April 28, 2025 • 18 mins
Asst. GM Lance Newmark speaks to the media after the 2025 NFL Draft.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I had a few moments where I couldn't remember everybody
we signed or drafted, so I want to have a
little bit of prep here, So everybody doing good. I
just want to real quick just say thank our our
scouting staff, and our coaching staff and really our whole
(00:21):
organization for just a great three days. So much good happened,
and we had a lot of a lot of good
players that were excited about had three great days of
just teamwork and camaraderie. And I really want to thank
ownership too for our new draft room. We had. Our
(00:41):
new draft room was a major, major upgrade from what
we had dealt with in twenty twenty four. So that
was a there was there were some moments of stress
involved in getting it ready and and and making sure
everything was going to be going right, but really a
tremendous upgrade in the end, and really grateful for that.
And uh, we have really come a long way in
(01:04):
a year in terms of our our our draft room
and our process. So I guess I'll just open up
to any questions you guys have or should I go
through our picks or.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
What that's the first question, So let's go. Let's just
do that.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Yeah, well, we started off the day uh with Jalen
Lane in the fourth round from Virginia Tech. A guy
that we were really excited about organizationally, you know, across
the board, he was h you know, coaching staff, personnel staff,
just someone that we were really really excited about. We
(01:38):
had a vision for him and uh and it was
he was. He was the highest player on our board
when we got to that point, and it really was.
It was kind of a stressful wait from noon till
whenever we finally picked, because a lot of just a
lot of uh stress and and kind of mixture of
stress and hope that he was going to be there
(02:00):
for us. And when he was there, it was really
a great moment for us. And uh, just he does
a lot of great things, you know, he he did
he really helped himself in the spring with with his
testing numbers really you know, was explosive, ran really fast,
jumped really really high and far just a guy that
(02:21):
we're really excited about. He has a really unique instinct
with the ball in his hands. He's got a nose
for the sticks, some first downs, he's he's got a
really unique return skill set. So a guy that we're
we have a vision for we're excited about and I
feel like he's uh a great fit for what we're
doing here.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
And then.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Yeah, yep, yeah sure. Caine Madronald from u c l A.
A guy that really kind of a unique story where
he's he's got an offensive background and he's he's transitioned
himself into a linebacker. Really a cool athlete, tall, long, fast,
fastest linebacker at the combine ran you know, sub four five.
(03:05):
Another guy that really unique body type and and and
unique athlete in terms of testing numbers, you can to
me you can kind of feel his offensive history in
his play. I think he has a really good feel
as a coverage player, just has a unique sense and
that as a pass defender. We have a you know,
a unique situation where Ken Ken Norton coached him at UCLA,
(03:27):
so we had some great insight on what we were
getting in terms of the player and the person A.
P d Q and I went to that pro day
out in March at U c l A and had
some great conversations about him and another player hate to
beat a dead horse, but was at the top of
our board at that time when we picked. And another
one where we just had great buy in from all
(03:49):
you know, all sides of the of the evaluation process,
and uh just were really excited that he was there
for us, and and uh it made a lot of
sense for us at the time to go and take him.
And then uh in the seventh round, we took Jacory
Krossky Merit from Arizona. Bill is his nickname, And what
a what a great kid. He was in here for
(04:11):
a thirty visit the top golf deal last week or
two weeks ago, and uh, man, what a what a
cool personality, what great energy he brings to any event
or any situation.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
He's in.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Kind of a unique road to this point for him.
Where he started at Alabama State, had a couple of
nice years there, stepped up in competition to New Mexico
at New Mexico, had a great season there, and then
took another step forward to Arizona. Ran into some issues
with you know, like NCAA, you know, records and history
(04:45):
where he had there were some questions about, you know,
how much heat playing time he had at Alabama State.
So his season got cut short in twenty twenty four.
But he turned in he turned a situation that was
unfortunate into a real positive. You know, you talked the
people at Arizona and you talk to him himself when
he was here, and they have so much respect for
how he stayed engaged the whole way through the season.
(05:07):
Was a great teammate, was a great practice player, was
in meetings. It was like he didn't he knew he
wasn't gonna play on Saturday, but you would never know
it by the way he acted and prepared. Another guy
that had a great spring in terms of helping himself
with you know, uh, you know, workout, worked out really well, jumped,
you know, ran fast, tested really well, helped himself in
(05:31):
the All Star Game circuit. Just they're all different in
in in their story about coming here, but we're equally
excited about adding all three of them. Quite honestly, they
all are players that we were really really happy to add.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
With j Cory because he didn't get that senior year
or that last year at Arizona or just the one game.
How hard, how do you what do you go back
to religing with your evaluation because he's coming from a
different level and you you know, I'm sure people would
like to see him there, So just what's that evaluation
process is.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Like for him, Well, obviously you watch what he did
do this year, go back to New Mexico film. You
go through really anything you can find. You know, there's
All Star tape, there's pro Da tape, there's obviously anything
you can find to really get a great feel for
the athlete and gauge how he does against the various
levels of competition that he did face. You know, obviously
(06:24):
he only had the real limited number of snaps in
twenty twenty four, But we felt confident with the athlete
and with the skill set that he was going to
bring to us, and we had seen over the course
of two or three seasons what he was capable of
doing for us. How would you sum up this entire class,
this entire draft class. Yeah, very excited about it. You know,
it might not be a huge volume, but really excited
(06:49):
about what was available for us at each pick. And
we stayed true to our board and really stayed disciplined.
We we came into it with the mindset that we
could do that, you know, with what we had done
in free agency and with what we had done with
our roster to get to you know, the mid seventies
numbers wise and not having glaring holes everywhere, Like we
felt like we could go into this with hey, this
(07:10):
guy is the best player. He makes the most sense.
We're not you know, tied to need. We're not tied
to we have to have this And it's a great
feeling going through three days with that mindset and being
able to pay best player on the board, you know,
makes sense. Sometimes it was need and or you know,
perceive need or whatever, but we were able to do
(07:31):
what we felt was right every time without really being
forced to do something just positionally. I know every football
team always wants speed and explosiveness, but was there something
about those two traits this year that was particularly pronounced
or things that you guys were looking for. No, I mean,
obviously you always want to add as much as that
those qualities as you can. You know, the players that
(07:55):
we added, you know, really today especially, I think all
had those those qualities. I don't think I don't think
that was h that was part of it. But we
also just really liked the football players and the and
the competitors and the and the people.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
Yeah, hey, Lance, obviously with only five picks, is that
you guys can only attack so many needs. But are
you a little surprised at all that you guys didn't
come away with any kind of edge defender in this
in this year. Or was that not something that was
necessarily as high for priority as maybe other stuff.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Well, I feel like we we we like what we
have in that room. I think we're always looking to
add if we can, if the right situation, the right
opportunity presents itself, I don't think we would have not
added it. There was never a situation where we're not
going to add that. Every time we got to where
we were picking, it just made these these players made
(08:46):
the most sense for us. It wasn't we weren't going
to address edge at any point. There was never any
conversations of that, you know, of that mindset. It was
these players made the most sense for us. And like,
like I said, I we we like that room and
we like what we have there. Not certainly not closed.
You know, we have a lot of time between now
and the season, so there's there's other opportunities to potentially
(09:08):
add there. But these particular picks, we did what we
thought was best for us.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
And I was gonna ask, like, obviously, you guys are
in the middle of dealing with Udfa's right now. The
draft just ended, so it's still happening. But when you're
going through it, especially on day three, how much you
look at like the free agent the veteran free agent
market and think, Okay, we think there's a couple like
this area, there's more guys we could get. Maybe does
that factor into what you do in the later rounds
or anything al on those lines.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Sure, yeah, I think the last couple of weeks we've
really studied that hard and looked hard at that and
had some conversations with with some potential ads, you know,
So it definitely is something you think about, you know, hey,
we might be able to add this player, you know,
in May or So you certainly are always watching that board.
We'll watch we watch it every day, and we always
(09:53):
circle back to guys and see where they're at if
they you know, where there because sometimes they don't want
to do anything right now. And but that's that's that's constant.
It's it's on the It's on the wall in my office,
so I see it every morning when I walk in,
you know, and we talk about it on a literally
a daily basis.
Speaker 5 (10:08):
So, hey, Lance, so this is the second year of
you all as a leadership team together. So did you
all implement any lessons learned from last year other than
of course the new draft room? But did you all
implement any lessons learned from your process you know, last
year to this year?
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Sure, I uh, I'm trying to think of like a
Even though we did this last year together, there still
were there were some new pieces. Obviously we were in
a new venue in the room. David Blackburn wasn't here
with us for last year's draft, and he was, you know,
an integral part of what we were doing. So still
kind of meshing through things with him all the way
(10:49):
through from the day he got here till till fifteen
minutes ago, you know, So through all the meetings, through
all the you know, all the draft picks today, going
through through trying to secure UDIA phase afterwards, everything, we
definitely have we've made progress and we've definitely you know,
(11:09):
learned some things along the way in terms of process.
We're still far far from being where we want to be,
but we were making strides. And going back to your
original question, yeah, there were some differences to what we're
doing and we I think we learn every day, you know,
what works best for us and what doesn't and I
don't think that'll ever change.
Speaker 5 (11:29):
And I know you you know, at some point we'll
maybe celebrate the weekend or just say okay, on to
the next thing. So with that being said, what's what
are the next steps from like starting Monday to rookie.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Camp talking personally or or organizationally. I'm just kidding, I'm
just kidding. I'm totally I'm totally kidding. I'm totally kiding. No,
no next steps. You know, obviously it's great having the
players back, so you know, just having them around is great.
But uh, the next major thing for us will be
to just kind of circle back to with with the
(12:04):
draft class and see, there's always a couple of guys
that your shocked that they didn't get drafted. You're shocked
maybe that they're still on the street. And we have
a rookie mini camp in two weeks, so we'll look
to fill you know, those opportunities with players that maybe
are still out there tomorrow and Monday. So our scouts,
you know, when I walked in here, we're already on
the phone, like you know, agents soliciting, Like, hey, my guy,
(12:26):
I don't know if he's gonna get anywhere would you
have room in your rookie mini camp. So that's really
the next step for us is seeing what because really,
when you're talking about you're trying to track a thousand
players in the last hour where they're at, It's it's
really hard to do. So we'll see what's available for
(12:47):
us tomorrow and Monday and see if there's anybody that
we want to potentially bring in and take a look
at that maybe surprises that they're still out there.
Speaker 6 (12:57):
Hey, Lands, now that picture has been colored in a
little better now with what you all did through free
agency and now with the multiple things that you were
able to do with the draft. How do you see
this team as a whole in the building blocks and
where you want to be heading into the season.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Well, I think we're trying to get better every day,
and you know, this building is built on competition, and
I feel like we've we've built in every room we have,
you know, every position group, we've made the competition better.
We've trying to create great depth and great competition and
(13:37):
trying to put the best ninety players together that we can.
And like I talked about with Adam last week, every
player we bring in here. We sincerely have a vision
for them and feel like we're putting them in a
situation where they can potentially succeed and reach their highest
possible you know, heights as a player. So with that
(13:58):
in mind, we just try to to fill those rooms
with the best people and players we can, the best
level of competition, and you know, we'll see how it
chicks out. But I think will never be satisfied. We'll
never feel like we've reached a point where we're good
and we can not address it. I think we're always
trying to address every part of our team every day,
(14:19):
and that's just kind of our mindset is just every day,
how can we get better? How can we get better?
How can we better get better? And you know, I
feel like we're doing that every.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Day and continuing that. That's actually what I was going
to talk about. Most of the guys we spoke with today,
they talked about competition and that's what they want to
bring to the table. Do you envision this year's draft
class being able to hit the field you know early,
you know, early in the season.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
It's really hard to predict that. I think we have
hopes that all of them can impact our team this year.
The one thing I think we're really confident is they'll
be able to come in here and compete. And I
think we told them all that is that when we
draft you and when you come here, you're gonna have
a chance to compete, and whatever you earn, you earn.
But that's the one certainty is they'll be giving the
(15:10):
opportunity to compete. And what they do with that, you know,
we'll see. But I think we have hopes that they'll
all have a role and they'll all compete to have
an impact on our team in twenty twenty five and beyond.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
The Other thing is is that a lot of these
guys mention their faith and how that's carried them through,
and some of them were captains as well. Is that
something a trait that you guys are really looking for
in your players.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
It's not like a this box has to be checked
or this box has to be checked. I think we
have a really good feel, especially whatever this is fourteen
months in or fifteen months in, of what kind of
a person we want here and what kind of a
person can survive and thrive in this environment. I think
every day that we're together and that we are here
(15:56):
we figure that out more and more and more, what
kind of a person is going to really serve like,
have success here and potentially you know, reach their highest
heights like I talked about, you know, and I think
in all these players, we saw the kind of people
we feel like can have success here.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
Lance Yea.
Speaker 7 (16:17):
You know, there's been a lot of talks in league
circles about how much you guys have made positive improvements
here in this organization in the last few years. So
I'm just curious in terms of the guys you brought
in in terms of interacting with prospects throughout this whole process,
what did you guys see from them in terms of
kind of the grown reputation that this organization has.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Well, I think I think people the people that we've
brought in here, whether it be in free agency, whether
it be you know, draft prospects, whatever it is, I
think that they sense the excitement around this organization. I
think you feel it when you walk in the doors
here that the people that are in here love being here.
(16:57):
I think that you sense that people here are trying
to make it as good places as it can be
in the NFL. Not only you know, in terms of
like appearance or you know, uh, you know, best this
or best that. Just a place where people love coming
to work and and love playing football and love working
around football. So I think I think people feel that
(17:18):
when they walk in this building. I'm proud of that.
I'm sure everyone here is proud of that. You know
that that there's a there's a sense of pride in
that for us, that that people love coming here. And
I think we're always trying to make that. That's our
mindset is just make this place great. And you know
we're certainly not to the finish line, but we're working
(17:39):
towards having a great organization and a great building and
a great football team. All right, thanks guys, Oh.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Adam Peters Daily Planet.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Yeah, can you talk about why the quarterbacks made you
this shirt and why they think you should be president
in your platform if you will? Uh, Well, the quarterback
room is a great room, great men in there, and
uh yep, they that was that was a nice surprise
(18:14):
from them. It was a it's one of the great
comebacks ever from from that room. Appreciate you, guys, Thank you.
(18:36):
It's a long story
I had a few moments where I couldn't remember everybody
we signed or drafted, so I want to have a
little bit of prep here, So everybody doing good. I
just want to real quick just say thank our our
scouting staff, and our coaching staff and really our whole
(00:21):
organization for just a great three days. So much good happened,
and we had a lot of a lot of good
players that were excited about had three great days of
just teamwork and camaraderie. And I really want to thank
ownership too for our new draft room. We had. Our
(00:41):
new draft room was a major, major upgrade from what
we had dealt with in twenty twenty four. So that
was a there was there were some moments of stress
involved in getting it ready and and and making sure
everything was going to be going right, but really a
tremendous upgrade in the end, and really grateful for that.
And uh, we have really come a long way in
(01:04):
a year in terms of our our our draft room
and our process. So I guess I'll just open up
to any questions you guys have or should I go
through our picks or.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
What that's the first question, So let's go. Let's just
do that.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Yeah, well, we started off the day uh with Jalen
Lane in the fourth round from Virginia Tech. A guy
that we were really excited about organizationally, you know, across
the board, he was h you know, coaching staff, personnel staff,
just someone that we were really really excited about. We
(01:38):
had a vision for him and uh and it was
he was. He was the highest player on our board
when we got to that point, and it really was.
It was kind of a stressful wait from noon till
whenever we finally picked, because a lot of just a
lot of uh stress and and kind of mixture of
stress and hope that he was going to be there
(02:00):
for us. And when he was there, it was really
a great moment for us. And uh, just he does
a lot of great things, you know, he he did
he really helped himself in the spring with with his
testing numbers really you know, was explosive, ran really fast,
jumped really really high and far just a guy that
(02:21):
we're really excited about. He has a really unique instinct
with the ball in his hands. He's got a nose
for the sticks, some first downs, he's he's got a
really unique return skill set. So a guy that we're
we have a vision for we're excited about and I
feel like he's uh a great fit for what we're
doing here.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
And then.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Yeah, yep, yeah sure. Caine Madronald from u c l A.
A guy that really kind of a unique story where
he's he's got an offensive background and he's he's transitioned
himself into a linebacker. Really a cool athlete, tall, long, fast,
fastest linebacker at the combine ran you know, sub four five.
(03:05):
Another guy that really unique body type and and and
unique athlete in terms of testing numbers, you can to
me you can kind of feel his offensive history in
his play. I think he has a really good feel
as a coverage player, just has a unique sense and
that as a pass defender. We have a you know,
a unique situation where Ken Ken Norton coached him at UCLA,
(03:27):
so we had some great insight on what we were
getting in terms of the player and the person A.
P d Q and I went to that pro day
out in March at U c l A and had
some great conversations about him and another player hate to
beat a dead horse, but was at the top of
our board at that time when we picked. And another
one where we just had great buy in from all
(03:49):
you know, all sides of the of the evaluation process,
and uh just were really excited that he was there
for us, and and uh it made a lot of
sense for us at the time to go and take him.
And then uh in the seventh round, we took Jacory
Krossky Merit from Arizona. Bill is his nickname, And what
a what a great kid. He was in here for
(04:11):
a thirty visit the top golf deal last week or
two weeks ago, and uh, man, what a what a
cool personality, what great energy he brings to any event
or any situation.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
He's in.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Kind of a unique road to this point for him.
Where he started at Alabama State, had a couple of
nice years there, stepped up in competition to New Mexico
at New Mexico, had a great season there, and then
took another step forward to Arizona. Ran into some issues
with you know, like NCAA, you know, records and history
(04:45):
where he had there were some questions about, you know,
how much heat playing time he had at Alabama State.
So his season got cut short in twenty twenty four.
But he turned in he turned a situation that was
unfortunate into a real positive. You know, you talked the
people at Arizona and you talk to him himself when
he was here, and they have so much respect for
how he stayed engaged the whole way through the season.
(05:07):
Was a great teammate, was a great practice player, was
in meetings. It was like he didn't he knew he
wasn't gonna play on Saturday, but you would never know
it by the way he acted and prepared. Another guy
that had a great spring in terms of helping himself
with you know, uh, you know, workout, worked out really well, jumped,
you know, ran fast, tested really well, helped himself in
(05:31):
the All Star Game circuit. Just they're all different in
in in their story about coming here, but we're equally
excited about adding all three of them. Quite honestly, they
all are players that we were really really happy to add.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
With j Cory because he didn't get that senior year
or that last year at Arizona or just the one game.
How hard, how do you what do you go back
to religing with your evaluation because he's coming from a
different level and you you know, I'm sure people would
like to see him there, So just what's that evaluation
process is.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Like for him, Well, obviously you watch what he did
do this year, go back to New Mexico film. You
go through really anything you can find. You know, there's
All Star tape, there's pro Da tape, there's obviously anything
you can find to really get a great feel for
the athlete and gauge how he does against the various
levels of competition that he did face. You know, obviously
(06:24):
he only had the real limited number of snaps in
twenty twenty four, But we felt confident with the athlete
and with the skill set that he was going to
bring to us, and we had seen over the course
of two or three seasons what he was capable of
doing for us. How would you sum up this entire class,
this entire draft class. Yeah, very excited about it. You know,
it might not be a huge volume, but really excited
(06:49):
about what was available for us at each pick. And
we stayed true to our board and really stayed disciplined.
We we came into it with the mindset that we
could do that, you know, with what we had done
in free agency and with what we had done with
our roster to get to you know, the mid seventies
numbers wise and not having glaring holes everywhere, Like we
felt like we could go into this with hey, this
(07:10):
guy is the best player. He makes the most sense.
We're not you know, tied to need. We're not tied
to we have to have this And it's a great
feeling going through three days with that mindset and being
able to pay best player on the board, you know,
makes sense. Sometimes it was need and or you know,
perceive need or whatever, but we were able to do
(07:31):
what we felt was right every time without really being
forced to do something just positionally. I know every football
team always wants speed and explosiveness, but was there something
about those two traits this year that was particularly pronounced
or things that you guys were looking for. No, I mean,
obviously you always want to add as much as that
those qualities as you can. You know, the players that
(07:55):
we added, you know, really today especially, I think all
had those those qualities. I don't think I don't think
that was h that was part of it. But we
also just really liked the football players and the and
the competitors and the and the people.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
Yeah, hey, Lance, obviously with only five picks, is that
you guys can only attack so many needs. But are
you a little surprised at all that you guys didn't
come away with any kind of edge defender in this
in this year. Or was that not something that was
necessarily as high for priority as maybe other stuff.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Well, I feel like we we we like what we
have in that room. I think we're always looking to
add if we can, if the right situation, the right
opportunity presents itself, I don't think we would have not
added it. There was never a situation where we're not
going to add that. Every time we got to where
we were picking, it just made these these players made
(08:46):
the most sense for us. It wasn't we weren't going
to address edge at any point. There was never any
conversations of that, you know, of that mindset. It was
these players made the most sense for us. And like,
like I said, I we we like that room and
we like what we have there. Not certainly not closed.
You know, we have a lot of time between now
and the season, so there's there's other opportunities to potentially
(09:08):
add there. But these particular picks, we did what we
thought was best for us.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
And I was gonna ask, like, obviously, you guys are
in the middle of dealing with Udfa's right now. The
draft just ended, so it's still happening. But when you're
going through it, especially on day three, how much you
look at like the free agent the veteran free agent
market and think, Okay, we think there's a couple like
this area, there's more guys we could get. Maybe does
that factor into what you do in the later rounds
or anything al on those lines.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Sure, yeah, I think the last couple of weeks we've
really studied that hard and looked hard at that and
had some conversations with with some potential ads, you know,
So it definitely is something you think about, you know, hey,
we might be able to add this player, you know,
in May or So you certainly are always watching that board.
We'll watch we watch it every day, and we always
(09:53):
circle back to guys and see where they're at if
they you know, where there because sometimes they don't want
to do anything right now. And but that's that's that's constant.
It's it's on the It's on the wall in my office,
so I see it every morning when I walk in,
you know, and we talk about it on a literally
a daily basis.
Speaker 5 (10:08):
So, hey, Lance, so this is the second year of
you all as a leadership team together. So did you
all implement any lessons learned from last year other than
of course the new draft room? But did you all
implement any lessons learned from your process you know, last
year to this year?
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Sure, I uh, I'm trying to think of like a
Even though we did this last year together, there still
were there were some new pieces. Obviously we were in
a new venue in the room. David Blackburn wasn't here
with us for last year's draft, and he was, you know,
an integral part of what we were doing. So still
kind of meshing through things with him all the way
(10:49):
through from the day he got here till till fifteen
minutes ago, you know, So through all the meetings, through
all the you know, all the draft picks today, going
through through trying to secure UDIA phase afterwards, everything, we
definitely have we've made progress and we've definitely you know,
(11:09):
learned some things along the way in terms of process.
We're still far far from being where we want to be,
but we were making strides. And going back to your
original question, yeah, there were some differences to what we're
doing and we I think we learn every day, you know,
what works best for us and what doesn't and I
don't think that'll ever change.
Speaker 5 (11:29):
And I know you you know, at some point we'll
maybe celebrate the weekend or just say okay, on to
the next thing. So with that being said, what's what
are the next steps from like starting Monday to rookie.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Camp talking personally or or organizationally. I'm just kidding, I'm
just kidding. I'm totally I'm totally kidding. I'm totally kiding. No,
no next steps. You know, obviously it's great having the
players back, so you know, just having them around is great.
But uh, the next major thing for us will be
to just kind of circle back to with with the
(12:04):
draft class and see, there's always a couple of guys
that your shocked that they didn't get drafted. You're shocked
maybe that they're still on the street. And we have
a rookie mini camp in two weeks, so we'll look
to fill you know, those opportunities with players that maybe
are still out there tomorrow and Monday. So our scouts,
you know, when I walked in here, we're already on
the phone, like you know, agents soliciting, Like, hey, my guy,
(12:26):
I don't know if he's gonna get anywhere would you
have room in your rookie mini camp. So that's really
the next step for us is seeing what because really,
when you're talking about you're trying to track a thousand
players in the last hour where they're at, It's it's
really hard to do. So we'll see what's available for
(12:47):
us tomorrow and Monday and see if there's anybody that
we want to potentially bring in and take a look
at that maybe surprises that they're still out there.
Speaker 6 (12:57):
Hey, Lands, now that picture has been colored in a
little better now with what you all did through free
agency and now with the multiple things that you were
able to do with the draft. How do you see
this team as a whole in the building blocks and
where you want to be heading into the season.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Well, I think we're trying to get better every day,
and you know, this building is built on competition, and
I feel like we've we've built in every room we have,
you know, every position group, we've made the competition better.
We've trying to create great depth and great competition and
(13:37):
trying to put the best ninety players together that we can.
And like I talked about with Adam last week, every
player we bring in here. We sincerely have a vision
for them and feel like we're putting them in a
situation where they can potentially succeed and reach their highest
possible you know, heights as a player. So with that
(13:58):
in mind, we just try to to fill those rooms
with the best people and players we can, the best
level of competition, and you know, we'll see how it
chicks out. But I think will never be satisfied. We'll
never feel like we've reached a point where we're good
and we can not address it. I think we're always
trying to address every part of our team every day,
(14:19):
and that's just kind of our mindset is just every day,
how can we get better? How can we get better?
How can we better get better? And you know, I
feel like we're doing that every.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Day and continuing that. That's actually what I was going
to talk about. Most of the guys we spoke with today,
they talked about competition and that's what they want to
bring to the table. Do you envision this year's draft
class being able to hit the field you know early,
you know, early in the season.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
It's really hard to predict that. I think we have
hopes that all of them can impact our team this year.
The one thing I think we're really confident is they'll
be able to come in here and compete. And I
think we told them all that is that when we
draft you and when you come here, you're gonna have
a chance to compete, and whatever you earn, you earn.
But that's the one certainty is they'll be giving the
(15:10):
opportunity to compete. And what they do with that, you know,
we'll see. But I think we have hopes that they'll
all have a role and they'll all compete to have
an impact on our team in twenty twenty five and beyond.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
The Other thing is is that a lot of these
guys mention their faith and how that's carried them through,
and some of them were captains as well. Is that
something a trait that you guys are really looking for
in your players.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
It's not like a this box has to be checked
or this box has to be checked. I think we
have a really good feel, especially whatever this is fourteen
months in or fifteen months in, of what kind of
a person we want here and what kind of a
person can survive and thrive in this environment. I think
every day that we're together and that we are here
(15:56):
we figure that out more and more and more, what
kind of a person is going to really serve like,
have success here and potentially you know, reach their highest
heights like I talked about, you know, and I think
in all these players, we saw the kind of people
we feel like can have success here.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
Lance Yea.
Speaker 7 (16:17):
You know, there's been a lot of talks in league
circles about how much you guys have made positive improvements
here in this organization in the last few years. So
I'm just curious in terms of the guys you brought
in in terms of interacting with prospects throughout this whole process,
what did you guys see from them in terms of
kind of the grown reputation that this organization has.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Well, I think I think people the people that we've
brought in here, whether it be in free agency, whether
it be you know, draft prospects, whatever it is, I
think that they sense the excitement around this organization. I
think you feel it when you walk in the doors
here that the people that are in here love being here.
(16:57):
I think that you sense that people here are trying
to make it as good places as it can be
in the NFL. Not only you know, in terms of
like appearance or you know, uh, you know, best this
or best that. Just a place where people love coming
to work and and love playing football and love working
around football. So I think I think people feel that
(17:18):
when they walk in this building. I'm proud of that.
I'm sure everyone here is proud of that. You know
that that there's a there's a sense of pride in
that for us, that that people love coming here. And
I think we're always trying to make that. That's our
mindset is just make this place great. And you know
we're certainly not to the finish line, but we're working
(17:39):
towards having a great organization and a great building and
a great football team. All right, thanks guys, Oh.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Adam Peters Daily Planet.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Yeah, can you talk about why the quarterbacks made you
this shirt and why they think you should be president
in your platform if you will? Uh, Well, the quarterback
room is a great room, great men in there, and
uh yep, they that was that was a nice surprise
(18:14):
from them. It was a it's one of the great
comebacks ever from from that room. Appreciate you, guys, Thank you.
(18:36):
It's a long story
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