36 Nuggets from Indianapolis, plus Bears GM Ryan Poles and Raiders GM Jon Spytek Join the Show!

This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. Welcome to NFL Daily, where we're all going to try to stay upright on this show. I'm Greg Rosenthal here with Jordan Rodrigue, and we have breaking news from the Indianapolis Convention Center. Jordan took a little bit of a spill just a few moments ago, just feet away from Nick Sirianni. on live television. Unfortunately, it's killing me. I didn't really see it as it was happening. But just talk me through what was going through your mind as it was happening. You've never wanted to... You've never wished you had seen something more than when... Instead of... Listen, instead of running over to try to help me up, like our wonderful producers, camera people, audio guys did, everyone ran over to try to help me up. Greg turns around and says, I wish I would have seen that. Yeah, well, you know, I'm a little guy on a high chair. It's a long way down for me to get down and help you there. But thankfully, Jordan's okay. No twisted ankles. She's healthy. A little pride is bruised. A little pride. But hey, there's a lot going on. There's a lot of people here. There's a lot of coaches here. There's a lot of GMs here. It feels like Groundhog Day. We have done these Tuesdays at the Scouting Combine for years, and it's still going. And for some reason, they've really kind of manspread the press conferences throughout the day. And there's coaches that are still going up up to up until 530. But for the most part, like 45 of the 50 have gone up. And what we're going to do, we're going to go through a ton of items and news before a couple of great interviews with two return guests. Bears general manager Ryan Poles and Raiders general manager John Spitek. We have some other great interviews that you're going to hear throughout the course of the week. Brandon Bean of the Bills, Omar Khan, the GM of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and then the Panthers Brain Trust. We might have some more coming up this week. But today there's so much news. We kind of wanted to have news forward. So it's a challenge for us. Jordan, it's one of my favorite news days of the year because it's not a ton of screaming news, but it's a lot of just little items that push us in the direction of figuring out how these teams are going to be constructed this year. And I'm going to start with the most surprising one of the day, which came out just before we started taping, that Trent Williams could be a free agent. Now, could be is doing a lot of work here. The report comes from Adam Schefter of ESPN. But basically, Trent Williams and the 49ers are in a surprising contract standoff. He has a huge cap number that they want to lower. They can't agree on a contract. and at this point at least someone is saying that Trent Williams could be on the free agent list which makes me wonder where where would he go that's for me to think about while you tell me where you think this is coming from I mean I think this one's hard to tell because if the team if it's the team that put it out then the team is saying is making a statement publicly hey this is if this happens this is why if it's coming from Trent Williams's camp that's even more interesting to me because that's immediately saying we're open for business in a week where a lot of stuff happens in behind closed doors and a lot of these conversations happen but it's not legal yet right so that's them if that is coming from them that's that's basically saying both hello it's open it's a leaky ship over there with san francisco they they talk a lot but i would imagine for this to get to the point where you report on it you'll probably even check in with your people on both sides and yeah drama drama drama off the top of my head to your point because you asked hey who could be a team like who would want any pretty much anyone and yes the number is the number he would sign at would be huge and and that whole hurdle would have to be worked out but i am of the firm opinion that as long as chan williams wants to be playing football any team even even with a question mark at left tackle um even coming back from an injury at left tackle um we're going to hear from a guy later in the show that was really aggressive trying to fix the offensive line. Any team that needs a left tackle would go after him aggressively. You're talking about Ryan Pouls, who is going to need a left tackle, by the way. Yeah. Interesting. I was also thinking about John Spitek, who's on the show because he has a hundred million dollars in cap space and in a team that wants to do short money for a guy that to me, it's risky to say this, but is a first ballot hall of famer and maybe didn't have his very best season this year is getting older. So the contract's a little tricky for the team that he plays for, but he could get a short-term deal. And when I look at my list of free agents, I'm not sure where he'll land, but it's certainly in the top 12. It might be in the top five. I have to think more about it. We don't need to do that on this show, but he would be one of the premier free agents and would be the top tackle. The Texans had some interesting sound throughout the day. Lots of drips and drabs of interesting things about the Texans, but number one was I thought how strong Nick Casario, their general manager, was talking about C.J. Stroud's future with the team. Yeah, he's our quarterback. He ain't going anywhere. We have a lot of confidence, a lot of belief. I mean, I'd say the philosophy that D'Amico and I have, we're going to support our players and do everything we can to kind of help them, and this league's about ups and downs. I mean, nothing's perfect. I mean, there's no team that's undefeated unless I miss something this year, So that's not going to happen. I just like how clear Casario was. Perhaps it was unfounded speculation that got this in the in the ethosphere. I don't really know. That's not even a word. I'm just making things up. But I do like to know that CJ is not going anywhere. And they were really strong about it. Does that surprise me? And John McClane doesn't have to run down the street. Oh, that's the big news. Completely naked. No, this this is not surprising to me or probably many people at all. I do think it was interesting that, well, I think a lot of this is media driven. Right. This particular scenario. And I think a lot of it's because a lot of people would love to see CJ Stroud on their football team and their preferred football team. So chatter starts to gain in crescendo at that point because this never made any sense at all. and it also is something that it's important for him and his camp to hear even if they're being told behind closed doors that this is never going to happen it's really important for a young player coming off of a real shot to his confidence at the end of the season that this team still believes in him so robustly. He's going through it he he just made a speech which you can find online at a charity and kind of a religious and charity event where he said I'm gonna I'm gonna talk right now about suffering and he he had a couple minutes speech it's worth listening to about what it's like to suffer and he referred exactly to the playoff game but i just liked as a stroud fan hearing he he is not going anywhere and there are different levels of denial of stories like this this is the type of denial that you have that there's absolutely nothing to it and it's a reminder that quote-unquote league sources people around the league often don't know what the hell they're talking about because i don't doubt that it came from anywhere but a lot of these stories on every outlet are like, well, a lot of the league executives around the league are talking about this is what they're going to think is going to happen. It's like, yeah, a lot of people talk about things they think they're going to happen that they don't have any clue about. And just because you have a good job in the NFL doesn't mean you have any better idea. And so I liked hearing this. I also thought it was interesting. Casario said he thought that the offensive line played pretty well last year, that maybe he watched different film than the people that were asking the question, talking about their struggles. Just interesting. Also, Aaron Wilson from that local market says they're expected to cut Joe Mixon. Not surprising there, but a little juicier that he believes Aaron Wilson does that they are going big, quote unquote, on the running back market. And frankly, I think there's only two names that would qualify there, at least of free agents that are available. And that would be Travis CTN or maybe even more likely Kenneth Walker how about that I think that a zone running team such as the one that Nick Kaley would like to deploy in in this offense with a tandem when Woody Marks is back and can be in tandem with a really like someone who runs the zone run scheme more gorgeously than I think a lot of people uh have ever done it it just the artistry behind it in Kenneth Walker um I my my inclination would lead toward that. ETN would be so much fun with the Texans. Just AFC, the AFC connection, and I just, it would be really fun. They've seen him a lot, and so a lot of times when you see someone perform well against you, you end up liking him. Unlikely for them to get Brees Hall. Darren Mugey, the Jets general manager, indicated. Are you sure it was him? I am sure. I looked at Darren Mugey for a while on Tuesday, and I was watching John Harbaugh and I was watching Robert Sala, two captivating men in front of a microphone, and I look over at Mugi and I'm just thinking, embarrassingly so, for the second straight year, who is that? Like, I know every GM, right? I know every GM and coach. I'm like, who is that? And I'm getting old. It was Darren Mugi. So that's on me. That's not on him. He's not a guy who comes out a lot. There's also, the listeners should know, There are also several charts with names and titles on them. I could have Googled on my phone. That's not the point. The convention center. So there really was no reason for you to. That's not the point. That's not the point. The point is Darren Mugey is the Jets general manager, at least for one more season. He says that Brees Hall will be tagged, which no one was really sure about. So that's when we got right. We were wrong about Kenneth Walker, right about Brees Hall. So he will stay one less problem for them to worry about. Let's go to another team. because, man, we got a lot of items here, and we got to fly through. Are you ticking them off? It seems like you're already behind. I'm going to count how many items. You seem already behind. I'm going to count the running backs of Houston as one topic. And so right now we have hit four topics so far. This is going to inform our title of the show, 50 topics or takeaways from the scouting combine. Eric DaCosta, a lot of takeaways from him. Number one, he indicated Marlon Humphrey not going to get cut. These are the types of items you can learn on a day like this. There's speculation. Marlon Humphrey was going to get cut. He indicated we don't even need to adjust his contract. We are in on the Marlon Humphrey business. Okay. Unless he's lying, which they don't do in this spot. He admitted we need a pass rush. We need it. So that's going to be a priority. Not a surprise, but he's just saying what's their biggest need. That's going to be another. I'm ticking off two boxes. And then number three, I'll get your thoughts on this. we consider Tyler Linderbaum the best center in the NFL, and we've offered a market-setting deal to him. That's a little bit of news. That's a lot more honest than I expected because a lot of times when you ask these GMs this question, they say we've been in contact with or we've had some positive discussions with or the two sides are close and we expect that this will remain positive. It's sort of hedged like that a lot. this is the Ravens and Eric DaCosta specifically saying it's on them if this delays it's them I love that interpretation and I love it combining it with what we learned on Monday's show I know you haven't had a chance to get to it you're you're in every show listener when you're not on it but it's tough I know I keep hearing about this show and I'm pretty mad that I haven't listened to it yeah Ian and this may you know people were tweeting about this Ian indicated Linderbaum's agent not an easy guy to deal with. His tactic in general is to just never respond to offers. Men, am I right? I mean, it's a pretty good tactic and one that would frustrate someone like Eric DaCosta. So it reminds me of a couple of different examples, like Lamar Jackson. They talked about that. Justin Jefferson. They talked about that. Like, hey, we've already offered. We are going to make him the highest paid wide receiver in the league. The Ravens are saying we are going to make Linder bomb the best center offer in the league. We consider him the best center. It's bold. It does make me think there's a bigger chance of him returning to the Ravens than previous, but it also makes me wonder. This agent knows the most money is getting to free agency. Maybe this money is going to get crazy. Maybe he's going to get tackle money. What if he's just watching clips as they come out? He's watching NFL Network or something at night, skying down for the evening, and this clip comes up, And he's like, what? We haven't responded yet. It then becomes a little incumbent maybe on the player, too, because the reality is he's not getting franchise tagged. And it is almost stupid to take any deal or respond until you get closer to free agency because they might lose this staring contest because that number actually might get as high as the franchise number for tackles. It could get to like $25 million or something crazy. There is some risk in this in a Who Blinks First situation because they've essentially told every other team in the league what that number is. So it's basically like price is right, oh, plus $1. I mean, it wouldn't be that low. But still, that is very interesting to me. I do like them sort of putting it all out there like that. I love it. The Giants and the Chargers, I think, will be in on Tyler Linderbaum. Howie Roseman spoke to his local media on Friday, and then they embargoed it until Tuesday. Bizarre. Then they did press conferences here anyways. Why did they do that? I don't really know. A few things that Howie said between the two pressers I found interesting. Number one, he pointed out, like, can we keep all of our guys considering all the great defensive contracts coming up? So if you think that's the flip side of the great draft that they had with Quinion Mitchell and Cooper Dejean and Jalen Carter specifically. And they're not going to be able to pay Cooper like a safety. Well, I'm going to mark down two different items here. He also made a comment on Tuesday. Your buddy Brooks from The Athletic. Kapka? I never know how to pronounce his last name. That's a golfer. That's the golfer. We're going to edit that. No, we're leaving that in. No. Kubena. Kubena. Both starts with a K. watch watch we both got it wrong we he said that he really believes like cooper does he needs to stay at nickel when you have someone that is the best in the league at what he does and offers us that much flexibility we're not moving him and so that was very definitive like he is not he's not we're not looking at him as an option at safety or outside cornerback and i think he indicated with that question, can we keep all of our guys when we have these coming up that maybe don't be as optimistic, certainly about Dallas Goddard, who said who they said they'll talk to, but I think he's gone. But maybe Jalen Phillips, too. Maybe he maybe he goes. Yeah, maybe N'Kobe Dean goes. I actually expect N'Kobe Dean to go. And Phillips is the one hearing that comment that I'm like, hmm, maybe they're not able to keep him. I think watch Jalen Phillips and Christian Parker, who's now in Dallas as the defensive coordinator potentially. You know, Dallas very famously lost a significant pass rusher last offseason. This is not by any means a one-to-one comparison, not even close, but Christian Parker had a great relationship with all those players on the defensive side, and I think Dallas could certainly use. They have a couple of young guys coming up who I think are great, but they could absolutely use more juice there. They do, and they could create more room with some of their guys that are still on the roster with some potential cuts. So very interesting in the NFC East. Let's stay there, and let's go to John Harbaugh, who, yeah, I was trying to listen to him because he's got that new coach energy. I've got to give him credit. I don't know if it's fake until you make it, but he doesn't give second coach energy. He gives, like, this is my first time. He said, I'm going to take off my credential so that you can see the New York football giants on my chest because I'm excited. And he's just he's just beaming from the podium. Even when answering some awkward questions, he was asked about his owner, Steve Tisch. Does he still believe in his ownership as much after Tisch's name was prominently mentioned in the Epstein files and was asked questions to Roger Goodell? He said yes. He handled that question fine. and there were some follow-ups, but basically he gave as good a non-answer as he could. He also said very specifically he really wants Dexter Lawrence on this team, that he's going to be a big part of this team. So that was kind of another one of those Marlon Humphrey-type answers where it was like, okay, I thought he might get cut or traded. Sounds like Dexter Lawrence is going to be there. What's your Harbaugh vibe right now? You know, when you got really excited about this and the new coach energy, not retread coach energy kind of thing, And it brought me back. Actually, Greg, we were sitting right here a year ago, basically this week. And John Spitek and Pete Carroll walked in looking cool as hell in silver and black. And Pete Carroll was a sunbeam who was absolutely ready to do this. Now, the age thing is what it is. That's not a one to one comp. But it's interesting. It's interesting to me how we can feel this now. The interpretation of a press conference in February might not be the best indicator of wins and losses. You know, I am saying that. And also I'm saying I think that you are heavily influenced by strong energy. OK, that's fair. I got to say, I don't know if we said this on the show and maybe this is me just remembering it how I want to remember it. I wasn't that high on the Raiders, really, like going into the season. What? I did feel I was high on, you know, Gino Smith. What I was going to say about Pete Pete did kind of give a little bit of like it wasn the same as when he started in Seattle Let be fair It wasn the same energy The Pete part of it I believed in the Geno. I still believe in the Spitech. Let's listen to Joe Shane, someone who I don't really believe in, but he believes in himself. I'm still the general manager of the team, and my role has not changed. I'm still tasked with leading the entire football operation. and we're going to work in collaboration like most good teams do. And, you know, it's going to be a collaborative. Everybody's going to have their role, but there's constant communication between Don, Coach Harbaugh, myself, in terms of how we're going to build the football operation and then how we're going to execute, you know, the draft, trades, free agency, contract signings, coaching staff, whatever it may be. Never a great sign about your tenure as the general manager when you have to say at the podium, I'm still the general manager. And my responsibilities are the same. I know I'm being a dick, but I am something. Well, one of the plot lines of the offseason that we have been following very closely that's sort of a subtle inside baseball is the general vibe of that entire beat toward Joe Shane and some of the headlines that the columns get and just the general angst and misery in his direction by... It's a tough spot. It's a really big beat, and really there's a lot of talent on that beat, and there's a lot of really strong opinions, and, man, are they all flowing toward to the point where my good friend, Charlotte Carroll, brought cookies, brought homemade cookies. They were good. Just to improve the vibes. Just to improve the vibes a little bit, you know? They were delicious. So thank you to Charlotte. And I feel bad for Shane. He was asked a lot about Don Aponte, who is now higher than him on the org chart, And that was the context with which he made that answer that he was still the GM. But it does make you wonder long term. He's in an uncomfortable position right now. Let's talk about a guy who we talked to last year. I don't think we're going to get a chance to this year. It's Jason Light of the Bucs. He said when asked about a potential extension for Baker, that Baker Mayfield, that is, that his, they haven't talked about that yet, but their feelings haven't changed at all about Baker and that they believe in him long term. Todd Bowles really echoed that. I think they know Baker needs that lifting up. Of course, you're going to say that. Well, he didn't get it so frequently through the first part of his career. I think, yeah, I can understand that. It's in no win type of place. But I guess I would say, well, show me. Show me with that. I would believe you if you engage in serious contract extension talks with Baker. And they very well might, based on what Jason Light said today. But I guess I'll see when that happens. That hasn't happened yet. If you had to guess, do you think Baker Mayfield gets an extension or not this year? He's entering a contract. Yes, I think he does. Yes, because the Bucs have a pattern where they will continue to extend their own players, their guys, their core guys that they like, and they have patience, including with the head coach, until it becomes overtly and extremely clear that it is time to move on. I've completely lost track. I've like skipped over some of the things. I'm going to have to circle back. I know, you're all over the place. But I did want to mention Rob Brzezinski is the new, it's not the general manager, but he's playing the role of general manager for the Minnesota Vikings. And he said at quarterback, they are casting a wide net. And Kevin O'Connell, similar question about J.G. McCarthy. as a franchise quarterback. Very confusing answer where he says, we don't feel any different about him as a franchise quarterback, but the timeline on it is different now. Frankly, I don't know. That is gobbledygook to me. I guess I would need to hear it. The casting the wide net looking for quarterbacks is the key phrase here. They're looking for someone to potentially replace J.J. McCarthy. When you're fishing, you're not casting a net for fish inside your own boat. Right. That's good. Net leaving ship. that's the type of concise but nailed it type of analysis we need to get through all 47 points finally before you keep shrinking the number i'm just making numbers up uh not a lot of news on the rules beat this year so we'll circle back when there's harder news they're talking about adding replay officials to have a little more latitude to throw a flag after seeing a replay but it might be very limited to plays like a punch we'll see I almost don't want to get ahead of this story the main story to me was that the tush push is no longer even being talked about and for context there Nick Sirianni said they need to work on it because they did not do as good a job doing it but it's kind of funny that now that the Eagles are now no longer good at the tush push that the Packers are no longer bringing it up as a potential rule actually even worse now that the Buffalo Bills are running it at the highest frequency of any team in the league. Suddenly nobody's talking about it anymore. And Sean McDermott was on the competition committee. He no longer is employed as an NFL head coach. So they said, they being Rich McKay, who's in charge of the rules committee, that he thought the NFL is in a good place in terms of rules. So I don't think it's going to be a big year for changing rules. Let's take a quick break and we will be back with some more news. A lot of other teams at the podium on Tuesday from Indiana. Back on NFL Daily, the international games, they just keep on dropping a different home team every week or so. I just want to spread the excitement out. And how about the Detroit Lions are going to play their first game internationally. I couldn't believe this. For more than a decade, I think they were an away team that last time in 2015. but they're going to be playing in Munich. I still want to get to Germany. It's the question I get a lot. Where are you going to? I would like to go anywhere. If Henry Hodgson is listening, if Matt Schneider is listening, Jason English has left. We've taken too long here. Get us. Germany would be a good one. That would be fun because when you see the clips of all the fans singing together and everything, you can't not get goosebumps. Some of the really, really legendary clips from the modern international slate most importantly a great team a great team yeah and also you know greg you forget so easily they weren't playing internationally for a long time because why would they they weren't a great team for a long time now and then now and teams a lot of times have the opportunity to negotiate back and forth with the league on whether they're gonna be oh yeah some teams really want to go some teams really want to go some teams don't and then with the lions maybe have a little leverage here saying You didn't want us when we were bad. And now they're going over there, and that's good. I like seeing a team that I feel like is certainly going to be in the mix, although you never know. Adam Peters of the Commanders, their GM, spoke on Tuesday. He would not comment on any potential Brandon Ayuk interest. I have to think about where I put Brandon Ayuk on the top 101. I want you to think about it for a second while I tell the listeners that it is a priority for the commanders, according to Peters, to extend Laramie Tunsil. And he has one year left on his contract. The left tackle would maybe set the market that Trent Williams could potentially fit underneath at this point because he's a little older. But Brandon Ayuk. I just command F'd it. It's a logical fit with the commanders. They need a wide receiver. They are paying a lot of money, of course. but you know, to Terry McLaurin, but he might not cost as much. How much do we believe in a Brandon Ayuk if, if he becomes a free agent, not officially yet. Kind of a wild card, right? Cause coming off the injury. Awesome. Yeah. Well, it could be awesome, but coming off a significant injury as well. And yeah, it's interesting. It's, um, I command F'd it in your top one Oh no, I'm saying he's not there cause he's not a free agent. I know I was like, and I'm saying where would he go? Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, I'm saying you can help me do the work of where do I put him. I love extra work. He's still a top 20 guy because there was a point where the Pittsburgh Steelers were giving up a second-round pick for him, and he was going to be one of the highest-paid wide receivers in the league. He did become one of the highest-paid players in the league. The 49ers kept him. I think it's the off-the-field, is this guy too much to deal with, that is going to hurt his market. And here's the thing. You have Isaiah Likely at 20 and Wandale Robinson at 21. And I would say certainly ahead of those guys, both of them. Is he ahead of Rashid Shahid? Is he ahead of Kenneth Walker and Devin Lloyd, those types of guys, getting into the top ten? Yeah, well, into the top ten. The other thing with Rashid Shahid is the playmaking ability and special teams too. So I would say somewhere in the sweet spot behind Rashid Shahid and behind Mike Evans, who you also have at 16 here. I think that's the right ballpark. Yeah, kind of. You've passed your first test to be. Thanks, I really enjoyed it. You know how I love rankings. Consigliere. I mean, this isn't about rankings. This is about evaluating who's in our league. Elliott Wolfe, the Patriots GM, would not comment on whether Stefan Diggs would be a member of their 2026 team. He did comment more on them being in contact with Diggs and authorities about everything going on with his assault accusations. and almost said the team has a handle on that, but he wouldn't commit to him being on the team next year. So something to watch there. They also cut Antonio Gibson, who is coming off a torn ACL, just a little item there. Speaking of players coming back, Josh Jacobs is going to be back for the Green Bay Packers. Brian Gutekunst said that at the podium on Tuesday. Also said they want to get bigger on the offensive line specifically. What do you think about Jacobs returning to the Packers? When he was on, it was awesome. And some of the ways that they could just chip away and salt away at teams was great. You know, I think there's a lot of woulda, coulda, shoulda with the Packers, especially with some of the injuries that they had. I like the idea of them getting bigger along the offensive line. I wonder if he's meaning that as almost like a tipping his hand. Maybe they're adjusting their scheme a little bit. Well, I think they started making that. They've had a body type that they've liked for a while. Right. And they have been smaller. And I think they started to tip it now in hindsight with the Aaron Banks move, who's a massive human. Now, that did not work out for them, I think, that well. He's going to still be on the roster, I assume. I didn't think Jacobs was a lock to get back. He's had a great career, but. I think he's kind of a glue guy, though. Yeah. And if you're going to need the angst at which they ended last season and all the questions about Matt LaFleur and all of that, Like you want your glue guys around if you're really going to try to really do it this time. Fair. And he when he's right, he's awesome. He's worn down in some seasons. He's had a lot of workload. Sometimes they're running back. You want to get out a year early than a year late. By the end of last year was Emmanuel Wilson taking the big snaps because Jacobs couldn't really finish those games. But he will be back. I should have mentioned, by the way, when I talked commanders a little earlier, they're also going to bring back Andrew Wiley. Some of these free agent contracts are starting to happen. He didn't even make my one on one, but he would have been in like the top one 60, like a serviceable kind of swing tackle. Bradley Bozeman, the Chargers center, retired. Not that they weren't going to go after Tyler Linderbaum anyways, but they are going to be searching for interior linemen. They could cut Makai Becton. And then the cuts. Yeah, they've kind of started. Yeah. Kirk Cousins. We knew he was going to get released, according to reporters. But their new GM, Ian Cunningham, said on 92.9, the game. that Kirk Cousins will be released ahead of free agency. Yeah, the expected move. It's nice to actually hear somebody say it out loud, somebody with that authoritative power to make that get actually say it out loud. I am so curious about what happens next for Kirk and like where he is placed. Minnesota's not crazy. It's not crazy. Kansas City, I was thinking, would be kind of great for him and for Andy Reid. I actually, the more I've thought about that, I was like, if you're Kirk Cousins, wouldn't that be awesome to play for the Chiefs and then be Mahomes' backup and, like, be a part of that? I don't think Miami is crazy. No. I don't think Arizona is crazy. Okay. In fact, with Mike LaFleur in Arizona now, I think that we've got to really watch that one for Malik Willis and for Kirk Cousins. He is, as we know, of the tree, as Patrick would say. Am I underrating Cousins? this is an official have they put it i sent my oh it is official it's on there i sent an edit they've been wanting cousins to go on to the top 101 now once you get this is what him officially saying that does even though it's not official i was like we could wait he's like well now that he gave a date to it we can put him on there and my question to smart people around the nfl and the nfl media sphere today was cousins or rogers you know who would you rather have i pick kirk cousins Yeah, I went with that, too. I thought it was close enough that I put them close in the rankings. Ultimately, Cousins is is there for me at 59, just below his Falcons team, Arnold Ebiketti, and only a handful of spots ahead of Rogers. I just thought they occupy kind of the same space, but he's got a little more versatility. And I think he looked better last year, not just than he looked the year before, but maybe then people realize. I think it got better as it went. And by the end of it, I was like, he's kind of an okay bridge starter right now. Yeah. I don't think you'd want him starting 16 games. Well, and you're also not going to pay him a massive contract again. You know, I mean, geez. But if he's a bridge starter, put your GM cap on, don't you think he's making like 12 plus at least a year? That's nothing in a quarterback world. So, yeah, I think at least. It's a 20 if, like, there are three teams in the mix, like I talked about. And then suddenly it's like, man, we're playing 20 for Kirk Cousins. All I'm just saying is just never underestimate Mike McCartney, his agent, who has been the one to get him these finessed contracts year after year after year after year. Hall of Fame bag getter, Kirk Cousins. John Eric Sullivan is the new Dolphins general manager. He said that they are not actively shopping Devon Achan, who, why would they? That part I don't get. Or Jalen Waddle. But the way that he answered it made it sound like they would listen more than maybe I was expecting going into this week. To Waddle. He gave the spiel that we're going to hear from Spitek in a bit, and it's totally a fair answer. They're going to listen. That's what he said about Max Cross. We'll always listen because it would be irresponsible. Everyone will always listen. Right. Like this is reading between the lines. He said nothing. They could have shot it down. Like he didn't really say it with his chest that we, you know, we want them as part of our team. It was like, maybe. It was kind of like, maybe. That's how I took it. Yeah. I think he's just kind of a chill guy, honestly. Yeah. Okay. What do you think about the accusations that I just heard from an unnamed source, won't reveal who it is, that John Eric Sullivan and Jeff Halfley resemble Beavis and Butthead. What? What? Is it because the tall hair? Comedy legends. The tall hair. Once you see it, you can't unsee it. I like Halfley because I think there needs to be more short guy representation. There's more of them now in the league. You know, there's Mike LaFleur and Halfley and Minter is but a wee lad. McDonald's not a really tall guy either. but Halfley, even more than the rest, and this is going to guarantee, this will never get back to him, but now it will because I said that, and there are a lot of Dolphins bloggers. He looks more like a media member than any NFL head coach, not just now but in a minute. Like when he's just walking through, he looks like he should have a backpack and he's going to the Titans to ask Sal about the quarterback situation. Earlier today when you said this, you did say this sort of out loud to yourself. Yeah. I just appreciate the moments where I can hear you testing material before you actually use it on the show. If it does come back to you, Greg, you've had two chances now to say, you know what? Maybe I'm not going to use that material on the show. It's something I learned from Dave Damaschek. He would go around the newsroom and just try out stuff. To me, it's not conscious as much. I was just on his show. I was on his show last week and we went through an entire segment. It's always so fun. We went through an entire segment before actually doing the segment, basically just in conversation. It was epic. I was like, this is what I always used to hear them talking about. I love Sheck. Everyone check out Football America. Let's listen to John Eric Sullivan talk about the team's potential interest. This is the Miami Dolphins in Malik Willis. As it pertains to the Miami Dolphins, listen, I think I'd be lying to you. any team that is potentially in a quarterback situation, a needy quarterback situation. If they tell you they're not talking about Malik Willis, that would be a lie. That's interesting. And frankly, him being so out there with it. The kids don't know. Beavis and Butthead. Was that good? Did I do it? We were getting a laugh from the people behind the booth. So I think I nailed that. I could, I'm allowed to crowd myself on that one, right? Shut up, Ed. I don't know. Hey, Beavis. That was rough It been a long time I love like honestly I think it one of the most underrated like comedies of the last like 40 years It is amazing The SNL skit Him being out there with this actually makes me think yeah I don know if they that in on Malik Willis Yeah, just him being like, anyone, of course they're looking at Malik Willis. Like, all the teams that are interested are looking at Malik Willis. But him even just getting into it like that, I was like, I kind of... You be a little more coy. You know, you flirt a little bit. You know, you dance around the topic just a little bit more. If you had listened to the Ian Rappaport show, you would know. He said he just doesn't think they have the money. He doesn't think that they're swimming in the deep waters that Malik Willis might be this year. I want to listen to the show, Greg. I want to. I will get to it. What did you do? I think we're on good pace, which is always the moment. I'm going to count afterwards. I have it all written down. what did you do last night? Well, I had a little dinner at, at St. Elmo. So I did the thing. Um, but I went back after dinner. It was late. I know you're out talking, making friends, making sources. I think I walked, walked by you yesterday. We haven't even talked about that in the hotel, talking to a general manager. I won't say who it is, of course, but that was interesting just seeing you at work, kind of in a spot right near the elevators where everyone's going to be walking by. Yeah. That's a choice. Um, what did, what was your night like on Monday night? Yeah. So we had our athletic summit and there's a mixer as well. Um, so basically a lot of, you know, really hoping all my bosses like me, making, making, you know, having, catching up with people who I usually only see on Slack, which is really wonderful. And then, you know, you kind of do the circuit, you see people you need to see, you talk to the people, you know, You position yourself where people are going to be walking, and you see people you know. You're saving your bullets. The rest of the week is going to be a lot of schmoozing. You've been doing a lot of it here, doing a great job making NFL Daily look better. The Kansas City Chiefs just, you know. Except when I fell down. Not enough people saw it, though. But it was like a body-sit-the-floor situation. It wasn't like she kind of caught herself with the hand. It was a hole I've fallen and I can't get up until you did get up. But that's what it looked like. Not with your help, by the way. Just to reiterate that. Not with your help. No, just a couple other things. Brett Veach, the Chiefs general manager, says they're prepared if Travis Kelsey wants to retire. Obviously, they hope that he comes back. Sounding like he's going to come back. I thought it was interesting both Monty Austin for the GM of the Cardinals and Michael Fleur, the new head coach, said they spoke with Kyler Murray. As we're getting closer and based on what Ian said, I don't know if it's public posturing to raise his trade value. That's a possibility or they're potentially getting to a place, depending on how other things go, that Kyler is in a lock to leave. And what do you think? Well, I think also if they have a better understanding of potentially, for example, what Malik Willis' market would be or what a Kirk Cousins situation would look like or any of these scenarios that are not Kyler Murray, if you're looking at what they could potentially cost or what resources you'd have to give up and you say, hey, we've got a pretty good player on our roster, new coaching staff, like ultra, ultra, you know, for all the criticism and rightfully so that he takes, Nathaniel Hackett is like the ultimate lovable quarterback guy. Like he guys love being in the quarterback's room when he is in it. And for all of his flaws, especially when he was a head coach, that's a big reason why Mike LaFleur went after him is because of that vibe and that dynamic. And if anyone's going to kind of heal, smooth over a vibe, I would think that would be it. My gut tells me he's still gone and this is vacuum of information. We have to talk. Plus he might be traded, but I do believe that there, that it's one potential scenario. My gut would say he's still gone, but that's one of the more fascinating ones. Cause he would be a really interesting piece to throw into all these quarterback waters. Rashid Walker is a guy we talked about left tackle, the Packers who's hoping that Trent Williams doesn't become available. Cause before he was the best left tackle available and he's way lower on that list. like then he's suddenly waiting for Trent Williams. I found it interesting. Just the teams that Jason Locke and Fora, who used to work with us at NFL network throughout, uh, that are expected to be the top suitors for him, the Patriots and the chiefs left tackle Rasheed Walker. Hmm. Um, spicy really for both teams. It's interesting, but especially for the Patriots. And I know exactly why you're, you know, your eyebrows raised on that one, because you would love to see not love well Mike Vrabel walk kind of soften his con on his own comments that he came out really strongly about not moving Will Campbell even though maybe if he goes back and watches it takes a step away maybe in that moment like I said maybe he was just protecting his player as one should um maybe he softens up and maybe they try to go after a guy like that a couple other items Joe Brady the Bills coach and their general manager Brandon Bean who's going to be coming up later on the week, kind of revealed that Davis Webb is going to be the new play caller for the Broncos. If you don't remember, the Broncos elevated Davis Webb. They're going to be their offensive coordinator. And Sean Payton then confirmed it later on the podium, literally as we're talking and someone, I'm not even sure who it is, put this into our document as we're taping. So I appreciate that. And they were big on the Davis Webb news. I like that we're getting a few more participants it feels like in the combine this year doing all the drills that are top players I didn't get a chance to talk about this with Ian but Jeremiah Love the running back of Notre Dame who's second on Daniel Jeremiah's board Arvel Reese who's second or first on some people's board the linebacker pass rusher Mekhi Lemon like Reese's teammate at linebacker Ty Simpson who's the QB2 not a surprise he would work out but it does feel like for what it's worth when you're watching this year, a few more of the first rounders are actually participating, which I'm just, it's like a sliding scale. It's like a sliding scale. Like there's a lot of GMs and coaches who are not here right now. I think more than ever before, or even if coaches are here, they're not doing podium sessions. So now as that decreases combines like, Oh man, we got to get some pop in here. So, you know, you got more guys who are actually participating in the workouts. That's good for the fans. And obviously hopefully everyone stays safe. Mentioned the dolphins before they They brought John Robinson, the former Titans general manager, back into the league to help out that front office with John Eric Sullivan. And I did want to mention, they mentioned a $99 million cap hit for Tua. $99 million cap hit does not make sense for them this season. That would not work for them. And so if and when they cut him, which is the expectation, even though they're saying they're trying to trade him, it will be a post-June 1st cut. They'll spread out the hit. But so that Tua contract is going to hurt them for multiple years. Which character is John Robinson? If we're talking lore here. We'll talk later, but I think Halfley's butthead, right? No, John Robinson. Oh, John Robinson. Oh. But you said it. You can't walk that one back now. We could. We could edit it out of the show. Brad Holmes, the Lions general manager, said about David Montgomery, they've spoken to him. they're running back that the situation is fluid, but you have to have guys who want to be here. So that sounds open. And then he talked about maybe how I read it, not being as aggressive in free agency because they want, again, their 2023 picks to be around. Sam Laporta, Jameer Gibbs, Jack Campbell, Brian Branch, all are up for contracts sooner than later. And so they might have to save the money because they've been so good at drafting. That's a good problem to have. It's the type of problem that any general manager would love to have. We're going to talk to a couple of general managers after the break. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to take a break. Then we're going to hear back-to-back interviews from Raiders general manager, John Spitek back on the show, and then fresh off an NFC North championship, Ryan Poles. You hear those two back-to-back, and then we'll say goodbye on the other side. We are back with now regular guest, general manager of the Las Vegas Raiders, John Spitek. And look, John came over before even saying hello. What's up, Stephen? What's the name of your trainer again? And yes, last year at this time, we talked about Stephen, my trainer, big Raiders fan. Do you have any message for him after last year? Hang with us, Stephen. We're going to get this right. Promise. You know, I met Stephen. Oh, you did? Yeah, and the very first thing he said was, oh, my God, John Spitek. I said, yeah, regular on NFL Daily, one of our favorite people to talk to, one of our favorite ball knowers to talk to. Can we start with the quarterback questions? Of course. Well, that was where we went with Stephen in the first place. I'm sure Stephen wants to know all the answers, so let's do it for Stephen. Over under how many Fernando Mendoza questions do you expect to get this week, including this one? 42 and a half. We're already over. You saw him play. I think the entire football world saw those really great photos of you guys sort of taking in the scene in the national championship game. And what a game to get to. What did you think of Fernando? What were some of the qualities that he has that you guys have sort of gleaned from him and scouted in him so far as Ian Rappaport walks behind you? Well, first of all, I would say there was a lot of great players on the national championship game, and we were there to see all of them. And I just love watching guys compete. And to go to a national championship game when it's all on the line and the pressure's high for those young men is such a unique and cool experience. And to see many of those guys rise and play their best game in a game like that or their best in the big moments when the moment was required, it was just a great football game. And I was grateful to be there. I love football so much. I would go to that game and do it the same way if I didn't have this job. So it was just cool to be a part of a game like that. You were kind of, when you played, you were kind of an underdog yourself. Like, you kind of scrapped your way into whatever you could. And Kurt Signetti, I wouldn't call him. Is that a compliment? It is a compliment. It is a compliment. That was a backhanded compliment. My vision was that I was more of a star, but you're actually true. You're actually right. Well, you know, Kurt Signetti, nobody could call him an underdog at this point. But his story and, like, the way he gets that team playing, I think for a fan of the game and sort of the poetry and magic of the game itself, what was it like watching all of that kind of come to life and just like the way that those guys were connected and and all of those you know three stars two stars walk-ons all of those guys coming together the way that they did I just think it's a great example of why this is the greatest team sport yeah you know at Indiana they built the team they built a great team and you could see it the way they loved each other after the games and as they got notoriety they didn't change there was a humility there there was a respect you know that was there I mean I think you saw it with team USA just win the gold medal too I mean they're that's they're the it's a team sport it's not any one individual and you know the superpower in that Indiana program feels like they they really know how to build the team and I mean that's that's paramount that's what we're all trying to do what do you think Fernando's biggest strengths are that's that's another one so 43 yeah yeah put that one down yeah check uh you know I I just love watching him play I mean he's a he's obviously a great competitor. You can see that the teammates are drawn to him. He's got a lot of the qualities you look for, but now we get a chance to meet him and then see him in person. Now, you acquired Geno Smith last offseason just because I'm still, I'm not giving up my presidency of the Geno Smith fan club. Obviously not his best season. Is there a scenario where he's still there on the roster? Yeah, of course. I mean, we gave him a contract last year. He's under contract this year. It's a good number for a starting level quarterback in this league. And yeah, I learned long ago, you can't have enough good quarterbacks on your team. So, I mean, we're going to talk about, you know, if we get through the combine and we get the whole coaching staff together, we're going to talk about the entire roster and try to figure out the best way forward. We got a chance, and this is a humble brag on my part, but we got a chance to talk to Clint Kubiak after the Super Bowl. And just really refreshing, just he has this sort of presence and like a belief in his players and we saw that with his work with with Sam Darnold and with that entire offense in general what was it about Clint that you guys discussed through the interview process and through the vetting process and and in talking to him getting to know him what are some you're GM what are some traits that that stuck out to you about Clint that you were that you gravitated toward um you know we when we were getting started we put together a list of kind of the the traits that we were looking for in a head coach you know none of them physical but he just has a great even keel way about him you know there's a high level of confidence that he presents but with a wonderful amount of humility you know his intelligence is through the roof he's done this for a long time you know I think one of the cool things about him was the story that kind of broke about him working in the oil industry for a little bit and you know I think like a lot of us at some point we think like maybe maybe we should do something else you know maybe And then you're drawn back to the game, and it's just that love of the game and the love of coaching that kind of shone through. And then it was undeniable as that team started to really roll. I mean, it just seemed to get better and better. And just when you think, you know, I've got to stop these players, you know, JSN is the offensive player of the year. I mean, everyone's trying to stop them, and nobody can stop them. Well, it takes a really wonderful, wonderfully coordinated offense and a great offensive mind to do things like that. I mean, it's not an easy thing to do when you know they're trying to stop that guy and then they still get the ball to them and still in big moments, you know, that's awesome. But it really was about the man, the person that drew us to them. You know, I kind of set you up here, and I'm sure you expected it. I'm sorry about that. But with the Indiana question, how it felt, that connectivity, how those guys felt playing together, and then also with what Clint did and what that Seattle team, how close they were, how they just were radically positive to each other all the time and just loved up each other and were confident. Ernest Jones quotes, you know, if you don't like my quarterback. How do you get that in Las Vegas? I know you've got some bright young guys and some culture guys that you like, but how do you get from what happened last year into that, that energy, that feeling? You're building a roster of players, obviously, but bringing that into the space and making it a part of what you are, how do you do that? it's a challenging part of it. There's so many things that go into a roster and guys from all different backgrounds, demographics, they're older, they're younger, they're in different stages of their lives, but you have to find a way to connect them together. They obviously did a lot of really cool stuff in Seattle with Mike this year, and Clint talked about a lot of that. At the end of the day, it's about accountability to the man lining up next to you. You've got to create that somehow. and getting guys that love football and that will be there for each other and there's a selflessness and a humility to them, I think, is other wonderful traits to have. Maybe some teams prioritize those more than others. To me, it's a big thing. It's kind of how we built it in Tampa with the right kind of people, and we're just going to continue to stack the right kind of people in the entire organization. It's not just the players. It takes literally the entire organization. It's required every day to show up for the people next to you. I would assume you see Max Crosby as one of the people that has that right kind of stuff. How are you managing the reports and the idea that he wasn't happy with how the way last season ended and might want to be playing elsewhere this next season? Yeah, I mean, the reports, Will Kiss manages those for me, so I've got too much to do. I have a great relationship with Max. We talk all the time. We've had hard conversations. I mean, it's no secret that he wasn't thrilled about it. But I can sit in those things. You know, I can have that stuff. And, you know, I love seeing Max. I love seeing him every day. He works his tail off right now. He's on the mend to get healthy and to play the game that he loves. I have a question. And this could be related to Max because, like, in theory, Tradium, you know, you could get draft picks and you'd open up cap space, but you have a ton of cap space. Is there such a thing as too much cap space? You have like $90 million in cap space. Is that too much? I don't ever want to have that much again. I'd love to have the challenge of Tom Delaney struggling to piece it all together and not just like, you know. And then the other part of it too is like, you know, the whole world knows we've got a bunch of cap space, so what are they going to ask for? You know, more money. So we've got to sort through all that stuff. But we've got a great opportunity in front of us this offseason to attack it with a new head coach, a young head coach, and build this roster the right way. And that's really all I'm focused on. So we have what we have. I mean, there's no denying it. and I'm not going to run from it. With that, I mean, I hear what you're saying. I know it could be tempting maybe to go out, and it's been big in free agency and those types of things, but the way that you guys built Tampa Bay, you drafted and developed guys who love football and were going to be culture tone setters, and then you paid them, your own guys. Yeah, it's the best way to do it. Right, so the patience that it takes. Last year at this time, everyone was fired up and talking about competing immediately. I think that was the expectation for all of us, and yourself included. But now it's like there's going to be more patience in a build like this, the way that you want to draft and develop and those things So what is balancing that amount of money first of all finding the right guys potentially in free agency who are worth sort of helping lift the floor of the young guys who come in and then balancing that with what you want to do in the draft? Yeah, it's a delicate balancing act, all of it. And I think what we're going to prioritize is guys that can add to the culture right now, get us back on the right track and then be there when we're, when we're ready to roll. You know, like, I mean, it's, patience is not a word that I use a lot in this industry. So, I mean, there's not a lot of patience, so that's not, but like building it the right way, having a process over results and sticking to that, even when it's hard, even when you get, feel like there's urgency and you're, you get emotional about these deals and you don't want to lose the deal. I mean, we, we, some of the best deals are the ones you walk away from just because you have the money doesn't mean you should do it. And so it's all out in front of us right now, and we've got to be mindful of that. So speaking of patience, and you've been very generous with your time, we'll let you go with this. I do feel like Stephen, and for the listeners that missed that interview, my trainer, which is a little embarrassing, big-time Raiders fan, he was losing a little patience, I've got to admit, with the Raiders midway through last season. Just before you go, do you have any message for him or for Raiders Nation, how you're feeling here after a year at the helm? But, Stephen, you've got to get after this guy a little bit harder, number one. And, no, I just appreciate people like Stephen and Raider Nation. And, well, any trainer is supposed to get after you. They're not supposed to make it easy. I'm so happy right now. Absolutely. You're not supposed to, like, leave a workout if you're a good trainer and be like, that was easy. You're supposed to get your ass kicked. I mean, not exactly a body beautiful over here. I was feeling very old. No, I would just say to Stephen and all of Raider Nation, we appreciate all of them. And the passion in this fan base is unmatched. really anywhere I've ever been. I've been in some really cool places. And we've got a great opportunity in front of us and just continue to support us and have a little bit of patience. But I'm not asking for a lot. That's not the way this thing works. I love that. And there really is no other fan base like Raider Nation. I really think Cowboys are interesting and the Raiders. But to me, those are the two truly national teams. So John Spitek, he knows the job that he has in front of him. We appreciate the time. Thanks, guys. Always great to see you. Thanks, John. Hope we're still two of your favorites by the way you said that coming in i was like that was being a little generous to me because he just felt bad in front of me two two of my favorites but thank you hope we stayed that way all good here with ryan poles general manager of the chicago bears for the second time just want to point out after you came on for the first time you go you went ahead and won the the nfc yes yeah what i want to point out is that you called your shot in that last interview that we did because all we wanted to ask you about was the offensive line and how aggressive you wanted to be in rebuilding that foundational element of your offense and of your roster. And then you went out and did the dang thing. And they were one of the best units in football this year. So first of all, how did it feel to call your shot in such fashion with such flair? And second of all, I mean, the growth of that unit and just sort of what it was like to put them together in real time. Yeah, I would say, you know, to call the shot, I wish it always worked out that way. You know, you have plans and you're always waiting for some type of wrinkle to throw it off. That's just part of this league. You never feel comfortable. So it was cool seeing that come together and using different ways of doing it in terms of trades and also for agency. And I think really the best part for us is in for agency and trades. Some of the tough things are you don't know the player very well. So you don't know their habits in terms of how they prepare and all that good stuff. So with that, there was touch points with all three of those interior players that made us really comfortable. And we were able to obviously see the results come through for us. And I got to give Dan Rochard and Kyle Devan, our O-line coaches, a lot of credit for that. Just because you plug in good players who O-line doesn't mean that it'll come together. They got to have chemistry. and they were able to create that in really one of the best rooms that we had in the facility. For the listener, Ryan cannot stop smiling every once in a while talking about this group. You saw it in the past game, of course, and Caleb is one of the best quarterbacks in the league and not taking negative plays anyway, but to combine him with that line was really cool to watch. But the run game came to life in such a multiple way for you guys, not just because of what those linemen could do and were capable of doing as a unit, but also your backs. And, you know, we love Kyle Menongai. We call him Kyle Menong dude on this show. He is a dude. He is a dude. And we loved watching that come to life all season. And so behind that line, what was that like watching Ben put that together? It was amazing. Again, when you pair Dan Rochar and Ben Johnson together and put a run game together, you're going to get a tactical advantage in terms of getting the best opportunities to get yards before being touched really. So then when you add on the talent that we had up front, some really good things can happen. And any time that you have balance, your protection in the pass game is going to be better. Your quarterback's confidence is going to be better. So it was really cool seeing that all come together. Eric Bien-Ami, who's now in Kansas City as the OC, did a fantastic job with our backs, Kyle's development, and also seeing Swifty put together a really strong year, maybe the best year of his career, was awesome. So we look forward to picking up where we left off. Again, there's always challenges for this league. You can't just take last year and apply it to this year. You've got to continue to work on it and adjust as things pop up. So looking forward to it. But, yeah, good group. You mentioned DeAndre Swift having such a great year. I was surprised to see him on some of those articles that, like, you know, potential cap cuts you guys do have a tricky situation where you know you got to cut some salary cap is he a guy you feel good about for the 2026 season on the team yeah i do feel good about it um you know we'll get through this next two weeks um see what different opportunities kind of pop up um it's always difficult there's a lot of unknowns um a lot of different sequences that we've put together how they come together um is is um it's too it's unknown right now but I feel good about Swifty and where he's at. One thing you alluded to it, you had the Joe Tooney trade, and you've kind of pulled a big surprise almost every one of your off seasons. You started out with the Kyle Mack trade, you know, leaving. You, you know, DJ Moore, you got as part of that trade. I feel like you and a few other teams have been part of a trend. There just have been more veteran trades in the NFL. So I guess I'm just curious if you go through your process as a GM, how you use trades as part of kind of the arsenal. And do you have another little fun one coming up? Just do it at the end. Follow-up question. We'll see. We'll see. Usually they start popping up this week. I'll say this kind of cool story. I've gotten to know, I'm trying to draw a blank on his name. there's an author who wrote range and a new book's coming out inside the box is about constraints and what we can learn from constraints and it's uh it's interesting because when i think back to our first year not having much money um not having many picks you learn how to you know live inside this box and how can we make the most out of our situation and we've been able to take that and apply it along the way and and what that's taught us is to just really keep an open mind on how to solve some of these solutions there's the basic way of just doing the draft and straight up for agency but how can we take advantage of some trade opportunities to bring a talented player onto our roster by really starting fresh and rebuilding from year one we needed to get the talent level higher and higher, knowing that it takes a little bit of time to get draft picks developed along the way. So how can we expedite it just enough, but also bring in the right type of people. So I think that experience in the very beginning has helped us take this kind of unique approach of using trade, free agency, and the draft to help build our team. So we're always listening. We're always going to analyze everything that we hear in terms of how to improve our team. And that's been able to create some cool situations over the last few years. One of my favorite things about football is how people make decisions. And I think we always see on the field the product of like a play caller sequencing plays together and how combinations and permutations change over time and all of the different avenues they can take. You mentioned something that sort of sparked for me when you were talking about DeAndre Swift, which is we've sort of gamed out some of the scenarios and some of the different combinations. what I think a lot of people don't know about your job is you have to sequence out possibilities too and you have to run a lot of game theory on all of it. I'm curious if you could peel back, maybe not with this specific situation, but if you want to, you can, but how you do that and what that process actually is and looks like for the listeners who might not be as familiar with it. Yeah, I'll start with the calendar really. once we finish the season we have our early draft meeting so we bring all of our scouts in and we go through the board we kind of call it pinning the board up so it's not set yet there's a lot of information to learn this week and through you know the spring but it gives us an idea where strengths and weaknesses are and then for agency we do the same thing and our pro staff does an amazing job with that. What we also do is we add to our free agency board, we add the cap casualties. We usually overload that more than what's actually going to happen, but we never want to be caught by surprise. So when we mesh those boards together, it gives us some clarity of where strengths and weaknesses are and allows us to understand really, all right, where do we have to be aggressive? Maybe we need to go to a trade route to get this done because I don't know if the volume is there to feel comfortable with filling that need. So we go through that. And then obviously there's a financial part of it. So we have one of the best cap guys in the league, Matt Feinstein. So I, myself, and now Jeff King will go through and list everything with Ben. And then I'll bring in Matt and say, okay, walk us through what's the short-term and long-term effect of this financially. He's the guy that has to tell you no on your A-plus plans half the time. Yeah, so there's a lot of things. lot of tough conversations there where you know I'm like come on man you can find more money somewhere and he does he does a great job but he also knows there's some core things I don't want to hurt herself down the road I want to stay flexible I also you know we got a quarterback that's trending in the right direction I want to make sure that there's a plan in place for whenever we need to extend him if everything continues to stay on the same path so how does all those decisions today fit that down the road. So it's complicated. It's the most fun part of this job. There's a lot of putting out fires, but that's the part that, you know, I'll sit there on a board and we're writing a tag. It's a big week for that too. And especially this offseason, you have so many players in your secondary up at the same time, and you might be looking for a left tackle because you have an injury there from your draft. So there's a lot of games being theoried out there. Specifically with the secondary, Jaquan Brisker was one of your first draft picks, and Kevin Bayard is such an important part of your team, and Nashawn Wright had such a breakout season last year. Where are you with those three guys specifically and your confidence of what you're going to be able to do to keep them? Yeah, so I think part of this week and early next week is understanding what those markets are. And also, you know, we've got to clear some space in terms of our cap and make sure that we're healthy there. And really it's then can we make that fit? And it takes both sides, you know, obviously agreeing that it works for each other. So we'll set up guardrails for each one of those scenarios, knowing that once you prioritize and the first domino goes, that may take three off the board because of financial constraints. So once we get through this week, we'll go back to the room and the drawing board and lay that out and then progress in this. You know, we'll prioritize everything, progress through that list and put it all together. Well, Ryan Pulse not only called a shot on the show last year when you first got the job, you said it's going to be our goal to take the North, the NFC North and never give it back. Well, they they have taken the North. It is a very difficult division. So hopefully, you know, next year when we talk to you, you still will not give it back. Do you have any predictions? You know, do you want to call another shot this year? I just, you know, our goal is to take the next step. And that's to get to the championship game and eventually the Super Bowl. So I'd like to see our offense take the next step, which I know with Ben and Caleb and the work they're putting into it, that'll happen. Obviously, again, injuries, things that we can't control. We'll always throw a little bit of a wrinkle in it. But then on top of that, our defense taking the next step. And I think if all that comes together, we should be in a situation where we're going to continue to improve and keep moving up. Ryan Poles, GM of the Bears. Appreciate you. Awesome. Thank you. Those were delightful. You can tell the vibe from Poles coming off a championship season. It's always interesting this time of year. There's the guys who are riding high. Spitex coming off a bad season. but you wouldn't have known it, which I appreciate. But sticking with polls for us, I did just want to update an item that he talked about on the podium we didn't get a chance to talk about, that other teams have expressed interest in Tyson Bajan. And he believes there will be a trade market. He said that for Tyson Bajan. So I don't know if that's them trying to drum up a market. Do you know what, though? Because there was... It reminds me of a very specific example. example go ahead that polls was the one saying it is interesting to me because uh like a week ago there was a source report that the cardinals were interested in tyson bajant with that which at the time felt like an agent sort of putting stuff out there like that but sometimes when you start to connect leaks with other leaks it might not be anything as it pertains to tyson bajant specifically but it could tell you a lot about both Arizona and Chicago and what they are either hoping or attempting to do right now. I think it says a lot now that I have the full picture of him saying that about Chicago, and it reminds me on a lesser level but similar to the Joe Milton-Drake May situation. I actually think that they gave Taysom Bajan a great contract, but it just might be a situation where you have a backup that's the same age, that's really competitive, that wants to play. I'm not reporting anything, but just that you might see that the quarterback room is constructed better with like, hey, maybe we'd like to see Caleb with a different true backup and Tyson could get a chance elsewhere. Maybe this isn't our forever pairing with him as a backup. Once you get a taste of success, and Tyson Bajan did, and he got the contract and he heard the fan base and how for him they were and he got a taste of it. So he's going to want to go play somewhere. Could be a vibes thing. I mean, you heard with New England that it was maybe a vibes thing that Joe Milton wasn't really thrilled to be in that position and maybe Drake May wasn't thrilled to have a backup that's his age that's wanting to play. Really appreciate Ryan Poles and John Spitek joining the show. The last thing with Spitek, just I love the pop that he's still giving Steven. That was the first thing he said when he saw you. Yes. He also included you, you know. It was great that he was making him a part of the show, and I liked the message to Raider Nation. And he was asked about Crosby in other places than us, so I did want to provide that context. He kept saying he expects Crosby to be back, but will always listen. So I think that's one where just, I don't know. I'm sure they would like Max Crosby to be back, but I think that's an I don't know, and we'll see. Yeah. And it seems to be you're dealing with a personality as well who seems to be in a sort of trying to stabilize his emotions toward the entire topic as well. And so you have to surf that wave, too, when you come to it. Love surfing the wave. Just you just got to stay on your feet. You know, you don't want to you don't want to crash. That's going to be it from our show here in the Indianapolis Convention Center. Not as many coaches by a long shot speaking on Wednesday, but we have some great interviews. We're going to have a lot of news. This is quietly the first night where really every, you know, media member has made it here from the snow and everyone's in position. The entire league is now here. This is kind of the first night where the people like Jordan, who have all these contacts, they start talking, and people start talking to each other. And the insiders like Ian, they start talking, And then we start getting some news droppings tomorrow. So look for that. Look for some more press conference updates. And then look for our interviews with some decision makers, including Bill's general manager, Brandon Bean, and Steelers general manager, Omar Khan. That is it. Let's go. Let's be safe out there tonight in Indianapolis. For Jordan and John Spitek and Ryan Foles, we'll see you next time. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.