Grant and Danny
Rick Spielman On The 2024 Commanders
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You were involved in helping to hire Adam Peters and Dan Quinn, part of the search firm with Josh Harris. And I got to say, all systems go here as we get ready for week one. The early returns are excellent. So congratulations and job well done. And thank you. Yeah, I'm more worried about the lunchable fill you up, or did you need to? Oh, I would need another intriguing. I just didn't know if one lunchable can fill you up. The answer is no to that. I would need about 11 of them. So the one container of lunchable comes with what I believe was like maybe 10 crackers. But I made little cracker sandwiches. So I did one piece of cheese, one piece of ham, and then the two crackers. So now is cracker to ham and cheese ratios all off for the last part of it, direct. It was just cute. So I have three little mini cracker sandwiches. And no, I'm not close to filled up. Okay. Yeah, no, I was concerned about it going forward. And if you had enough energy to get through the rest of the show today, I don't. And about four 45 or so right before we talk to booger McFarland, I'll need a nap. Well, yeah, no, thanks for having me on. And now I'm excited with DQ and Adam have done so far just starting back in the off season. What they were able to accomplish in the draft and just, you know, changing that culture up there and DQ is a culture changer. You know, impressed with the vets that they brought in. As far as those guys being leaders and establishing, you know, that locker room on what DQ once down there. And I thought Adam and his crew did a great job in the draft. Looks like they got their franchise quarterback. So still got some work to do. You know, doesn't happen overnight, but they, for their first year working together, I thought right now, it looks like great returns. But we could be saying something different. Who knows a week from now, because it's like everybody, if you lose, then okay, the whole thing is just horrible. Yeah, everything is a disaster, right? Yeah. But after you shift, these guys are going to do a great job. Rick, in your long experience at top of the NFL, if there was one way to do this, there was an exact formula everyone that didn't follow it would be ridiculed, you know, rightfully so. But nobody's got the silver bolt or the perfect way to develop a young quarterback. What is your view? Go ahead. Sorry. Yeah, no, I think that they're doing a great job. I had an opportunity to go down and watch Jaden and the combined practices in Miami when they were down there, then they actually moved the two minute drill because it was so hot outside into the indoor. But I was thoroughly impressed with Cliff Kingsbury has done and just understanding how to bring a young quarterback along and everybody has different ways of doing it. You know, when I got an opportunity to talk to Bobby Slow at this offseason and how they handled CJ Stroud was totally different than how Carolina handled Bryce Young. CJ Stroud, they kind of spoon fed him and then the more he got comfortable, the more they kept layering on the offense, which paid dividends for the Houston Texans and they had a great year. He ended up becoming offensive rookie of the year where it looked like when you watch Bryce Young, I understand that they didn't have the same talent level, but it looked like he was drinking out of a fire hose the whole season just by looking like they just put too much on his plate. But that's what I had the observation to watch during the preseason and what I saw watching the practices down there. I think that everybody should be very excited about Jaden Daniels. Well, and that's kind of what I wanted to ask you about, Rick, in your time and your full, you know, over the years of being an executive, what was your best practice in terms of saying, okay, we got a young quarterback here where he's here because we weren't great in previous years, right? This is a 413 team that he's taken over, has been a lot of personnel changes. What's the best way to ensure his success? What's kind of what was your governing philosophy over the years as an exec? I would just throw the ball to the coach. We have him now. It's up to you to figure out, because I'm not sitting in the meetings with him every day, you know, so you know where that kid is, how he's handling, you know, the protections, how he's handling the meetings. And it's James, a very mature young quarterback and has a lot of playing experience. And that showed up in the preseason. In fact, just to be honest with you, when I watched all these rookie quarterbacks, the first six, you know, and I under J.J. McCarthy only played in the first one before he got hurt, Michael Penix had a really nice opener against Tampa. And then they sat in the rest, but I was thoroughly impressed with these guys coming in and how they were. And I know it's, you know, cover one, man coverage or some kind of cover two, cover three on the back end, a couple of blitzes here and there, but it's going to be different when you actually game plan and the varsity's out there. But I thought you can see their experiences that they've had through college. And when you look at Jane Daniels and his adversities that he's overcome, just like Jalen Hurse overcame adversity from getting sat at Alabama, to going to Oklahoma, to going on and being the quarterback, he is, you know, Jane came from Arizona State and no one, you know, everybody thought it was a third day pick going into last season. And then he ends up being the number overall to the number two overall thick, well deserved, because of what he was able to accomplish. So I'm sure they got a game plan in place, but coaches get paid a lot of money to to figure out what they have to do to make sure this quarterback successful. Rick Spielman, former GM in the NFL on Grant and Danny, I want to go back to you mentioning the free agency that Washington had and how busy they were going as veteran heavy as they did. And as one year deal heavy as they were able to, you would think works against a rebuild in some way. I think they have the fourth most, excuse me, the most players in the league with four or more years experience or something like that that they added this year. What do you make of that? What do you think they're trying to accomplish getting as older as they did this off season? One that most of the guys that they brought in had some familiarity with Adam or with the DQ or with some of the coaches. Two, every one of those guys are not only still good football players, but high character, high quality people. And I think when you're starting from scratch, like both Adam and DQ are that you want to bring in guys that you know are going to do everything the right way to set the tone for the younger guys. And I think, you know, I think they're going to win four games and people think they're going to be. You know, it depends the offensive line holds up. You know, they traded Dawson to Philly, which was kind of an interesting move, but they were able to pick up Noah Brown. So, but a lot of the guys that they brought in, they had some kind of relationship with or some kind that knew when they brought them in that it was going to establish the culture that they weren't going forward. And they did a great job, not overpaying. I mean, they gave a lot of short term deals to these guys and who knows where it goes that they play well. Maybe they get extensions, but for the first year, it's just getting everything going in the right direction in the way that both of those Adam and DQ see how they want this franchise to go forward. But they did it was not like a total rebuild. Like you said, they brought in some quality bets. I think they're going to help them win some games and I believe they're going to surprise some people this year. Long time NFL exec Rick Spilman with this here on G and D. You mentioned that dots and trade Rick from outside looking in. What did you make of that? Well, sometimes when you have make a move like that, it sometimes is just not the right fit. Does it mean he was not a good player? Or it's just something that, hey, this isn't going to work out. And I don't know behind the scenes what was going on or why it was. But if they felt that it wasn't the right thing for them to go forward with, then great, get what you can for them. And I think Adam did a great job with that. But I know Luke McCaffrey, I know he's going to surprise some people as a rookie and then bringing in the Noah Browns of the world and guys like that. And Zacchicus also had a really good preseason. So they felt that they had the ability to move on from dots and especially if he wasn't buying in. And I don't know that for a fact or not. But they felt that that was the best move for them to go forward. Rick Spilman on Grant and Danny here on the fan. Let's extrapolate the conversation out to the rest of the NFL. We'll start. Okay. If I if I'm going to do these, we're going to stay to two, maybe three word syllables, but you're you're you're that once you're broke kicking in right now, I feel it. You got you got me right after the launchable. So you're getting the best of me right now. An hour from now, you would have missed out. The NFC East Cowboys Eagles seem like the two teams. Everyone's kind of trying to figure out who's going to wear the pants. Who do you like better of those two? I thought, you know, the Eagles and how he is always aggressive going out and trying to improve that roster. They have two new offensive defensive coordinator and Kelemore. And and bringing in Vic Fangio on the defensive side of the ball, you know, they were aggressive and how he's always aggressive trying to address all the needs on his team, whether it's free agency, but they're in that Super Bowl window right now. And then Dallas, you know, that's kind of been a mystery to everybody when the owner says all in. But they didn't really make any significant moves. You know, they had a pretty solid draft. I liked the guidance. The the tackle. I think he's going to have bright future ahead of him, but he's going to have some growing pain. So they were able to get CD lamb done, which I thought was critical, but how they're handling the quarterback, you know, I don't know. But I would I lean towards Philly right now, just based off everything through the preseason is a GM. I want to get a perspective on some of the holdouts and hold ins. I think the only guy we still have now is his son, Redick, who is not reported yet to the Jets. There's still some weirdness with Jamar Chase kind of holding in with the Bengals. But it does seem like this is becoming more prevalent, even though with the new CBA, because of the fines, it seems like players shouldn't be able to to the extent that they used to. What did you make of the various situations this off season and and just where we're at kind of big picture with some of the holdouts in the league? Yeah, well, the son, Redick situation, do you think he even got a Jets t-shirt to work out in? He was only there for the press conference. Not yet. He doesn't even know where the facility is. So that's a that's an interesting scenario, because every major deal that I was in, you know, like I'd go back to when we traded for Jared Allen and work with Carl Peterson on that trade, when we got him from Kansas City. But it's always you get the draft compensation in place, but it's always can we go ahead and talk with the agent so we know if we're going to be able to get an extension done or not. And after, you know, we had the draft compensation kind of worked out, then we talked to Jared Allen's agent and, you know, knew that we were going to be able to get an extension done. And it's the same thing when we moved Stefan Diggs to Buffalo, you know, I said Brandon, you're more and welcome. Once we have the draft deal in place, go ahead and call his agent, see what you have to do contract-wise or whatever. And then usually the two GMs will, you know, talk back. Hey, we're good to go on this and let him come in past the physical. This one is, I don't know what was said when he came in when they made the trade, but it seems like both sides are digging in their heels where the jets aren't going to move unless he's in there and he's not coming in unless he gets what he thinks he's worth. So I don't know once that draft compensation was figured out why or you wouldn't have an idea as you're going to be able to get a deal done or not. Rick, how do you see your old stomping rounds NFC North shaken out? You know, Detroit's the king right now. And I got to be a little biased because my brother's up there, but, you know, I think Green Bay is going to get him a pretty significant run for the money with all the young talent they have up there with the receivers, with the draft that Brian Goode-Tiss has put together. Jordan Love looked like a totally different quarterback second half of the season. It seemed like him and Matt LeFlore figured out what he does best. And that showed up and showed up in a playoff game when they went down to Trowne's Dallas and they gave San Francisco a run for the money as well. So I think that they're a young football team that's only going to get better. And now bringing in Jeff Hackley as their defensive coordinator, used to be the head coach up at Boston College, will be they're more athletic on defense. I think they're going to do a lot more things. They were an odd front team now they're going to an even front. So I'm anxious to see what that defense looks like, but they do have a lot of athletes on the defensive side of the ball. So I think it's going to come down between Detroit and Green Bay. I think that'll be the one who stays the healthiest will probably end up winning that division. How much of a chance do you give the Chiefs to three Pete? It's never happened before. Felt like last year in the regular season they were taking on some water and then they kind of flipped a switch in the playoffs. But they've got plenty of challengers in the AFC with Burrow back healthy and Cincinnati, the AFC North loaded up. What do you think of Kansas City? Yeah, well, you know, Patrick Mahomes, you know, with even though their defense ended up, in my opinion, winning the Super Bowl for him and Mahomes, there's no one better right now and maybe one of the best to ever play the game by the time it's said and done. And the combination of him and Andy Reed are tough to beat. But that is a a tall task to say that you're going to, you know, set history coming up. Do they address their needs? Yeah, they address all the receiver needs. I was surprised or she rice didn't get suspended yet. I don't know that'll come later or they'll just keep going through the process until they figure out if he's going to get suspended or not. So in Xavier Worthy, the intriguing trade with Buffalo, you know, Buffalo moving back and giving Kansas City Worthy. So they're going to be fast. Definitely. And I think they're going to be much improved on the offensive side of the ball and Coach Spaggs is probably the best defensive coordinator in the league right now the way he develops and plays all that talent. But I didn't have them, some people had to do some predictions. I didn't have them making it to the Super Bowl this year. I got I've had them getting beat by Cincinnati in the AFC Championship. Well, let's go there. That AFC North to me is just a buzz saw at the top to bottom. I don't think there's a bad team. There's some questions certainly about maybe a couple of them. But so it seems like you got Cincinnati doing really well in that division. How do you think it checks out? I think it's Cincinnati's division to lose if they stay healthy because of Joe burrow. And hopefully they figure out this little situation with Jamar Chase. I know I got an opportunity to sit down and interview Jamar a couple years ago. And he knew that I drafted Justin Jefferson. So I said, it was really better. Is it Justin or you? And he had no question in his mind that it was him. And so I imagine in this contract, you're going to see something just a hair above what you said. It's more than Jefferson. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's just for a pride factor anything else that I know these two are very close with their very competitive with each other as well. But I think, yeah, like I said, as long as Joe burrow stays healthy, they'll be better on the defense. You know, everybody knows that Cleveland Brown situation. They got a championship caliber defense. They got playmakers on the offense. But the Sean Watson actually finally performed the what they traded for in the compensation they gave him in the contract. And he doesn't maybe have to play to that. But could he play well enough for them to compete? You know, so I think it all comes down to how the shot, if he stays healthy, and if he plays, you know, Pittsburgh will be interesting to see with Arthur Smith coming in. I think they're going to be a more physical offense. They're always going to be great on a defensive side of the ball. And the only concern I've had with Baltimore was I believe they're going to have three new starters up front on the offensive line. And if you look at their coaching staff, okay, they lost Michael Donald as a head coach to Seattle. You know, Anthony Weaver is down as a defensive coordinator now in Miami. And Wilson, Bernard Wilson is now the defensive coordinator in Tennessee. So they lost three pretty critical coaches on the defensive side of the ball and or is going to be the new defensive coordinator, former player. Harbaugh does a great job not only developing players, but developing coaches as well. So I think there'll be some question everybody's going to agency or is that a drop off, especially with all the coaches that they lost on the defensive side of the ball. And is that offensive line can come together with the losses they had up front? Rick, it's always excellent to have you on the show. Can't wait to watch all your content throughout the season. Thanks for the time and enjoy week one. Yeah, no, I'm going to get lunchable right now. I'm going to make sure Derek gets your address. I'm going to ship you a lunchable. All right. Can I get at least we're going to show a lunchable anything? That's what we give our guests actually. You're in luck. Now we can't promise that it's still good that the use by date, you know, it's still going to be fresh when it gets to the house, but it'll be there. It'll be there. Okay. Well, can you put the instructions in as it go cracker, cheese ham cracker or the cracker ham, cheese cracker. This is build your own. You get to get cute, get creative. Yeah, as the chief executive of that lunchable, it's your call. The final say is yours, man. You don't want to pick up the phone. You got to go. You're going to pick your ham for need. Are you going best available? Yeah. I'm going first thing that pops into my mouth. Whatever the first thing I see is going in. Thanks, Rick. We appreciate you as always. Be good. All right. Thanks, guys. This is Rick Spielman, former GM with us on Grant and Danny.