- 10 months ago
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00:00Give you guys a little insight as we start the offseason process.
00:04And really it started yesterday at 7 a.m.
00:07Started meeting with players, met with players until about 7 p.m. yesterday.
00:11Had a lot of good conversations.
00:13Some of those meetings will continue to happen today.
00:17And then this afternoon I will meet with the scouting staff upstairs.
00:21We'll go through the entire roster by position, hear the scouts,
00:25talk about our current roster, stack the players,
00:28and have a lot of good discussion into this afternoon.
00:31Tomorrow morning we'll do a very similar process, myself and AG,
00:34with the coaching staff.
00:36Again, go through the whole roster, bring the position coaches,
00:40talk in detail about each player, the vision moving forward for those players.
00:44That will consume most of Wednesday.
00:47And then Thursday myself and AG, again, we'll get together in private
00:50and talk further detail about offseason planning,
00:53what the roster might look like, some of our goals in the offseason.
00:57And that will really kick it off.
00:58And I'm excited about the offseason as we go into it.
01:01Obviously the draft capital we have, the cap space,
01:05and just being here now a year with AG, working with AG, the staff,
01:11getting to learn the staff, getting to learn the players,
01:14getting to learn this division.
01:15I feel more confident today than ever moving forward with what we have going.
01:19And with that, I think we can start questions.
01:24Yeah, Darren, I think the question on every fan's mind,
01:28it's probably the same question that's asked to every GM before you,
01:31is just how are you going to fix the quarterback situation?
01:33Yeah, I understand the question.
01:35And that process starts yesterday and today and throughout the week,
01:39as we'll have a lot of discussions internally.
01:42And I can tell you this, we'll exhaust every option.
01:44You know, free agency, the league, obviously the draft, we will exhaust that
01:50and have a good solution for the New York Jets.
01:53As far as quarterback, what was the thinking in signing Justin Fields,
01:58anointing him the starter, giving him two years, $40 million,
02:01when he had a 14-30 record as a starter entering the offseason?
02:07Yeah, I think that's a good question.
02:08I understand the question.
02:10We had a clear vision for Justin, a good plan.
02:12Now, obviously the season didn't go as planned, and that's for many reasons.
02:17There's not one person, player, coach, system of why we ended up with three games.
02:22But that's part of this week's process is of diving in
02:25and really reflecting on the season and the lessons learned moving forward.
02:30What is your evaluation of the way the quarterbacks play this year?
02:34Yeah, we're going through that process this week as the whole roster.
02:37We're going to evaluate every position on the team.
02:41And obviously we've got to be better.
02:41We've got to be better at several spots, quarterback included.
02:44That's the one thing that we'll actually start going tomorrow.
02:47And I know the question that you were about to ask.
02:50Justin's on the contract.
02:52Brady's on the contract.
02:55But when it comes to the quarterback, listen, we're going to always have the best guy.
02:58And that's always been the plan from the beginning.
03:00The guys give us the best chance to win.
03:02But to answer your question, he's on the contract.
03:05Hey, G, you obviously need to hire a defensive coordinator.
03:08Yep.
03:08What are you looking for in that job?
03:11And are you prioritizing guys about play-telling experience?
03:14Like what's kind of your approach?
03:15To give you an overall just perspective on what the plan is.
03:23And Moose just talked about yesterday was all about the players and talking to the players.
03:27Tomorrow I'll be talking to the staff as far as the players are concerned.
03:34And at that point, man, that's when I really started to dig into the evaluation of the whole roster,
03:39the whole coaching staff.
03:41And really start to figure out, like, how can I get better also?
03:44And I actually start with that, my own self-reflection.
03:47And then when it comes to the coaches, man, I like to be aggressive.
03:56I want to make sure that wherever the guy that we do have in, that there's a lot of synergy between me and that coach.
04:04And I'm not saying that it wasn't synergy between me and Wilkes.
04:07It's just I want to make sure as I go through this process that that's not a step that I don't miss.
04:13And it will be a number of coaches that we will take a look at.
04:17And Moose will be a huge part of that because I do respect his opinion.
04:22And he has a good eye just for talent in general.
04:25And I want to make sure that it's collaborative between all of us.
04:29And we just want to get the best guy.
04:30Aaron, when you say synergy, do you mean in terms of how you guys mesh personally or in schematics?
04:37I think that's – yeah, that has a lot to do with it.
04:40Personally, as far as fit, as far as how I see defense being played, all those things are huge.
04:48Because – and I've said this before – compatibility is just as important as coachability.
04:53You know, so I want to make sure that we see things the same way.
04:56And I want to make sure that we can vibe as far as sitting down and talking about how we see football also.
05:01And then just a quick follow on that is that when you hired Steve, he was someone who's done it before, he was a defense coordinator.
05:06Like, how do you balance first-time guy who maybe you have experience with or you believe can do it compared to somebody who has done it before?
05:13Man, that's a really good question.
05:16And that's what I'm actually really evaluating as I go through that is making sure that I'm really thorough on whoever that guy is.
05:27Is it an experienced guy that's done it before or is it a guy that hasn't?
05:30And do I trust the fact that he can do it?
05:34And to me, that's something that – I just don't sit up here and say that right now, that I go through the whole process and make sure that the answers that I'm really getting from that whole evaluation will be good enough answers to where I can pick this guy and say, okay, he's going to be the guy that can do it, if that makes sense.
05:49Darren, how long do you think it will take to be competitive, to be respectable?
05:54I believe we can be competitive and respectable right away next year.
06:02What gives you that confidence?
06:05You said earlier you're the most confident.
06:07You have more confidence now than ever.
06:08What gives you the confidence?
06:09Because I've been here a year.
06:11I've learned a lot.
06:12We've learned a lot.
06:13I've got a clear vision.
06:14AG and I, like we said, we talk daily on this roster and the vision and this division.
06:18And with the assets we have moving forward, the draft capital, the cap space, I know we're going to continue to build and add good players as a team that are going to help us win.
06:28And let me answer that also.
06:33As a rookie head coach and same thing as a GM, man, going through the first year and really understanding the landscape of everything, like that's a huge deal.
06:45You know, I will tell you that right now.
06:46And speaking of myself, man, there's a number of things I know that I will be better at.
06:52And, again, I'm still doing self-reflection, but I know for a fact there are a number of things.
06:56And the confidence that I have in Mooj, the confidence I have in our owner, the confidence I have in myself, the confidence I have in some of the foundational players that we have, that's where the confidence really comes from, you know, if that makes sense.
07:09And there is a clear vision.
07:12There is a clear plan on how we want to go about doing things.
07:15And you match that with Mooj, with our owner, the confidence I have in myself with some of the foundational players that we have, that in itself to me gives, like, all the confidence in the world, man, that we're going to go in the right direction.
07:30Now, are there some things we've got to fix?
07:31Absolutely.
07:32We know that.
07:34And we'll fix those.
07:35We'll attack those the way we have to.
07:37But overall, man, I have all the confidence in the world that we're going to do the things we have to do to be successful.
07:42Jared, it looked like, given your defensive background and given the way your quarterbacks perform this year, why should people feel confident that you have the infrastructure in place to pick a quarterback and develop them properly?
07:56You know what, that's a good question.
07:58And we're going to exhaust everything that we can to make sure that we surround our quarterbacks now and if we get any quarterbacks in the future, right, with the guys that's going to help them.
08:07And then, again, that's a whole part of, man, making sure that we evaluate everything that's going on and make sure we have the right people here that can help the quarterback.
08:16And I'm not saying that we don't have that.
08:18You know, that's something that we have to continue to look at.
08:21So that's not a question I can sit here and say, listen, we have that.
08:23Listen, we're going to evaluate everything.
08:25And we're going to exhaust everything to make sure that we surround every one of our guys with the right staff, with the right strength and condition, with the right medical to make sure those guys are successful.
08:36When you watch the season on the football, what do you think went wrong?
08:42Why do you think you guys are 3-14?
08:43Like I said earlier, there's not one player, person, side of the ball that's to blame.
08:49It's an accumulation of several things.
08:52And we're in the process of really having deeper conversations so we get the right answers to that question.
08:58Darren, there was a stretch that I know a lot can change with the valuations and stuff between now and the NFL draft.
09:03But it was looking like for a while if you guys were picking four, five, six, if you wanted to get up there to draft a quarterback that might go one or two,
09:10you're going to have to move a ton of assets to go and do it.
09:12I guess the one benefit of the way that this thing kind of popped out is that you guys don't have to do that.
09:17Like you're going to be sitting there at number two.
09:19How much of a luxury is that these assets that you worked so hard to accumulate this year, you can theoretically now use them all for yourselves, not trade them to go up?
09:27Yeah, no, it's nice to know where we'll be picking at two.
09:30But before we get to the draft, I mean, there's a lot of internal discussions and studies.
09:35And obviously our roster first and then free agency, then evaluating the draft in depth to know what we'll do with that pick and those assets.
09:44But there's no doubt it feels good just to know where you're at at two.
09:47Darren, in addition to the draft capital that you acquired, can you talk about some of the players in season that you got, like Harrison Phillips, Jawan Briggs, Brownlee on the defensive side of the ball, and then Natchie and Mitchell?
10:00Yeah, absolutely.
10:02Excited about those players that you just mentioned and that we were able to get those guys.
10:05Every one of those additions has its own story in how they got here.
10:10Briggsie, in particular, is a good one.
10:13I know in training camp, we're exhausting the league, right, for any players at any position that we can add, specifically D-Tackle here when we're talking about Briggs.
10:21We just added Harrison, but we're looking for some young guys as well.
10:25One of our young scouts, Thomas Woody, identified Briggsie, brought him to our attention.
10:30We watched a ton of DTs.
10:32I know specifically Briggs, we watched him play last year at the end of the season.
10:36There was a game against Miami in Baltimore.
10:38He played well.
10:40And another one of our scouts identified him as a criteria player, Donovan Doyle, actually.
10:45So he hit a few benchmarks for us.
10:48And, you know, lucky enough for us, Cleveland had some good depth, so we were able to acquire Briggs.
10:54And I think he's been positive for us.
10:56And he's got some developing growth still to come, but he's been a positive spot.
11:00One of the guys we're glad to add.
11:02What is your message to your fan base going forward in terms of why you guys will be successful and why you believe you will be successful?
11:14Did you say Aaron or Darren?
11:15Both of you guys.
11:16Yeah, yeah.
11:17Aaron?
11:18And I kind of answered that earlier of the fact that, man, there is belief in Mooj.
11:24There is belief in Woody.
11:26I have belief in myself.
11:28I have belief in some of the foundational players that we have here.
11:31And, listen, we're frustrated about this season.
11:34I know the players are frustrated about it also.
11:36But there's also faith that comes with that.
11:38And there's also the fact that, man, we went through this whole year to be able to learn a ton about ourselves, about the roster, about how we can get better.
11:47And I have total confidence in that.
11:51And I want the fans to have total confidence in that also.
11:55And it makes a huge difference being in the seat and going through it for a year on both parts.
12:03It makes a huge difference of being able to have those conversations with your owner on the expectations that he have.
12:09It makes a huge difference of really knowing your roster, going in for a whole year, and the must, needs, and wants that you need to move forward.
12:17And being able to have that, being able to get educated on that for a whole year is huge for us.
12:24So, for our fans, listen, again, there's a vision that we have.
12:29And there's a trust that we have in that also.
12:33So, you know, and I expect and I will want our fans to have a total trust in us and being able to do that.
12:40And we have to earn that too.
12:42And our plan is to do that.
12:44And we don't expect to have another season like this here.
12:47You know, so we're looking forward to this offseason, looking forward to getting to work and using the draft capital that we have
12:55and the money we have in free agency to continue to build what we've been trying to build.
12:58Aaron, if I can just follow on that theme that you just mentioned with Woody.
13:02Yep.
13:03Coming off 3-14, how much of a greater sense of urgency do you feel from ownership to improve next year?
13:10There's always a sense of urgency.
13:11To get more wins.
13:12There's always a sense of urgency.
13:13It doesn't matter.
13:14Yeah, it doesn't matter what the record is because winning is a sense of urgency in itself.
13:20And that's what the plan is, is to win.
13:22And, listen, we all know Woody and we all know he wants to win just like we do.
13:30So, yes, there is a sense of urgency from that.
13:32Do you guys want Brees Hall back?
13:39Brees is a good player.
13:40I want as many good players back as we can.
13:44Like I mentioned, I met with probably 50 players yesterday.
13:47I met with Brees yesterday.
13:48I had a lot of good conversations.
13:49So, we'll go through this process and we'll see how free agency unfolds.
13:53But we want to add good players.
13:54Is there a possibility for him if need be?
13:55What's that?
13:56I won't get into hypotheticals and contracts and things like that.
13:59But we'll exhaust all the different options and see where that ends up.
14:03And I talked about synergy on the defensive coordinator side.
14:07Yep.
14:07I know you're still evaluating the coaches.
14:09But do you think there will be more changes to your staff to try to get them?
14:14I can't answer that just yet.
14:16Again, we're still going through that process.
14:18So, that's a hard question to answer.
14:20Maybe not necessarily changes in terms of firing.
14:23But are you open to the staff, adding coaches or the guys that can help the staff?
14:30I think this business, you're always looking to add good people.
14:34That can be your roster.
14:35That can be your staff.
14:36I'm sure Mood would just say the same thing with the personnel.
14:40You're always looking to add good people.
14:41Whoever you can add that will add value to your organization.
14:46I mean, you always look at that.
14:48Darren, obviously you guys have been looking at quarterbacks, scouting and whatnot,
14:52in the college ranks.
14:53There's an assumption that Mendoza is going to be number one.
14:57But in your – this is more of a general question, not a personnel question.
15:00But in your experience, you know, in personnel and doing what you do,
15:05do you feel like it's a no-brainer, like everybody thinks it is,
15:08that Mendoza is going to be number one?
15:09Or how many things happen between now and then?
15:13Well, there's still several games to be played.
15:14And I think these games will be big and have an impact.
15:17And I think there's a process.
15:19And every organization is different and in a different situation.
15:23But I know that all teams in the NFL are very thorough with their process
15:27and have different, you know, tastes or likings or needs at their certain spots.
15:31It's always specific to a certain case.
15:35But, yeah, the quarterback evaluation is a full process, I think, start to finish,
15:39with obviously the games being the most important.
15:41And a lot of that is done, so I understand the question.
15:43But there will be some exciting games here still to watch at the end.
15:45Darren, how do you feel about the supporting gaps you do have on offense
15:49for, you know, if you drop a new quarterback in there,
15:51that they'd be able to succeed?
15:52I feel good.
15:53I feel good about the offensive line.
15:55I think that's the strength of ours.
15:56It's a young group.
15:57I think with continuity in the group, they'll only continue to get better.
16:02I think we've got a young tight end.
16:03I think we've got a good tight end room.
16:04Obviously, we've got Garrett.
16:05We've got Brees.
16:06We've got a good stable back.
16:07So I feel good about the offensive support on that side of the ball.
16:10Is there any regret, guys, looking back on not picking a quarterback in the draft
16:16last year after seeing Dart or Shock or even a mid-round flyer?
16:20Is there any sense of that was a mistake?
16:23No, I think, you know, as we go through these processes,
16:26we do a lot of reflecting and call takeaways and lessons learned.
16:30But we're always studying historical, you know,
16:34whether it's free agency classes, draft classes.
16:36And that's part of the process, and you're hoping to learn
16:39and always comparing each class to the others.
16:41With the state of the – coming off a year like this,
16:46the state of the roster and the way that things look the final three,
16:48four games this season, how aggressive do you want to be this offseason
16:52in order to change things and infuse this roster of talent?
16:55I think everyone wants to be aggressive but calculated with how they attack offseasons,
17:00whether that's free agency and the draft.
17:02And just knowing your team, knowing your division and what you need,
17:05it's – you can say it's an aggressive approach,
17:08but it really needs to be a very calculated approach,
17:11knowing your resources, your draft resources, your cap, your future cap,
17:15and what that might look like.
17:16So, yeah, we're always going to look to add
17:18and kind of know where we might be deficient
17:20and where we might need to really add power to compete in the division.
17:24And then how would you – it's preliminary,
17:27but your early reports that you've had with your pro personnel staff,
17:29how would you assess the way this free agent class could shape up,
17:33like how it looks early on with the –
17:35Yeah, it is early, but we've done a lot of work and a lot of studies.
17:38But I'm going to wait until I get into that next step of that process.
17:43Again, some teams may say it looks strong in this week and others,
17:47and it just depends on your needs as well.
17:48Aaron, what was your thinking in hiring Wilkes,
17:52who you didn't have a background with,
17:54who's fired after one year by Kyle Shanahan,
17:57and he plays a little different system than you?
17:59So what was the thinking?
18:01Well, first off, I've been doing Wilkes for a while.
18:05And to give you a really good, like, background of that whole deal,
18:12number one, former head coach.
18:14All right, so somebody that I could bounce ideas off of.
18:17The one year he had in San Francisco was the same defense that we actually ran here.
18:25You know, so bringing him here and allowing him to run the same defense.
18:28I knew there were going to be some tweaks here and there to be able to run the same defense.
18:32To me, that was intriguing.
18:34And that was really the basis behind it.
18:38Former head coach, come here, run the same defense.
18:41So there has to be any change when it comes to that.
18:43And then I can go about managing the team.
18:46Obviously, the things didn't work out the way that we want to work out.
18:49And, you know, things like that happen.
18:51But you try to make a decision, you try to move forward,
18:54and you try to think of the solutions you have to do to fix it.
18:56And that's where I'm right now.
18:57Last one, Kyle.
18:58When you look back to last year, I'm sure you've thought about this before today in recent weeks.
19:05Do you think you're overestimating the roster?
19:07Do you think you're overestimating the talent that was on the roster,
19:10whether it be that you inherited or going into training camp?
19:13Yeah, I can't say that.
19:15I can't say that.
19:15I think it's a lot of – and I said this after the game.
19:20And I put a lot of it on me as far as just the wins and losses.
19:30You know, and I would just – I would really say it like that.
19:33I put a lot of it on me on the wins and losses, and I have to do a better job.
19:36And I'm not going to sit here and blame it on the roster.
19:38I'm not going to sit here and blame it on the coaching staff.
19:40I'm going to blame it on the guy that's sitting right in front of you,
19:42and I got to do a better job.
19:44And I'm going to always say that, you know.
19:45And until I get that – the whole situation situated, then we'll be better,
19:50which I know we will next year.