learned from him when I
was at the Eagles. I think they've done a phenomenal
job with their line of scrimmage. I think, I mean
some of their depth and backup players would be starting
for other teams, you know, and.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Could likely leave for free agency and do that. Yep.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
And the thing that I really admire about their process
is they say they're about the line of scrimmage and
they're going to win the trenches, But what do they
what do they do to make sure they execute that?
And they're very intentional. Relentless is a word that comes
to mind when I think of how we in player
acquisition and making sure that they take They take a
(27:14):
significant look at how they're going to build the starters
and the depth. They have one of the best offensive
line coach in the league, so the invest significant resources
and the position coach there. They invest significant time in
player development with their program Connor Barwin, who's who's leading
their efforts and making sure that they develop those guys.
So there's a lot of relentlessness and intentionality and building
(27:37):
the trenches. And I think that's why they've been so successful,
is because they that's the path and they don't deviate
from it.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
I was trying to remember the phrase it was uncomfortable obsession.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
He said, yeah, I mean, that's perfectly describing him. I
think he is about He is like that about building
a team like I rarely met someone like him who
sleep breeds. You know, you get a text at you know,
midnight because he just had an eye and we got
to work on it the next morning and it's fantastic.
So I think he's very that. If there was one
takeaway I got from him is how relentless he is
(28:07):
about team building. And that's how I aspire to be
if I get a chance to run a club.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Do you read the text at midnight or because like
personally I can't. I don't want to my night saying
I'm going to hear the vibration, I put it on
the carpet and then I don't hear the vibration. Then
I look at it at five or whenever. Yeah, I
wake up. You actually grabbed your phone at midnight?
Speaker 3 (28:24):
If I'm up, yes, If I'm not, it's going to
go to the next day. But if I'm up, I'm
pretty late late night work because I have young kids,
so I normally have to like put them down and
go back to work for a minute. So if I'm up, yes,
I do it. Just get my mind rolling though, so
sometimes those leads to not much sleep at night. But
that's what I love doing, so I definitely don't mind it.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Are you getting I was talking before? You should get
a Super Bowl ring, by the way, because you were
there when half this team was built.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
I mean, it's credit to them, it's credit to the coast,
of course, and I'm just happy for them.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Of course. But if you got a package on your
front door that you had to sign for, that would
also be nice. I'm saying it. You don't have to say. Finally,
who's your favorite Canadian in this draft?
Speaker 3 (29:13):
That's a great question.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
Do you need names? There's the wide receivert stamperd, there's
Nathan Rooked, the quarterback in Indiana. It's not Actually there's
Elger's mother, although he's probably not gonna get drafted. The
quarterback was at the Senior boyd. Yes, it's not a
long list this year.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
It's not, and it hasn't been. It probably hasn't been
as much as like in previous years. But what I
will say is I've been incredibly impressed with how much
more Canadian talent we can get on the side of
the border. And whether they get drafted or they make
it onto a teams or even through the CFL scouting process,
some guys, you know, make their way for a couple
(29:49):
of years or whatnot. Like I mean, Alex Singleton is
always going to be one that I was with him.
I mean I was not with the Stampeders when you
was in the CFL, but I was in the CFL
at the same time as him, and then we both
went to the Eagles, and I think his story is
like so wonderful and I love to see more Canadian
succeed in involvement in the NFL because there's talent out
(30:10):
there too, not as deep as the pool here, but
there's definitely some great talents.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Well, there's plenty of talent on this field when they
get going, when the workouts get going. With over three
hundred players of the Combine, maybe not like three hundred
and twenty nine actually working out, but they'll be working
out here and you can keep on following them at
Cleveland Browns dot com. And Kat Hickman will be here
for all of them. Thank you for joining the best
part of ill Thank you. Great stuff there from Kat
Hickman taking you behind the curtain er into the suite.
(30:36):
All the teams have suites here in Indianapolis where they
are meeting with the players, not just the quarterbacks. It's
more than just the quarterbacks, but all of the players,
over three hundred of them at the Combine. Did you notice,
through the magic of television or if you're listening to
the audio version, we'll paint the picture for you. We
have gone from Lucas Oil Stadium to Jason Gibbs inside
(30:59):
the Media Center. This is a room full. If you
can look behind us of media, interviewing media. That's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
I think Kyle brand on Good Morning Football summed up
exactly how this goes. Quick conversations, always looking over the shoulder,
maybe for the next person to talk to. When'd you
get here? He's taking the super Bowl? But no, they
totally apply as they apply.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
And I can tell you that we are staying at
a hotel downtown where we get Marrio points. There's like
ten of them, so good luck figuring that out. Anyway,
moving on, you get a lot of points on this trip. Yeah,
I know it's a good one. Good for you. Andrew
Berry spoke. We spoke of his press conference earlier on
the pod. Kevin Stefanski did his media session earlier this afternoon.
(31:48):
We're taping this on Wednesday. Hit some of the same
things AB did. Not a lot of clarity on Nick
Chubby is going to hit the free agent market. Kevin
Sevanski also added no Greenbrier this year. They've been two
previous training camp trips. I know you're upset to West Virginia.
Also sounds like joint practices, not one, but more than one.
(32:12):
Not ready yet to announce those for later in the
summer when we get to training camp. Also, he talked
about the quarterbacks. The Browns did meet with Shador Sanders
today Wednesday. They have also met with camp Ward in Indianapolis.
Stefanski said he is impressed with both different guys, different personalities,
but he was impressed with both. What goes into that meeting,
(32:34):
Kat Hickman told you a little bit on the board,
a little bit like just get to know you.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Yeah, absolutely, And we had a number of guys on
Cleveland Browns Daily today and that's what coach said it himself.
You know, this is a process where for some of
these guys, it started with the Senior Bowl and getting
to know some of those seniors, getting to know him
a little bit more here, doing some more research as
we talked about earlier on the podcast, at their homes
where they grew up, at their colleges, and then you'll
(33:02):
have the individual visits and the individual workouts, and then
you'll have the workouts at their respective universities. So a
lot goes into it still and we've worked two months away.
We're gonna jam pack a lot of stuff here in
the next couple months to determine who the Browns eventually
end up taking it to pick number two.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
And Stefanski did say that he will be on the
road for these pro days you haven't always seen that.
He didn't say which ones. I think it's safe to
assume that for the quarterbacks potentially at the top of
the draft. And I don't want to speak for him,
but those would be ones you would want to attend.
March nineteenth and Colorado March thirty attentatively scheduled down there
(33:40):
at Miami. What else stood out? He got pressed a
lot about is this a return to the old offense?
As he said last month on the Bark Tank, It's
not exactly a return because you want to move forward.
But I think a lot of the stuff that this
team valued a few years ago are going to be
(34:00):
things in the offense they value moving forward.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
And he said it on Cleveland Brown's Daily. Really excited
to have Tommy Reese in the fold as his OC
and excited to see what he can do. He's well
thought of at the highest levels. Nick Saban, Bill Belichick,
a lot of some of the top coaches in the
profession with a lot of great things to say about
Tommy Reese going to get his chance now as the
OC and I think it's going to be a really
(34:23):
good thing for Kevin Stefanski in this offense.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
And I buried the lead a bit. Stefanski also, much
like Andrew Berry said, don't want to trade Miles Garrett
and use the phrase present and future. He says Miles
is a part of the team's present and a part
of the team's future. Not going to trade him. Said
he has spoken to Miles, but was not corroll back
(34:45):
the curtain as to how those conversations.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
I mean, it's been uniformish since yesterday when Ab talked
and today when Kevin Stefanski talked Miles Garrett at Cleveland Brown,
and we're figuring that he's going to be a Cleveland
Brown for a few more years to come in least.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
But that said, everybody that stops either of us walking
down the street in Indianapolis will ask, yes, to whom
is he getting traded? And I will say the same thing,
not getting traded. No, right, not going anywhere, not as
far as I know. If training camp or you can go, well,
it's a long offseason. Conversations can be revisited. The team
(35:21):
is firm right now, not getting traded. We're also firm
that we invite you back to another edition of best
podcast Available. I mean, there are a lot of NFL
memes going around right now. This one might be the best.
Right that my giant, Well done, Jeff, That one might
be the best. We are back for a Friday edition
where the aforementioned Tommy Reese, the Browns new offensive coordinator,
(35:44):
is scheduled to join. Just but how many years ago, seven, eight, nine,
maybe ten years ago he was getting ready for the combine.
Now he's here as the Browns OC And I'll be
better at math once I remember how old Tommy is.
And that will come up on Friday. For Jason Gibbs,
I'm andrews cciliano. This is we hope, the best podcast
(36:10):
for Mail
Speaker 2 (36:16):
M
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