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00:00Mostly devil's advocating over here, honestly, if I'm being real honest,
00:05because I love a team.
00:09I became a fan of the Minnesota Wild this year because they traded for Quinn Hughes.
00:13It's not like, okay, we're stuck at this level.
00:16We're always at this level.
00:17Let's do something about it.
00:19And I know it didn't work, but I still loved that they did that.
00:22You know, even the Sabres, if they'd gotten maybe Pareko,
00:25would have been some version of that just at the deadline,
00:29but still, like, go be aggressive.
00:31You have a chance here.
00:33You got a window.
00:34I like it.
00:35How about A.J. Brown, Sal, going to New England?
00:37This is one that we've had a lot of time to think about
00:39and maybe assuming it was going to happen for much of that time.
00:43What about it?
00:45How big of an upgrade is this for New England?
00:48How much scarier do they become?
00:51It's huge.
00:51I mean, it's the exact thing the Bills did when they traded for Spondigs.
00:56They had a quarterback who was really good going into his third year
01:02on a rookie contract, and you go out and get him a stud-wide receiver.
01:06And when the Bills did that, Stephon Diggs was 27.
01:09A.J. Brown is 28.
01:11I mean, you should have him for a while here.
01:15And you will have to pay Drake May over the next couple years,
01:20however they structure that contract.
01:22You might as well go now and try and do this.
01:25And that's what the Bills did.
01:27It really worked out.
01:28They got Josh Allen the guy.
01:30Stephon Diggs was great for Josh Allen when he came to Buffalo.
01:32I think A.J. Brown is going to be really good for Drake May.
01:35But I think overall their wide receiver group, even without Diggs now,
01:39is much, much better than it was last year.
01:42Romeo Dobbs is a good player.
01:44I know Matt Collins had an injury at the end.
01:46He did some really nice things for them.
01:49Kyle Williams they drafted.
01:50I liked Amario Douglas.
01:51I think they've really upgraded their receiving core.
01:54And boy, do they have a really good third-year quarterback who,
01:58oh, by the way, was a finalist for the MVP and went to the Super Bowl last year.
02:03So you're doing everything right by him right now before you have to pay him.
02:07There are still questions on their offensive line.
02:09There are still questions about their running game and even getting to the passer.
02:12But every team has some questions.
02:15I like this a lot for them, for New England.
02:16I think they did it right here, and they didn't give up a first-round pick next year.
02:21But they did in a couple years, and that is actually interesting.
02:23I actually think that maybe New England should have given up next year's first-round pick.
02:27Maybe not in a couple years.
02:28Maybe in a couple years, because you do have to pay Drake May,
02:30and you've got to start supplementing that with younger players.
02:33Maybe that was a year to not trade away your first-rounder.
02:35Is there any level of buyer beware for you?
02:39How high?
02:40There's probably some.
02:40There might be some with almost any player, even one with almost a spotless resume.
02:46How much buyer beware would you have about A.J. Brown?
02:51I would have some.
02:53I mean, he wore out his welcome in Philly, so to speak.
02:58I don't know if that was the case necessarily in Tennessee.
03:00There were things going on, but obviously the GM didn't want him.
03:03The coach did, and that's part of the reason why I think they had their ultimate breakup there.
03:07But this coach, same coach now, obviously we know Mike Vrabel, that's a big deal.
03:11If I have Vrabel in this relationship, I probably am thinking, yeah, it's fine.
03:17They're going to be fine together.
03:19He knows him.
03:20He wants to play for him.
03:21If it's another coach, I probably have a little bit more reservation about it
03:26and thinking, am I going to get the personalities going to clash?
03:29I think there's been some injuries here or there with him, but he's still a fantastic player.
03:33So I think you have to consider it.
03:35I mean, you've got a young quarterback.
03:37There was obviously something going on between A.J. Brown and Jalen Hurts from all the reporting.
03:41So you think about that stuff, but I think these organizations and these people
03:47usually think because they're very competitive, it doesn't matter.
03:50It'll work for me.
03:51I'll make it work.
03:52We'll get him in here, and it's going to work here.
03:54Before we get to the Bills, you guys know the line on the New England-Seattle opener?
03:59I have not looked, no.
04:00Got a guess?
04:01Sal, do you know it?
04:03I'm going to guess five-and-a-half Seattle.
04:08I'd like to be different, but I like that number.
04:11Three-and-a-half.
04:11Wow.
04:13I didn't like – I'm always wrong on the opener.
04:15I don't know.
04:16I'm sick of it.
04:17I'm not retiring from the game because I like it too much to try to guess the schedule.
04:21You're bad at it, and you can't stand that I get it right all the time.
04:24I don't love that either, but you put New England in Seattle after that Super Bowl.
04:31I mean, it's a road game now.
04:33What's that, six?
04:34I would have guessed that too.
04:36Three-and-a-half.
04:38Let's get – for Bills fans' sakes, New England at 0-1 would be a nice way to start on
04:45a Wednesday night this year
04:46and then go to Houston, figure it out, but if they go to Seattle and win –
04:51Oh.
04:52I mean, let's not do this again.
04:54You're behind before week one even really begins.
04:57Three-and-a-half.
04:59Then they have the Steelers.
05:00I don't know.
05:01Patriots at Bills week four, and then the rematch in New England week 13.
05:06Sal Capaccio on the Western Hotline.
05:09Today was your day this week to check out on the Bills.
05:12This interesting – this player Clayton switching positions is interesting.
05:16I'm not sure if that's the lead for you, Sal, but if it is, so be it.
05:22I think so, although I did text Brad Reiter and say,
05:24I think I buried the lead with you when I was on with him because Haley Scimura was at practice
05:29today.
05:29I got to hold a gold medal, so that was a pretty cool part of practice today.
05:33Yeah, she was there.
05:33It was really cool.
05:34Did you go up to her and just grab it when it was around her neck, or did she take
05:38it off?
05:40I did hold it while it was around her neck, but I was – someone with the Bills introduced me
05:45to her,
05:46and we had a conversation, and I said, do you mind?
05:49And she's like, no, of course not.
05:50And then someone who was kind of with her team, I would say, said, hey, would you like me to
05:53take a picture?
05:54I'm like, sure, yeah.
05:54So I took a picture of that, so I got that and kind of was showing it off, you know,
05:58friends and family today.
06:00But –
06:00So it was consensual.
06:01But it was – yeah, but it was more of a – but she did take it off the medal,
06:06off her neck to show players.
06:07I saw the video of that.
06:09I didn't want to ask.
06:09That would be a little bit more imposing, you know what I mean?
06:11Can I put this on?
06:11Can you take it off?
06:12Yeah, yeah, yeah.
06:13Right, right.
06:13But I said, do you mind if I, you know, hold it in my hand?
06:15She's like, no, not at all.
06:16That was pretty cool, though.
06:17Pretty cool to have that.
06:19That, to me, was a big part of the practice.
06:21But on the field, you're right, Mike.
06:22I do think it's a big story.
06:24You know, generally at these OTAs, I think what fans really want to know is who's there and did anybody
06:30get hurt?
06:30Really, honestly, right?
06:32Obviously, how did this guy look?
06:33How did that guy look?
06:34I mean, there's plays that are made and you could talk about and write about and those kinds of things.
06:37But it's attendance, who got hurt, and, you know, you kind of go from there.
06:42Except when you have something like today where you walk out there and one of the first things you see
06:47is, oh, the Bills have a new defender wearing number 67?
06:51No, wait, that's Travis Clayton's number.
06:52Oh, wait, that is Travis Clayton.
06:54He's wearing blue today.
06:55He's not wearing white today.
06:56He's on the defensive line, not the offensive line.
06:58Let's see how this goes.
07:00So I have some video.
07:01I posted it at the website at WGR550.com, embedded my tweet at South Sports if people wanted to see
07:07it.
07:08I watched him go through, you know, defensive line drills, and I think it's interesting.
07:13I don't know why the Bills did it or if it's going to last.
07:16Maybe we go out there for mandatory minicamp, and he's back on the offensive side.
07:19I have no idea, but I thought it was super interesting today.
07:21What are some of the things that he would, like, what are the biggest challenges to making this switch as
07:30you see it?
07:31So first, let's talk about the player.
07:33This is the International Pathways Program player the Bills selected two years ago.
07:37He has yet to play a down in the NFL.
07:38He's been on the practice squad for two years.
07:41He is the reason the Bills actually get 91 players right now instead of 90 because he still counts as
07:45an international player.
07:47When the Bills drafted him in the seventh round a couple of years ago, his only exposure to any American
07:52football was through the NFL Academy in London.
07:56And, you know, it wasn't even – it was pretty brief, actually, but he had never played college football.
07:59So he's pretty raw.
08:01I think that can be an actual plus because he hasn't been trained at a certain position his whole life
08:05that he has certain habits that you can't translate.
08:07Now, I would say, I think, that when you're dealing with the greatest athletes in the world, especially guys who
08:12are 6'7", over 300 pounds, and there are these kinds of athletes,
08:16I think they could probably play offensive line or defensive line at an adequate enough level where, you know, you
08:22could put them on the field and say they'll be able to stop somebody
08:24or at least they'll be able to, you know, stand up to somebody.
08:27Whatever.
08:28You know, they're not going to be great at it.
08:29So, to me, I think the biggest things that he has – if you're going to do this, first it's
08:34footwork where you look and say, okay,
08:37it's a totally different type of game where you're generally going backward as an offensive lineman for pass blocking, right?
08:44You're going forward as a defensive lineman.
08:47What's your footwork?
08:48What's your lateral footwork?
08:49What's going forward, attacking?
08:51How does that look?
08:52I liked his footwork today.
08:53I have some video of him going through the bags and stuff like that.
08:55I think the bigger challenge for him is his hands.
08:58It is a totally different game trying to fend somebody off on the offensive line with your hands on, you
09:06know,
09:06the inside and pushing out versus keeping your hands to the outside and, you know, slapping away at somebody,
09:13trying to knock somebody's hands down and trying to navigate it that way.
09:17I think that's the biggest challenge he would face.
09:19Travis Clayton.
09:20We'll keep an eye on him.
09:22Pete Carmichael.
09:23Sal, it's been a while since we've had an offensive coordinator where we might not be 100%
09:28I wasn't sure what kind of authority they have in this organization with Sean McDermott being as a defensive coach
09:34originally at the top of the organization for so long.
09:37What did you get from Carmichael and what do you think about sort of how, to put it one way,
09:43I guess, respectfully, how important he is in all of this?
09:46Well, he certainly has the pedigree.
09:49He's been around a long time.
09:50He's seen it all.
09:51He's been around different organizations.
09:53He's, you know, had success and had failures.
09:57He's been with great quarterbacks and great running backs.
10:00His job as the offensive coordinator under a head coach who is the de facto offensive coordinator is to basically
10:06do things that Joe Brady would do when Joe Brady's not available to do those things.
10:10When we asked Joe Brady earlier this offseason, what does an offensive coordinator do when they don't call plays?
10:16He said, be ready to call plays.
10:17So the guy is truly the understudy of calling plays.
10:20He has to be involved in everything Joe Brady's doing and running meetings and ready to call plays in case
10:25Joe Brady says, hey, I got to go deal with the defense.
10:27You need to take over here or whatever the situation might be.
10:30He's got to be able to do that.
10:31He actually did that under Sean Payton.
10:33And there was a game he talked about earlier this year where he did it for one game and they
10:37scored like 50 or 60 points.
10:38Not kidding.
10:39And, like, it was kind of a joke because, oh, my God, the guy did such a great job and
10:43now everybody wants him to call plays.
10:45You know, he wasn't bragging about it.
10:46He was doing it as, like, a funny note, you know, of what happened.
10:51I just think he brings a wealth of knowledge.
10:53He really does.
10:54You know, I asked him today about how defenses over the years since he started 26 years ago in the
11:02NFL, like, how defenses went from being a little more stagnant to more athletic across the board, multiple, hybrid, and
11:10how he's had to evolve as a play caller.
11:13And he said, absolutely.
11:14And he said the biggest thing.
11:14I really like this answer.
11:16He said it used to be where you kind of – it was very predictable.
11:19When you came out of the huddle, when you went to, you know, the huddle to call play, you kind
11:24of knew what they were going to run.
11:25He said, you just don't know anymore.
11:27So you've got to have two or three options every single play to get to for your quarterback and for
11:32your team.
11:34Bulldog, you know who the Cy Young, the AL Cy Young favorite is?
11:38Even Money, last look.
11:41Scooble Hurt.
11:44It's a Yankee guy.
11:45Cam Schlittler.
11:46Yeah, there it is.
11:47All right, the kid.
11:48I feel like this is not nice or anything, but with a name like that, you've got to be pretty
11:54mentally tough.
11:56Oh, yeah.
11:56Yeah.
11:57You know, he probably hurt it all.
11:58Yeah.
11:59Schlittler.
12:00Yeah.
12:01And he is great to watch.
12:02I mean, he is – he's got the stuff.
12:04Yeah, I loved him when he shut down the Red Sox last year.
12:07Oh, in the playoffs.
12:07In the playoffs.
12:08Great.
12:08And then Toronto was right there waiting.
12:11I mean, pretty good, Sal.
12:13You watch when he pitches, too.
12:15He is a bulldog.
12:15I could tell he has that mentality, right?
12:17It's tough.
12:18Like, yeah, he's a tough dude.
12:20And you could tell he brings that with him, and I love that about him, too.
12:23And I agree.
12:23I think you have to be, as you said, with a name like that.
12:26But, I mean, you know, to get to where he is, at the age he is, you know, it shows
12:29that he's been through those battles, and he's been able to handle it.
12:32Where are – home to Cleveland for three, the Yankees.
12:35And he might be pitching tonight.
12:37I think he is, Schlittler.
12:39So, go see him.
12:40Go find him.
12:40If you're interested in –
12:41That'll kill some time until the hockey game gets going.
12:43There you go.
12:44Sal, thank you.
12:45We'll talk tomorrow.
12:47You got it, guys.
12:47Thanks.
12:48It's our Sal Capaccio on the Western Hotline.
12:50His appearances are brought to you by New York's only outlet, Liquor.
12:53When you need to stock up, it's the place to buy a case.
12:55What's your outlet?
12:57Well, maybe spend another minute on that point I heard from Jeremy or saw on Twitter today about these edge
13:03rushers, like elite guys, obviously, who have been moved, and whether the Bills have missed the boat.
13:10Easy to say.
13:11Is it right?
13:12Is it fair?
13:13803-0550 to join us.
13:15Mike Schopen, the Bulldog here, WGR.
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