EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER ERIC DECOSTA
With QB Lamar Jackson's cap number being so big for next year, how optimistic are you about getting a deal done with him before March? (Jamison Hensley) "I would say I am optimistic."
Nothing else to add? (Jamison Hensley) "No, I think I am optimistic. I feel good about it."
I know you don't like to get into the details, but what kind of fuels that optimism for you? (Brian Wacker) "I really do not want to get into the details. I am not going to talk about it specifically. I think Lamar [Jackson] and I have a pact. As you all know — I have said it probably 50 times — we are not going to talk about business publicly. It is a different type of negotiation, because it is a different type of negotiation with Lamar."
Because of owner Steve Bisciotti's comments, there was a sense of urgency when he spoke with you by his side back then. Has anything changed in that respect, in trying to get something done as soon as possible? (Jerry Coleman) "I mean, we would love to get a deal done as soon as possible."
From a roster construction standpoint, knowing injuries were a big factor last year, what lessons did you learn? How would you describe your confidence level with the group that you have assembled for this year? (Josh Tolentino) "I think having [head coach] Jesse [Minter]'s input with [offensive coordinator] Declan [Doyle], with 'Weave' [defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver] and the coaches has been valuable. We try to build a roster that our coaches feel really good about, where there is enough depth at all the positions, and you never can really tell. Some years we go into it thinking this is one of our strongest position rooms, and then you guys remember the year we had all those running backs get hurt within a 10-day span, and that goes from being a real strength to being a real weakness. I think in looking at this year — one instance — we have got some defensive linemen, I do not want to call them old, but they are more experienced. We had a few guys with some injuries. Did that factor into us keeping six [defensive] lineman? [It] probably did in some respects. Other positions like defensive back, corners — [we] kept a sixth corner. [With] those guys — you always think you have enough corners, and you get into the season, and you are scrambling. It is just the nature of that position. It is a nuanced thing. Every team kind of does it the same, generally speaking. Some teams may keep an extra offensive lineman versus an extra defensive lineman, or five receivers versus six receivers, but if you look at it across the league, you get some trends, and I think we feel good about the roster that we have assembled. I like the mix of age versus inexperience — youth, younger players. [I] love our practice squad as well. I think [I] feel really good about that. The guys that we brought in, guys we had here — [we] got a lot of the guys back that we wanted, added a couple of veteran players that we had our eye on [from] other teams, experienced guys. We think that there are some guys that can come in at some point throughout the course of the season and help us, too."
You signed K Jake Moody to the practice squad the other day. Why now, to bring in another kicker? (Cordell Woodland) "I think [head coach] Jesse [Minter] talked about that. We have got to make kicks. [It gives us a] fresh set of legs to look at, evaluate, compare, see how it all works out. In the end, it is a performance business, right? [It] starts with me. We have got to do our job. It is the thing where we want to try and be consistent across the board and have enough competition. Looking at it this preseason, we decided it was probably worthwhile to bring somebody else in to see how they look."
Were there conversations with senior special teams coach Randy Brown about looking at guys specifically, and how did you end up landing on K Jake Moody? (Valerie Preactor) "I have said this before. I am not necessarily a kicking expert in any respect. Even going back to 2006 when we drafted Sam Koch, Frank Gansz was our special teams [coordinator] — God rest him, he just passed away — great coach. He found Sam Koch. We challenged Frank and said, 'Go out and find the punter that you want to work with.' He came back, and thank God he did — he found Sam Koch. That has kind of been my philosophy — if you have got a guy that is an expert on kickers, you use that coach. We are grooming a young guy on our staff to scout kickers, but I was not really trained like that, and that is a very unique position, I think, to evaluate. I think Randy [Brown] has proven that he is one of the very best at evaluating kickers and punters and coaching those guys up. So, yes, we definitely depend on Randy's input."
How encouraged are you to see DL Nnamdi Madubuike back and part of the roster? We have not heard from him, but obviously he is about to return. Could you talk a little bit about the process of him coming back? (Jerry Coleman) "I think [vice president of health & performance] Nic Gill, [head certified athletic trainer] Adrian Dixon, [chief medical officer] Andy Tucker, [director of strength and conditioning] Scott Elliott — those guys have done a great job working with Nnamdi [Madubuike] with this ramp-up, which is probably a little longer of a ramp-up than you would see in some instances. We feel like he is right on track. Today was a good day. I think he has been building every single day, and I am encouraged — I am as encouraged now as I have ever been about Nnamdi. We are very excited when we look at him and what he brings on our defense. He is obviously, in my opinion, one of the best defensive tackles in football, and getting him back has been incredible."
You describe the length of this ramp-up, and it seemed like one possibility was he could start the season on IR. Realistically, is it reasonable to expect DL Nnamdi Madubuike to contribute in one of these games in the first few weeks of this season? (Kyle Goon) "We try to look at that as — the white line is really four games. That is the determination if we want to put a guy on IR or not. If we think he is going to miss four games or more, then probably IR would be suitable. I think the fact that we did not put him on IR means that we would expect him to be able to contribute sooner than that. I am probably more bullish on that right now than I even have been. So, we feel really good about it. I am pretty confident he will be back on the field playing for us before the fourth game."
With WR Rashod Bateman, have you guys gotten any sense of when an NFL decision on discipline could come, and have you had to account for the possibility that you could be without him for a portion of the season? (Childs Walker) "Well, it is obviously something that we are very disappointed about [and] that we have to deal with these kind of things. I think right now, [it is] a little bit of a distraction at some points, but we made a statement — we knew about it right away. We contacted the league right away. [We] spoke to the league. The league has been doing an investigation, as well as, I suppose, the authorities. In these matters, we just really kind of sit back and wait for the league and for the authorities to kind of tell us what is going on. We will wait. [We] have no indication how long that is going to take. We feel like we have got a young group of receivers, but I think a group of receivers that we are excited about — a bunch of guys that can make plays. [I am] excited about that. We will just have to wait and see what happens."
Three new starters on the interior of the offensive line, that was something you wanted to address this offseason. Do you feel like you got done what you wanted to get done? (Pete Gilbert) "I think we are headed in the right direction. I feel really good about how the group has done overall. [I] have not seen them play in games, so there is always an unknown, but the energy is great. I think [run game coordinator/offensive line coach] Dwayne [Ledford] has done a phenomenal job getting those guys ready, coaching those guys up. Certainly excited about John [Simpson] — we knew [him]. Vega [Ioane] — excited about him. Jovaughn Gwyn is another guy. Dwayne had a lot of excitement about him, and he has done a great job for us. Excited about Ethan [Pocic] as well [and] some of the younger guys that made a jump. I do not know what it is going to look like Week 1 because I have not seen what it is going to look like yet, but I am excited about it, and I think that we will probably build and build and build, and hopefully in January and February we are playing our best football."
To go back to the receivers, obviously after you drafted WR Ja'Kobi Lane, you spoke very highly of him. With what he has done in the preseason and training camp, is he ahead of what you might have expected? (Kyle Goon) "The things that we have seen out here, we saw on tape. That is one of the reasons why we drafted [Ja'Kobi Lane] when we did. I think it is a hard position to play, and I think any rookie that comes in, whether they start fast or they start slow, it is a long season, it is a grueling season. They have got to stack good days every single day. There is a lot to learn, and it is a challenge to do that. I think he is right on pace. I think he is doing really well. I love his attitude. I love that he has been able to make plays out here and that the other players have gained confidence in his abilities. He is a great kid, as you all know. I am excited about him. But, he has got to do a lot more work to really be what we want him to be. I think he will get there. He has shown that he can do it, and now it is going to just become a consistency thing [by] doing it every single day, showing up every single day. If he does that, he will be a great player."
This is not so much of a QB Lamar Jackson contract question — more philosophical. As the guaranteed money debate and some of the contracts that have come up recently, has it changed at all how you negotiate, or impacted you in any way in that regard? (Brian Wacker) "What do you mean by debate — the guarantee debate? You mean the full guarantees that we were talking about three years ago, or what specifically?"
Guaranteed money, and I guess just the rising of some of these deals. (Brian Wacker) "I think just the market is the market, right? You see deals that come in, and then that becomes the norm, and that becomes the market. So, we look at all these deals, and we try to do deals with our players that [are], we would say, market — market plus, right? I think a lot of times we do that. We try to compensate our players, our best players, as well as we can. You can look at that from an average standpoint, you can look at that from a guaranteed-money standpoint, a term standpoint, incentives — whatever that is, we try to be fair plus with our players, and I think over time we have proven that for the most part. It is important to us. We want to be recognized as one of the best organizations in sports. We want to be a destination place for our players — with that comes compensation. So, when we look at deals as they come in, we say, 'OK, how do our players compare to these players who just did these deals?' That really does become, I think, the litmus test for what our offer is going to be. We did the deal with Zay Flowers not too long ago, and we had some comps. We had Drake London's deal. We had Chris Olave's deal, recent deals. We look at those deals, [vice president of football operations] Nick Matteo looks at that stuff. He talks to the agents. We kind of get the parameters of where that player belongs and then we hammer it out."
After going through the hiring process of head coach Jesse Minter this offseason, how good do you feel about him and where he has this team heading into this season? (Garrett Downing) "Well, that is a softball... I love Jesse [Minter]. It has been great. The coaches – I am very impressed with our coaching staff — their attitude, their work ethic, their determination to get our guys playing their best, the preparation. Little changes here and there — those kind of things can be energizing for people. But, I am happy with Jesse. Communication has been great. The offseason, the combine, the draft process — that is a high bar for anybody to live up to coming here. I thought our coaches — I think I said this before — but I think our coaches did a phenomenal job of helping me through the draft, through the offseason, post-draft, undrafted free agency, evaluating talent, and then developing players, working with these guys, looking at where our guys were back in June to where they are now. A lot of these guys have improved quite a bit - that is because of our coaches."
You know with all things QB Lamar Jackson, it is going to get blown up. Are you concerned that the longer this goes, the more divisive and possibly a distraction it can be, where every week is kind of a referendum on the future of Baltimore, and that talk is just going to get louder and louder through the course of the year? (Jeff Zrebiec) "We have dealt with that distraction before. There is only so much we can do. So, that is what I would say on that."
There was a lot of attention from fans this offseason on CB Marlon Humphrey, especially with his cap number being what it was. Why are you so comfortable bringing him back, and how do you envision your long-term future together? (Jonas Shaffer) "Well, [Marlon Humphrey] is in the last year of his deal. I would say that he has been a historic Raven in many ways — multi-time All-Pro, highly competitive, Pro Bowler, a leader here. I think he is going to have a great year. [He] had a great year a couple years ago. [He] did not have his best year — he would say that, I think he has said it — [he] did not have a great year last year. I feel confident he is going to rebound and have a great year this year. That is what that decision is about. I think corners are hard to find. Veteran corners who have played at very high levels are hard to find, and we are excited to see him play this year."
DL Calais Campbell was here before, and it seemed like you guys tried to get him in years previous to this. What have you kind of seen out of him throughout training camp, and given the scope of what he has dealt with off the field, has it put him in any different light in your eyes and what he brings not just to the team but just this group of people in general? (Kyle Goon) "Well, I mean, Calais [Campbell] is one of my favorites. [I] probably tried to sign him or trade for him about three or four different times over the last few years. [It] probably would have helped us a couple years ago. I thought I had a trade in place for him, and it fell through. But, Calais is a great player. He is a better person. He is amazing for everybody out here on the field — his leadership, his mentality every day. His humility is astounding to me, the way that he leads himself every single day, how he carries himself with his peers. Obviously, [he] had a personal tragedy this year. He is the kind of guy that lifts people up. This is a tough business. You have got whatever we have got — 70 guys out there every day that have their own things going on in their lives that you all do not even know about, in some cases I do not even know about, and Calais is the type of guy who can put those guys on his back and make them better. That is a force multiplier. Those kind of players — they do not grow on trees. He is talented. He is a great person; he is an amazing leader, and he is a great community person. So, to me, he was a no-brainer. I wish I had 20 Calais' on the team."
You have three quarterbacks on the roster, which is not something you guys often do. What kind of went into that decision, and how did that impact other spots potentially? (Brian Wacker) "Well, I mean, it was really just Joe [Fagnano]. I called him the 'Cinderella man' just the other day. Nobody expected Joe to make the team. He was a tryout guy who we ended up signing, and he just played great in the games. He showed the qualities to play the game at a pretty high level. As we looked at the roster, it just made sense for us to keep him. Quarterback is an important position, and having a young player like Joe that we can watch, we can evaluate and we can see if he can continue to develop and grow — that is exciting to us. We got a lot of calls from other teams, and a lot of people asked about him, and I honestly had trade offers for him. And maybe it is like, just the fact that people wanted to trade for him, I am like, 'Maybe we should just keep him?' He just won the job. There were times in the games where you are like, 'Wow, that was a heck of a play,' even with our starters not out there. He just played really well under duress, versus pressure. Some of you guys were out in Minnesota, and you saw us practice. I do not think he took a snap all week against a really hard defense, and he went out there and played well in the game. That is impressive. So, yes, he cost somebody else probably a roster spot. Fortunately, the guy that lost his spot is on our practice squad, so I think it is kind of a win-win in that way. We have a good young quarterback that we think has a chance. Coaches are excited about him; the players are excited about him. We will just see what happens."
You gave OLB Trey Hendrickson a big contract this offseason. What have you seen from Trey on the field and off the field over the course of the summer? (Ryan Mink) "Well, when the lights have come on, [Trey Hendrickson] has brought it. We saw him against the [Minnesota] Vikings in practice, [and] we saw him against the [Washington] Commanders in practice. [Those are] competitive atmospheres, and this guy has really brought it. That is exciting. That tells me that, when we line up in a few weeks, he is going to bring it. He knows how to play. He has a great attitude. [He's a] pro all the way. [He's] competitive [and] great with the younger guys. He is going to be a closer for us, I believe, because I have seen him do it. I saw him do it in Minnesota. I saw him do it here that day. He loves competition. [He] knows his body [and] knows how to take care of himself. [He's] very methodical in his approach. I love his routine. He is a worker. He is a very humble guy as well. So, I am excited about him. He is everything that we envisioned when we brought him in, and I feel like he is going to be a guy to really help us win games in the fourth quarter."
You have been around a bunch of great head coaches in your career. With head coach Jesse Minter making that move from coordinator to head coach, do you think that kind of tests a different level of adaptiveness and resilience in being able to take on some of the new challenges that maybe, as a coordinator, you are isolated from? (Jonas Shaffer) "I think so. It is definitely different. I have not experienced it from my perspective, [but] watching [Jesse Minter], [and] how he does it, I am amazed. I think I am pretty good as a multitasker myself, but watching Jesse bounce around like he does is really super impressive. At one point — because my office is over here, and his office is right there — I would be going over there to see him, and he is never in his office. Whereas with 'Harbs' [former head coach John Harbaugh], a lot of times we would meet each other in the hallway, or I would see him because he was usually in there grinding tape or looking at stuff. But, because Jesse is coaching defense, he is always with the defense. He is always with the defensive coaches; he is always with the defensive players. So, I do not really see him in his office much. He comes in to see me when he is up there, but he is like never in his office. We spent a lot of money on his office, and I do not know why, because he is never up there anyway to enjoy it." (laughter) "But, it is going to be great. I am just super impressed with his focus. One thing about this staff that I really appreciate is their focus, and Jesse really kind of epitomizes that day to day, because he has a lot on his plate. I do not know how he does it, and I have not been down on the field yet. As you know, I watch some of the game[s] on the field, [but] I have not been down there yet, probably because it has just been too hot. But, I will be starting to go down there, and I am going to really enjoy just watching that dynamic — as the head coach/defensive coordinator — how he is able to do it. I have a lot of respect for that."
With the outside linebacker room, OLB Mike Green — we have talked about how when he got here, you put together a cutup to show Mike just how close he was to potentially having double-digit sacks last year. How have you seen Mike kind of grow, and what are you expecting to see from him in Year 2? (Alex Glaze) "[Mike Green] is a sponge. [He has a] great mentality. He is always asking me for feedback, which does not happen all the time. A lot of guys do not want to ask the general manager how they are playing. They do not always know if they are going to like the answer, but Mike [Green] does not seem to really care. He works extremely hard. [I] was really impressed with the work he put in this offseason. He is mature. I think he is really going to benefit from Trey [Hendrickson] in a lot of respects. I think he is going to benefit from [head coach] Jesse [Minter], and he is going to benefit from 'Weave' [defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver], and he is going to benefit from [outside linebackers coach] Harland [Bower]. I think we have a great little group. That room — [I am] so happy with that room that we have put together. It is [a] great mix of veteran guys and young guys. Our practice squad — getting Kaimon [Rucker] and Adisa [Isaac] on the practice squad is like ridiculous. We feel like we have, honestly, seven guys that could play in the NFL on Sundays, and play well. Mike is a big part of that. So, [I'm] really excited about Mike and where he is, and I do feel like he is going to make a jump this year."
Are you in a good spot cap-wise going into the year to have the flexibility to make moves, maybe make a trade if it comes down to it? (Jeff Zrebiec) "We are in better shape, I think, than we have been. I think we will have to look at [whether] we do some cap deals at some point. It just depends. Right now, we are fine, but you never know with injuries. You never know with all the different things that can happen [with] incentives and things. I feel like we are in a pretty good spot right now. We have the flexibility to create room if we need to, like most teams will do at some point. I would love to have more, but I am happy. We have had a lot less. There have been some years we have had a million dollars at this time. Some clubs are there. So, I feel pretty good about it. We certainly can do most things that we would like to do, but if we need it, we know how to make more."
All the players that we have talked to have expressed that offensive coordinator Declan Doyle is a 'wizard.' I know he has not had to actually play-call, and he's been trying to keep his offense a secret through the preseason. What has impressed you about him and his offense and what he has done with the guys? (Giana Han) "Well, Declan [Doyle] is smart. I think he is organized. He is very focused [and a] good communicator with the players. I watch him coach, and I appreciate that about him. He is very intentional. He is very engaged with our players and with our assistant coaches, and there is a good vibe there. I am excited to see what we can do. But, when I think of Declan, I notice his focus and his commitment to doing things the right way, and I think that is going to be good for our team."
Shipping DL C.J. Okoye in that trade — given that was the first formal acquisition between your team and the New York Giants — what was it like communicating with John Harbaugh? And the second part — do you and the scouting staff take a sense of pride in being able to generate acquisitions and generate trade capital through a T Diego Pounds or a C.J. Okoye-type trade? (Josh Tolentino) "Yes, in both of those cases, those are hard [trades]. They are not really enjoyable trades to make, because in those cases, you would like to keep those players on your practice squad or your active roster, but they may not make the active [roster], but you know that if you cut those players, they are going to get claimed. You find that out. You have a lot of conversations. GMs will call you and things. So if, for instance, we had cut C.J. [Okoye], we knew the [New York] Giants were going to claim him. We knew another team was going to claim him, too. So, the trade makes sense. It is kind of bittersweet. You get something, but you know you are going to lose the player. So, it is hard when that happens, but yet I think as a general manager, you are much better off getting something for the player than just cutting him and hoping he makes it to your practice squad and finding out that he is not going to make it to your practice squad. In that particular instance with C.J. [Okoye], I talked initially with [Giants general manager] Joe Schoen, who I have a good relationship with, and then 'Harbs' [Giants head coach John Harbaugh] and I talked, as well. You all know how I feel about John [Harbaugh], and then Joe [Schoen] and I went back and forth a little bit, and then [vice president of football operations] Nick [Matteo] takes over with [Giants senior vice president of football operations and strategy] Dawn Aponte, who is their version of Nick, and they kind of put the language together and get it done. I am proud that I think teams covet our players generally. I think we have had 23 players claimed, if I am not mistaken — you can fact-check me — but I think we have had 23 players claimed in the last 10 years, which is the most in the league, maybe tied with the [San Francisco] 49ers. I think we have only claimed one player in the last 10 years. Anyone know who that was? [It was] Del'Shawn Phillips. So, that is kind of cool. I think it speaks to how we feel about our roster, generally. We know every year that teams are going to look at our players and try to take some of our players, and I kind of felt lucky this year that we were able to keep a few guys. I think, generally, if you look at the numbers, you are going to find that most claims are offensive linemen and defensive backs generally, and about 82% of all of those players are going to be undrafted free agents or fourth-, fifth-, sixth- [or] seventh-round draft picks. But primarily, offensive line and I think secondary account for about 60% of all claims. So, I think we do a good job. [Director of player personnel] Mark Azevedo, [vice president of player personnel] George [Kokinis]— they do a great job, [and] our scouts [do a great job] of getting all these undrafted guys. We usually lead the league in amount of draft picks. I think over the last however many years, maybe even since 1996, we have had the most draft picks. So, that is good and bad. It means you are going to cut some draft picks every year. It is a blessing and a curse. If you have 11 picks three years in a row, and you have 33 players, they are not all going to make the team. They just cannot numbers-wise. So, you are going to have to cut some guys. Knowing that, we still do it because we believe that the more picks you have, the more chances you have of actually unearthing some guys to help your team. But they are going to get cut, and when they do, we have found that other teams typically will take our players. So, we just try to build the best team we can, and I think our scouts do a great job and our coaches [with] the way that they recruit. Even last year, just talking about — you mentioned C.J. Okoye — I was there when George and Mark were trying to convince C.J. to come to Baltimore. He had offers from other teams [as an] international player, and those guys were recruiting their [butts] off trying to get him to come. You guys saw how C.J. played for us last year and helped us last year in some difficult situations with the depth on the defensive line. This year, we were able to get something for him, and that is really because [of] Mark and George and the job that they do. So, that is something I am definitely proud of, and credit to those guys and credit to someone like [run game coordinator/offensive line coach] Dwayne Ledford, who recruited Diego [Pounds] to come here and coached him up and put him in a position where we could trade him for a draft pick."
With QB Lamar Jackson in a unique situation as far as him representing himself, what kind of challenges does it present to try to negotiate during the season? Or because of his position, do you try not to negotiate because of focus? (Jamison Hensley) "Well, we have been in this position before. I think it is just communication. Lamar [Jackson] and I have a great relationship, and we will just — we talk. That is what it really amounts to [is] communication."
