#NFLVideos: Russell Wilson to start for Steelers & Antonio Pierce on Raiders QB search

Russell Wilson to start for Steelers & Antonio Pierce on Raiders QB search

This is Jason light general manager of the Tempa Bay Buccaneers and this is the NFL Report all right welcome to the NFL report I’m Steve whes with Tom pisero filling in for James Palmer who’s on the slopes Tom we are in Orlando Florida at the annual NFL meeting and what a show that we have today we’re going to hear from Antonio pierce the Raiders head

Coach from the coaches of the team to the top three draft picks and we’re going to be joined by Vikings co-owner Mark wolf should be a lot of fun here we got a lot of action already we got rules changes we got coaches dining and talking to the media for the first time

Since free agenc see a lot of fun rules changes also we’re going to be joined by Tom’s fellow in tiers Mark ero and Ian raport in just a minute but the big news of the morning Steelers coach Mike Tomlin sitting down with the media addressing his new quarterback

Room we’re not resisted the competition but as I’ve mentioned several times of late I just think it’s appropriate to establish positioning as we get into this thing and the term that I’ve used is Russell has pole position and and why do I use that term um because during

This time where we are not formally working man I just think it’s beneficial um his experience um in the National Football League um his process that’s been honed and perfected talking about over a 12 calendar is not only good for him it’s good for teams so Tom we hear Mike Tomlin talking

About that Russell Wilson who they acquired you know in for $1.2 million in Justin Fields who they got for a 2025 uh draft pick they’re in the quarterback room now he said we’re going to leave it open for a competition but I’m putting Russell Wilson there first

He’s going to be the first guy to take some reps Mike tomblin has not been in this position since he’s been the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers what do you kind of take for him from him basically saying Russell is going to start out as the guy well Mike Tomlin is

A big believer in having a depth chart even going into the off season and to clarify people’s roles the expectations it removes a lot of the ambiguity and the questions you get through the course of this offseason so we reported shortly after Ian broke the trade the Justin

Fields going to Pittsburgh I tweeted it I was told Russell Wilson is the starter pole position is a little bit a h term that he said well Justin fields we get into camp we get into the games he’ll get an opportunity to show his abilities as only Mike Tomlin can say here but

Listen they want to put everything they have behind Russell Wilson he’s the veteran he’s the guy who really intrigued Mike Tomlin tell talked about this too at the breakfast saying that this is a guy who is really driven to Define his career and that’s something that spoke him in other words Russell

Wilson has gotten kicked around he’s gone from being let Russ Cook let him throw it around Super Bowl champ maybe a future Hall of Famer to a guy who’s been a punchline for a couple of years here going back to the end in Seattle and obviously a couple of pulta Seasons I

Think it’s fair to say yes in Denver here so now he goes into Pittsburgh and it’s still announced with a video on social media and he’s still posting the workout videos Russ is going to be Russ however for the way that they want to play it’s kind of a throwback to what

Russell Wilson grew up in play good defense run the heck out of the football and have a veteran quarterback who’s going to protect the ball make a few plays when you might need it and and that and that’s important because Arthur Smith the former Falcons head coach is now the offensive coordinator for

Pitchburg and what was the identity of the Falcons they ran the football one thing Tomlin also said which enamored him with Russell Wilson is when they started speaking to him in this process Russell had done his homework on the Steelers their kind of background not history but how Arthur Smith wants to

Run this offense so that really spoke to him as well again as my Tomlin is changing over his quarterback room Tom we also have some changes coming to the NFL next year here at the owners meeting the competition committee already has voted among its owners to ban the swivel

Hip drop tackle and JJ Watt says just fast forward to the belts with flags on them here come the easy to say when you’re not playing anymore JJ oh but Jonathan grenard playing the new Vikings defensive end penalizing Defenders for trying to tackle a run run who has the

Option to go down to prevent injury yeah makes sense so this is another interesting take because we know the NFL paa and the players didn’t like that but here we go Jonathan grenard Moore You Can’t Ban something and not show us the Alternatives like come on rest assured

There will be a tape Jonathan that you will have to watch in Camp and you can ask all the questions the legal do the tour they’ll show us probably the same tape with a few Alternatives that they showed in the press conference earlier today listen when Roger Goodell Troy

Vincent Rich McKay all come out in recent months and say very clearly this is a play we want to get out of the game no matter what the opposition is for players or anyone else this was what was going to happen all right Tom now we’re joined by your fellow int there’s Mike

ER follow Ian Rapa Porton guys thanks for joining us it’s been a long day but the Banning of the swivel hip drop tackle uh Mike we we’re expecting this when we came here but let’s explain for folks exactly what being banned and why yeah because there is a lot of reaction

To this because the thought is this happens so often in a game and there going to be flags all over the place what the NFL has said what Rich McKay the chairman of the competition committee said what Jeff Miller the NFL executive tried to make clear is that

It’s not that common of An Occurrence because it’s not just a hip drop it is the swivel hip drop which they really did not Hammer home last week they hammered it home once we got here all of a sudden it was like let’s emphasize the

Swivel part uh and that is the coming up off the ground you can’t really tell on that one we’ll see another one coming up here but it is the not a good sign Mike first highlight well you can’t really tell there well gra this is the one

Right here the mark Andrew he was already on right this already on the ground but this was the mark Andrew’s injury was the one that really got things in motion well it’s it’s the the thought is you grab the the the ball carrier with two hands then you as a

Defender lift yourself into the air with some kind of swivel motion potentially and then you come down on the player in a way that you’re driving his uh ankles knees into the ground you’re resulting in uh high ankle sprains and these types of things they found based on what they

Did from their review the NFL 230 instances which is what less than one per game so don’t panic don’t be thinking this is going to happen like five or six times a game uh and of those tackles 15 resulted in an injury with a player missing a game going forward so

It is a high incidence if you’re looking at in that regard as far as injury I talked to John Mara who’s you know been in the competition committee probably longer than anybody and what he said Ian is that it’s something that had to be taken out of the game they understood

The defensive players were going to be upset about it but they’ve adapted to other things like the horse CER attacker and tackle and they feel like they’re going to adapt to this yeah I thought Jeff Miller one of the NFL’s Executives on health and safety explained it well

And you know he essentially brought up the reaction from defensive players saying well you know you tell us we can’t do anything what can we do and then his answer was definitely not that and to me like you watch The Mark Andrews Logan Wilson play where he

Basically breaks his leg based on being a defenseless player and a tackle and it’s like whatever you can do to make sure that one of the best weapons in the game doesn’t get a broken leg on a routine tackle whatever you could do to make sure that doesn’t happen I’m good

With that rule and I’ve been not surprised but you know eyebrow raised a little bit of some of the defensive players weighing in um on some of these you know on on the rules change because the reality is it is a tackle that routinely injures their fellow players

And fellow union members they should be for this not against it and I’m a little surprised by it which is why the the union stance on this is the most interesting aspect to me because it’s a lot easier when it’s player against team they’ll back the player it’s easy right

In this case it’s half the players are against it the defensive side of the ball and and the players in the offensive side of the ball are obviously say hey anything you can do to protect us and help us out here so it’s like which side do they take and they came

Down strongly on side of here’s the they announced this again we knew was coming but they announced it at the same time they say well defenses have caught up because we see that scoring is down so now defensive players are saying we finally make some Headway and now you’re

Doing something to to ban a tackle look I spoke to zier Franklin the linebacker for the Colts who said we don’t go into any play saying we’re going to tackle tackle a player this way yeah a lot of times like Logan Wilson against mark an is a smaller player trying to bring down

A bigger dude because he can no longer maybe drive his helmet into him or whatever so this is what it is well and listen too what what do unions do they protect wages and working conditions the number one concern here forget you know I’m going to get penalized can cost my

Team it’s are we all going to get fine for this the number one complaint everybody last year with use a helmet it wasn’t about the very rare times was called in games it was about all the times that guys were getting fin the next week and the guys like Jaylen

Warren who were losing entire game checks that’s what this comes down to my prediction is going to be you will see a ton of fines during the pre-season because some officials a lot of times the leag will encourage them hey throw a few so we’ve got a frame of reference we

Can look at those plays what did you see and then have them be correctable when we get to the regular season it’ll be fewer find still some it’ll be virtually no Flags that’s usually how these things go and if it is something that egregious I don’t know that there’s a lot of

People who look at for instance the Gino Smith play where he gets dragged down from and say well that was a tackle that was necessary on to and and the one thing they also made clear was like there will be no video replay assistance on this to help the officials whatever

The call is the call Will Stand yeah the only video replay you’re going to see is what they’re going to send to these teams every week in and week out and say hey here were four instances that weren’t called and this is something that we’re looking to take out of the

Game it’s it’s it’s going to be hard to officiate which a lot of things are hard to officiate but but some of these are more cut and dried right like the hits to the head it’s either a hit to a head or it’s not a hit to the Head the horse

Collar you know it when you see it obviously on this one you sort of know when you see it but there’s going to be ones that are going to be right up against it and it’s it’s it’s going to be a top ones that don’t get called

That’s going to be the controversy it’s something obvious that gets called it’s going to be okay yeah that’s fine it’s going to be wait why wasn’t that called now that’s where you’re going to run into some issues and that’s where again they’re taking their queue from International Rugby when this same type

Of tackle started to get outlawed it wasn’t with penalties or whatever they called in rugby I’ve never watched rugby it was they find guys initially because you’re trying to correct the technique without disrupting the games we’re going to see same thing here you’re a big

Rugby guy no I’m not a big rugby guy but it’s very entertaining to watch spend some time in Hong Kong rugby was on point have you ever seen a flag for a hip drop tackle do they have Flags uh I don’t know Okay we okay time to get back

On the rails Eden Mike thank you so much everybody you can catch the Insiders these three guys tomorrow here from the league meetings at 1 p.m. eastern time here on the NFL Network and coming up next in the v block we’re going to be hearing from the

Coaches with the top three picks in the NFL draft this is good stuff come back and roll that tape LC a month away from the 2024 NFL draft and boy we got some quarterbacks for you starts with that guy Caleb Williams from USC the presumptive number one overall pick but you got Drake mayate out of North Carolina you got guys like like Jaden Daniels out of LSU who could be

There bears take Caleb Williams at number two little conversation with Dan Quinn about that so based on what you’ve done and trading away the guy was the starter last year is it fair to say at this point that you envision taking a quarterback at number two I would say

It’d be fair to Envision we would be taking a quarterback to say where it’ll be happen I think that’s a better question for Adam you know as the next weeks unfold um they’ll be discussion speaking of Trades is the phone ringing on number two and is Adam even allowed to answer

It yes I would say uh it’s ringing and um because like you said the talent of the group this year and so I would anticipate uh him you know field in these calls as it goes through but you know it’s uh it is part of the process

And you do have to do your due diligence to listen and find out just to make sure like is there something that uh you know that you just couldn’t refuse I certainly walk past it in the hallway when I was with the Cowboys you know years ago for

A trade that involved Hershel Walker and many of draft picks and changed a lot of their organization so I think anybody in personnel with the with the skill Adam they’re going to listen but there’s only so many things that you would consider and uh it had better be really

Goodday Quinn certainly sounds like a guy who in his first year in Washington expects to be getting a quarterback pretty high here at number two although he did leave open I mean hersel Walker that was a that was a big time trade right there a blockbuster type of deal

That maybe could get them to move and maybe if their quarterback is not Jaden Daniels Steve moving back and getting a different quarterback potenti could make some sense that’s a big if because one thing at number two is that’s the last spot in this draft where you know you’ve

Got your own opportunity to pick the guy that you want Caleb Williams is going to Chicago all right that’s that’s that’s money in the bank right there that is the that certainly would appear to be the plan appears to be the plan we got a

Hedge come on we still got a month of drama here but Tom you know if they trade back now they’re dependent on what happens in front of them to see if they’re going to get a guy and if they come out of this draft and they have an

Opportunity to get one of the top quarterbacks and don’t that’s a problem for Dan Quinn and the staff as they try to rebuild this roster we see some of the moves that they made you know they added Austin Eckler they added some players up front to help with a team to

Even to support a Young quarterback so if they don’t take one at number number two what I find fascinating is just the conversations I’ve had I haven’t seen Adam Peters here at the NFL annual meeting yet when I’ve talked to other GMS and everybody’s trying to F out what

Everybody else is doing more than one have said to me they think the guy for Washington is JJ McCarthy wow is that the pick at two is that in a trade down scenario I’m not saying that’s what happens I’m not getting that from Adam Peters or the Washington commanders I’m

Just saying there are people in the league who believe that that is their actual guy remember last time Adam Peters was in a situation he’s with the ners and people were saying oh M Jones M Jones is going to be the ners quarterback ended with Trey Lance

Neither has worked out so they hope things go better right there well we know who is picking after the Washington commanders at number three that’s the New England Patriots they also need a quarterback and I sat down with their coach gerod Mayo who like Dan Quinn did

Not sidestep the fact that getting a quarterback is a priority it’s the priority right now but with that being said you have to really be in love with the guy to take him at number three and so really all the options are still open for us do you

Think your perspective of playing for so long and then coaching on the defensive side for so long is really giving you a special insight and evaluating quarterback yeah I think so um with that being said I’m not going to sit here and talk to you about mechanics and and

Things like that uh but I can see competitiveness I can see toughness I can see uh a playmaker out there but you know with our St with Elliott and our you know the quarterback guys that we have out in New England now we have multiple including madoo AVP um TC all

Those guys have been you know watching quarterbacks for a long time and I really think we have to work you know work together to come to some type of consensus uh to really feel good about number three yeah I’m glad you said that about I can’t talk to about mechanics

And and off platform or this or that but the competitiveness how important is that to you you played with the greatest who’s ever done it you know he was the most competitive guy to ever ever do it how important of a trait is that to you it’s

Huge you know you see these quarterbacks that have the mechanics they they have all the tools but lack toughness you know you’re going to get hit in the NFL as a quarterback and you have to be able to stand in there and and really just

Get back up and do it all over again so toughness is definitely a huge part what’s it like following Bill bichi a guy you won Super Bowls with and and knowing his history what’s it like stepping into that role uh it’s tough I mean look those are huge choose to F uh

At the same time I have to be myself it’s gotten me this far and I’m not trying to be bill bich um I’m J Mayo this is me and and when you talk about establishing cultures and Leadership uh I have a certain way of doing that uh

But at the same time I did learn a lot from you know perhaps the greatest coach in all time you know later on in that interview Tom Mayo told me that also one of his huge influ influences coaching is Mike Tomlin they’re both from the same town

In the Hampton uh Virginia area the Tomlin has really given him a lot of insight as well but I want to get back to what he was saying about quarterback because unlike Washington who knows what’s going to happen in front of him Patriots don’t and if Washington chooses

The quarterback that the Patriots may like because you heard him say they have to come to a consensus then maybe they bail because we know there’s about five teams that want to get up and get one of these quarterbacks so it’ll be very interesting I still don’t think they’ll

Bale I still got the feeling after talking with him they’re going to keep the pick and choose a quarterback right there but then and their roster kind of barren they’re going to have to build a roster around the quarterback that they take right there more so what Washington

Is doing is building a a roster now to support a Young quarterback and the questions are who would be those teams trying to trade up you’ve got the Giants at number six Brian ail told me earlier this week that when Daniel Jones gets back he’s the guy which is kind of the

Thing you have to go with cuz he’s making $35.5 million guarante doesn’t preclude the Giants from drafted a quarterback the Vikings now on the 11 and the 23 picks value chart you go with that’s enough to get you up to about number four so they could be a potential

Team and of course the Raiders we know when Mark Davis and Antonio Pierce sat that with all the prospective GMS a big piece it was how do we go get the quarterback what would it take for us to go get the quarterback here there are a bunch of teams potentially in that trade

Up mix and usually there’s somebody Steve who maybe secretly also was in that Mi kind of waiting in the weed well you talked about the Raiders coming up next on the NFL report you do not want to miss this it is 100% unplugged and unfiltered Antonio pierce the head coach

Of Las Vegas and he brings the fire next on the NFL report let’s do what we do boy let’s do what we do be special tonight all right crazy LS get some juice down let’s go up top huh up top oh three two bam let’s go

Like it like it pound him pound him pound him pound him let’s get the ball off this we sack fifth sack of the game you can’t keep this dline down John Co sorry I didn’t get a chance to see you before man it’s awesome seeing what you’re doing as a former

Player you just heard Raiders coach Antonio Pierce from the sideline and we know in the locker room he loves to scream Raiders well you’re going to love hearing him screaming what he told me in this interview something I grew up with right as a kid hearing that and and saying it

Then you know you go to league play some football and do some other things and then you’re the linebacker coach and you’re kind of a foot soldier and you just fall in line and you’re looking around like we’re missing something so after that first win um was it getting

Interviewed by Tracy and I was just like it just came out it just be honest it was just it wasn’t planned I didn’t think nothing of it then when I got in the locker room I can just look at all the guys they’re like he what we going to do

And boom I just lit it out and it’s one of those moments like you only you know when you’re chanted right something’s good happened right either you win the game or you become the head coach of Las Vegas Raiders you start your press conference off that way but um to me

It’s just that that’s Raider Nation they understand it you know maybe everybody doesn’t like oh coach shouldn’t do that why not why not you know and um and something now look at we sign Christian Wilkins and then he starts his press conference that way so so you know it’s

Just something that’s contagious I think our our team I know our fan base I even think our organization has really you know embraced that and that’s a good thing what about that cuz I mean clearly you said coach didn’t do that you’re your authentic you and how do you think that translates to

Players they read through the BS I did when I was a player especially now with these players because everything they do is it’s scoll right so they they get a lot of information more than we got but it’s easier to be yourself and never have to fake it cuz I’m not lying

You know I never have to worry about what I said or what I’m doing or did I say that the right way because it just comes out and um I try to filter myself as much as possible but when I played I didn’t filter myself when I Liv My Life

As a normal person every day when I go back to being just Antonio Pierce walking down the street I can be myself and damn it why not when I’m the Raider coach just be myself I I I love that so so tell me that you talk about these

Players today it’s the Instagram it’s this and that like when you played like you were a G right you were like that that tough dude how do you have to maybe adjust to relate to the players to who have all this information or constantly posting this and that to say okay I know

How I used to roll maybe you’re a little different ly but we’re going to come to a happy medium to get the best out of you yeah I mean one thing about it I think I’m a chameleon and I think I’m a master Puppeteer I can read the room I

Can really read people I’m good with people um my way isn’t the right way for everybody and it’s not for everybody and it’s not for every team it’s not for every owner it’s not for every player um but that’s the good part about being a head coach now I get to choose those

Guys ah I get to find my my identity and my personality and the players that were’re bringing in and they might not be the same way I am they might not be oh my God and all this energy and all this oh my God this passion about the game of football but

One thing about it they better love the damn game they better love coming to work they better come in with a smile on their face that doesn’t change if it does it needs to go somewhere else so how do I relate it’s simple you just find out their core you

Find out what makes them click and tick you make relationships half the time we don’t even talk about football we’re in the building this offseason we’re not talking about football phase one it ain’t about football it’s about people and once you get the people you get the

Relationships when it gets harder in the month of August then you get to the nitty-gritty So to that point uh Max Crosby you’re you’re you’re all pro Dean your Edge rusher he’s he he pounded the table for you to get this job right you talk about relationships he’s the dude who’s got

The most cach a yeah in that locker room when you have a guy like him who’s so respected by his peer through the league stand up for you and take some of the personal accountability he has for himself how much do you think that gets the ball rolling towards where you guys

Want to go it’s huge I’m going to go back to the first day I walked in the building February 15th 2022 6 6: a.m. the first guy that meets me at the door Max Crosby that’s my introduction to Max and I never felt so much energy from

Another player before I’m like God damn what is this so I’m kind of taken back by it and then I watched him that whole off season 6:00 a.m. 6 a.m. 6 a.m. so I go downstairs and we start having conversations non football related talking about his

Past how he got to where he’s at today where he wants to be and then all a sudden he starts quizzing me what was it like playing with Bruce Smith what was it like playing with Michael straan those defenses you had in New York this kid he wants to be

Educated and then we get into the season and we’re doing you know just stuff out on the field let’s just say offseason running half gasters said I’m watching this dude run with DBS and receivers let me go out there and run with them our relationship is to me I think deeper than football

It’s personal I think Max sees a little bit of himself in me and I see myself in him but to have Max speak up and say what he said that’s different I had to tell him pump the brakes a little bit I you know I want to piss Mark Davis off

But when you do have a voice as a player it’s okay to use it he’s a Raider and sometimes Raiders do things that’s not normal and maybe not accepted by everybody else and not the norm but when you have your best player showing up each and every day and saying that’s the

Man that I want to play for you have no other way but to follow suit but it’s it’s not because of that it’s also because we’re playing the Chiefs Max hasn’t practice all week he’s in a hospital bed he looking like a watermelon and we go out for pregame and

Everybody’s telling me do not play him and I’m looking at him eye to eye I says you you sure and he told me I can do this and it’s different when a former player like myself looks at another player and you can look in his eye and say he’s going

To be okay but then also to say listen if you get up slow are you doing only thing that’s like I got to pull you out right and we have that gentleman handshake then you can make the decision that we made with Max on Christmas on on

That Thanksgiving or excuse me on that Kansas Chiefs game but at the end of day man Max is the face of the franchise he puts his heart and soul into that bad boy the effort the passion the love for the Raider organization the Raider fan

Base is unmatched and he sets the tone I know it’s the head coach but M sets the tone so he told me in a recent interview I did with him that he has been preaching accountability to the guys in a defensive front he’s got 10 guys already training with him every

Morning when you see that is this first off is Is this different like is is this a change not in him but in your building without a doubt I mean ever since the the team that was in our building for the Super Bowl left team in red it’s

Been a match Crosby show and he brought his friends because like I told you when I first showed up on February 15th 2022 it was only Maxs if you walk in that building Monday you going to see 25 to 30 guys in there Devonte Adams the entire D line

DBS hey guys you ain’t got to be here until April 15th it’s okay slow down but that’s not how we rolling no more so how does that make you feel I know we’re coming I know we’re ready I know we’re building something special I don’t know

What it is I don’t know when it’s going to happen I don’t know if it’s this year next year but I know the culture is right I know the mindsets right I know it’s strictly business in that building and then when we’re off the building we

Have fun doing it and doing it together okay so now part of what you guys have to figure out and you’ve taken some steps your quarterback right you got Gardner muu in there you’ve got Aiden in there um but how do you plan to continue to address that what you guys are

Picking at 13 it’s a good number maybe it’s a good number if you stay there but you know how how do you guys going to continue to address that well you know you can’t have two quarterbacks on the roster right so we know we got to add

Some okay the next wave is the draft okay so we’ll see I got Tom cesco in here I got the got the magician figure out what he got up his sleeve you know he’s done it for a long time um I got a lot of trust in him I think he’s seen it

Wherever he’s been right right pton Manning Andrew Luck comes to GM with the Chargers Philip Rivers Jess Herbert so he knows something about quarterbacks he does so I’m going let him figure it out I’m let him figure it out but I know this like we got to get another

Quarterback in room we know that um but then day listen a no conell played his ass off he did a hell of a job for us um first game he ever played chargers went six Sun sacks turn the ball over critical interception in the Red Zone we played the Minnesota Vikings

Later in the season goose coms back out lights it up so you’re talking about a kid that has the mental toughness to play the National Football League whatever happens and whatever we do it got to go through 8 no con being honest with you cuz he’s eared that

Right okay but like anybody else it’s all about competition and if we can make that room the most competitive room on our team the quarterback room we’ll be a good football team oh man all right Tom first off some of the Fantastic stuff you said the the the max

Man he is I mean you know as I was doing the interview I’m kind of like okay I’m getting worked up here right like he’s I get it like I feel it and then when I rewatch the interview I’m like okay I feel it yeah I mean he knows his locker

Room and the fact that he’s talking about Max Crosby and the way Max has got these guys going and he’s got that energy which is his energy and now he’s in a position to pick the guys who can continue to convey that energy it it’s just absolutely fantastic now we’ll see

If it works you know he talked about hey he is not everybody’s cup of tea you know he he was you know we didn’t know if he was going to be available for for the Raiders head coach or other head coaching jobs but one of the words out

There was like he’s such a Raider we don’t know if he’d be just in as invested in our club because he’s been so outspoken about wearing the silver and black my favorite thing of that whole interview Steve was when you got him rolling on the defensive line you

Bring in Christian Wilkins you got Max Crosby Malcolm Co and the Young Buck the first round pick from EO on the side Tyreek Wilson calls him the four horsemen The Four Horsemen ready to ride there’s some guys who just speak in sound bites AP is one of those guys the

Big question is going to be and you talked to him about it right there is going to be the quarterback position now he says anything we do goes through Aiden oconnell in other words and I get this AP being a former player hey that guy was the starter he won some games

For you last year so he starts out a top of the dep chart something the Kenny picket probably was hoping he was going to hear it Pittsburgh until he did it um but you know you’re going to add to that room you brought in a gardener MCH he

Gave him a pretty good contract $15 million fully guaranteed that’s significant it’s very obvious the Raiders have designs on going and drafting a quarterback here Tom Tesco in his history with the Chargers rarely traded up in round one but Mark Davis Antonio Pierce every single time that

They sat down with GM cand was how do we go and get the quarterback that’s what they’re going to be attempting to do figure out all right who can we move up for here Jaden Daniels makes a lot of sense got the history of Anton Pierce

Going back to Arizona State I also could see Michael Pennock being a logical pick for the Raiders kind of fits the mold that we’ve seen uh in the past that Tom Tesco likes in quarterbacks here I think the entire thing is fascinating I do know this they got further to go than

Some of the other teams who are going to be trying to trade up which means the price is that much steeper yeah they don’t have quite the freight to move up but they’re not going to be afraid to go ahead and do it because they know they

Think this roster is pretty darn good and that if they get their quarterback to build around that’s going to be the guy we’re seeing Aiden no Connell throw that pass right there but it goes through him but it might go through him I mean again speaking with Antonio I got

Every feeling that they’re going to go out and draft one of these quarterbacks unless there’s just something a medical or something that knock somebody off their board like a Michael penck but they drafted Tyree Wilson last year with a bad foot correct it’s the Raiders there’s 32 different teams with 32

Doctors 32 degrees of risk tolerance Raiders historically have had a little bit more risk tolerance so again Michael penx who we’ be talking about as a Sure Fire first round pick but for the medical I wouldn’t rule out that possibility wouldn’t rule out at all and

Tom uh you got something coming up from a coach who just got a new running back to help his team that’s right saquan Barkley is now a Philadelphia Eagle Nick serani speaking for the first time of what it means not just to get saquan but to get him from your division rival

We’ll also talk about what went wrong down the stretch for the Eagles last season and how serani intends to fix it in 2024 that’s up next on the NFL report now that’s a Keys hey love you hey Washington 17 Eagles 7 this is where yall change it let’s go he’s in touchdown mclen couldn’t get the feet in it’s a good catch you probably out though good job you’re doing a great job goal and back in the field full range

All right field goal I don’t watch field goals did I look at coach clay he points at me or he or he gives me a one of these like if we miss it is there we’ve won pretty much every way you can win in this league everybody remembers how the

Eagles 2023 season finished there was a time Steve there in the competition in the running for the number one overall seed in the NFC things got a little bit Haywire they’ve made a lot of changes since I got a chance to sit down in recent days here in Orlando Tom pisero

Steve White on the NFL report from the NFL annual meeting and talked about one of those new big additions saquon Barkley as well as a question that started out as what is the state of the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles serani gave what I thought was a fascinating

Response just looking to take it one day at a time um and you know I think that you know coming off of the the 2022 season you you think to yourself man we got to do what we got to do to get back to where we we were so close

And I think that you know it really just proved to you that you really just got to take things one day at a time um and so right now you know we’ve had a and you know I think by a lot of accounts we’ve had a great uh offseason so far

And you know got to keep doing that through the through the draft and and we’ll take that one day at a time that will lead into the training camp and and OTAs and you know just looking forward to to building the team and um you know

Coming close as a team so we talk about doing one day at a time we some guys getting ahead of themselves in terms of I would say that was I I wouldn’t say some guys say me I’d look at myself in the mirror first I think we all we all

Did we you know we had a lot of you know we had when you get close like that and you want to and you want to be back so bad I think it’s it’s it’s easy to find yourself looking up to the top of the mountain and saying I got to get back

There and it it it really does take one day at a time and what a great lesson for for us last year and so the state of the Philadelphia Eagles is we’re where we’re where we are want to be right now and so that gives me an opportunity not

To not to S side step your question but it is where we want to be as far as just hey we’re here we’re in this offseason P portion of it players get to come in here in a couple weeks we get to get going on some OTA stuff and and get them

Lifting and um getting them be together and getting in the classroom um so we’re looking forward to that as as we as we approach so since last time we saw you you said saquin Barkley take me through that process and why now is the time to

Uh convince Howe to spend on a running back uh well just so so grateful to to how he he’s just always looking to improve our football team I I really you know just he works uh tirelessly to to improve our team um and really grateful to to be around that um really excited

Obviously about about saquin um and the things that he can do um you know just such a Dynamic uh football player both with you know both as a as an actual running back and then also the things he can do as a as a pass catcher um and so

Just you know he he’s just going to bring an element to our offense and to our team uh you know as much as as we see them you know all the highlights that we see on the on the tape uh you know from my understanding and and all

Our homework he’s such a a good leader and a teammate as well so to be able to add that into our locker room not only the playmaking ability but to the person is really is really important and so you know and and to be able to like there

How many times have I watched um him on the opposite sideline playing him two times this last year three times the year before two times the year before is like man we don’t have to play against that guy anymore great oh he’s on our team even more even even more perfect um

And so that’s that’s exciting um that you know cuz we’ve seen him up close and and personal and and we just know how good of a football player he is you know and he’s he’s big man he’s he’s hard to tackle and you know when it gets cold

There in the Northeast that the you know in the December and and January looking forward to having him on our sideline where he wears down that defense and and it’s hard to tackle him it’s hard to tackle him in in September too let’s let’s be honest but really looking

Forward to all that sequan Barkley has caused a lot of problems for Nick serani and a lot of other people through the years here now he is on the eagle side he grew up like an hour outside of Philadelphia so it’s a homecoming for squin as well an aggressive move Steve

From an Eagles team that historically hasn’t paid big for running backs but they’re making a big bet that saquon’s A Difference Maker yeah look they give up on the Andre Swift because they knew they could get somebody who’s more physical right saquon Barkley it’s a durability issue for saquon Barkley

That’s the only thing if he stays on the field behind this offensive line yes it lost Jason Kelce but they’ll slide cam Jurgens over they’ve got some some players in place he is going to add a lot and I like what he said about the

Cold weather and it made it seem like hm they played in cold weather a lot last year during that skid maybe there were some issues now we’ve got a guy who’s played in cold weather his whole life who could possibly help us but Tom I

Want to backtrack to the front end of of that interview where he was talking about we’re doing things day by day and it wasn’t a cliche dayby day where he talked about that maybe we got out a little ahead of ourselves to me I took that is maybe we thought we were better

Than we actually were and didn’t put in as the new coach speak is the strain or the grind that we needed to to be a good football team some of the little things sometimes can slip through the cracks here and you saw that down the stretch they had that game against San Francisco

A lot of stuff happened in that game it was an ugly showing and they never fully recovered I also asked serani about Jaylen Herz and and where he stands kind of deferred to the fact that listen above all else you know this about Jaylen Herz he is going to work at it he

Is an unbelievably hard worker that’s what he’s going to fall back upon throughout the course this process listen they got to get it going on both sides of the ball they got new coordinators Kell mois there now right Vic fangio over on the defensive side of

The ball you bring back a juice guy like chony Gardner Johnson in your secondary who’s going to be part of your identity the other thing that serri brought up leadership with saquon you lose Jason Kelce you lose Fletcher Cox there is a leadership void they got Brandon Graham

And Lane Johnson some of the other guys but you need some people maybe some of those young players to step in as the leadersh those footb yeah and a lot of times you try to import leadership it doesn’t always work but saquon’s got the gravy toss from a team that’s faced him

Twice a year to come in and make it work well Tom guess what we have coming up next we’ve got an owner we’ve got Vikings co-owner Mark wolf and we’ve got some questions for him who’s your quarterback Mark who is your quarterback and what about that Superstar wide

Receiv here no not Jordan Addison but the other one oh we got questions for Mark and we’ll get some answered next on the NFL report Mark all right we are back at the NFL report in Tom peliso we are now joined by a special guest Vikings co-owner Mark whff Mark thank you so much for joining us here thanks for having me take take a time out of a busy day Tom and I were

Wondering if you’re like Escape from all of these monotonous meetings just to come spend time with us get all outdoor here yeah absolutely so so Mark you know just to start things off of course the Vikings big conversation leading into the draft uh your quarterback spot are you pushing

The guys to go ahead and and get somebody in there we know you signed Sam darnold but well we love Sam darnold but you know when it comes to the the quarterback’s position uh it’s certainly critical and uh quacy and coach Connell they’re working hard we’ve got a plan

And uh Sam darnold’s part of it and we’re excited he’s in the building and we’re excited we have two first round pick so uh we’ll see where it all goes we have a lot of flexibility and we’ll see what happens some other teams that are in the quarterback Market they’ve

Had their owners and their team presidents among others in the interview process as you said it’s a very unique very important position how involved do you and zigy get through this process well we’re certainly engaged all the time with uh quy and coach and Rober rinsky the whole whole football

Operations and uh but we have a lot of confidence that they know what they’re doing they’ve got the right ideas and uh we’re behind them and to the extent they’re going to want further involvement from us we’re there to help but again we know what we know and we

Know what they know and uh they’ll get it right oh that sounds like you guys good detailed plan going on right there um we also know one of the bigger things going around with with the Vikings is Justin Jefferson uh at some point there’s going to be extension talks or

Something like that have those started well we had great positive conversations last season and we’re looking forward to more positive conversations this offseason Justin Jefferson is a unique talent best in the game and we’re excited he’s a Minnesota Viking and not only is he a great player he’s become a

Great leader of our our locker room and he’s great in the community so uh the Thrills he gives the fans on the field and just the way he carries himself uh we’re looking forward to some real positive conversations so even if quy comes to you and goes Mark it’s we made

A real strong run cuz you guys did last year to try to get the extension it’s just not going to happen happen but I can get three first round picks for Justin Jefferson how are you feeling again right now we’re focused on getting that guy on our field with the purple

And he looks great in purple and we’re going to do our best to keep it that way you talked about uh making the move to get a second first round draft pick I mean that that takes you know a lot of you know oom I guess to say it but what

About the job quac and Kevin have done not only winning ball games in the few years they’ve been together but the plan that they have constructed for you guys to have short and long-term success well that’s that’s that’s our our where we’re looking at we’re trying to get sustained

Success we want to win Super Bowls we want to get over that line and uh we have a lot of confidence in quacy and Coach oconnell they’re working great together our coaching staff our personal stuff working really hard and having the two first round picks gives us a lot of

Flexibility and that’s great whether it’s up down or or or in the middle uh we we know with this deep dra draft here we’re going to be okay Marcus you know I live up in Minneapolis I’ve covered I don’t know how many of your games throughout your entire ownership 10 year

Almost everybody that I remember is gone the locker room has completely changed over there’s one guy left his name is Harrison Smith another restructured deal to continue to have Harrison Smith who in my opinion is a Hall of Fame caliber safety one of the longest running

Vikings in the modern era what does it mean to you in the organization couldn’t agree more I mean entering his 13th season now I mean just an incredible player a great leader and we couldn’t be happier for him and his family that he’s back with us this coming year and we

Agree with you and we’re just excited to have him back and uh he’s just such a such a great presence on the field and great in the locker room so uh the way he carries himself we’re really really proud one of the greatest picks in Vikings history and uh he’s proving it

On the field now I was thinking that you know when you guys were going through the contract situation with Harrison if it didn’t work out in Minnesota maybe you join your former head coach in Dallas what do you think about Zim being back in the league here years lat well

We’re happy for Coach Zim and and uh I know he’ll do a great job in Dallas he’s just one of the great defensive minds and he’s in the right position there and uh again uh uh great memories with Coach Zimmer and we wish him all the best so

You guys have been doing more than talking Vikings here you owners uh and this morning after the competition committee you guys did vote to ban the swivel hip drop tackle could you kind walk us through the decision because we heard it was a unanimous vote to get

That play out of the game I I think you know the focus on health and safety is very real and it really comes around every year at these meetings and we applaud the league the commissioner and the focus that’s put on health and safety and that’s really what this whole

Rule uh is about um we’re just trying to make the game healthier safer for the players and I think that’s been proven out the statistics are injuries are down from the years prior and uh this is just a continuing of that effort and uh that’s why it passed unanimously the

Kickoff play is another one that we’re talking about because of the high injury rates it’s changed for the last five years special teams coordinators have to keep adjusting what we’re talking about now though is something pretty radical in what they’re calling the NFL hybrid kickoff with the kickoff and the return

Teams both on the opposite side of the field you can’t move until the ball hits the ground or is caught there’s a landing Zone there’s a lot of it’s a it’s literally a 10-page type of report in the room when it’s being presented and I know Darren Rizzy John fossil and

Others were here how is it received how much do you get it is this actually what’s going to happen well it’s still ongoing and you know what’s great about the NFL and football of all the major sports football we not afraid to make the game better make the game better for

Players and more importantly for the fans it’s just a great game and I know there’s a lot of conversation and it’s about health and safety we want to get the kickoff back it’s such a great play and it’s kind of Gone Away the amount of touchbacks to not have the single touch

Back in the Super Bowl things like that and we’re supportive of of of putting in a kickoff rule there’s still conversations ongoing on that we’ll see where it all falls out uh so I applaud the league for making the effort and uh we look forward to having it back but

Again with health and safety uh still in mind do you think you have a ruling on it rich McCay did say he’s hoping by the time this meeting ends you all be able to have some conclusion because you have to build your rosters and this new rule

Could change some of the the type of personnel you use well that that that is the goal we’ll defer to Chairman McKay on the politics of all this but again we’re very supportive of trying to get a a kickoff playb for the fans and for the

Players and uh and to make it as safe and healthy as possible and there’s a lot of things for you guys and for Vikings fans to be excited about looking forward to 2024 you’re going back to London you get a fully healthy Justin Jefferson back on the field but National

Media wise there’s not a lot of Vikings discussion it’s the Bears have the number one pick it’s the Packers on the rise again with Jordan love the lions were just on the precipice of a Super Bowl how bad do you want want to get to September and go out there and reboot

After everything you guys went through last year absolutely and no one’s ever won a Super Bowl at an owner’s meeting in March so uh that’s what it’s all about and uh we’re excited and you know we talk a lot about quarterback I’m super excited about the defensive uh

Pickups we made in the free agency so far and Coach Flor is a coordinator of our defense I know we’re going to be a lot better there as well so there’s a lot to look forward to and uh looking forward to get some wins well Mark as a

Minneapolis native who grew up with the purple people leaders and Chuck Foreman and Fran tar it is always good to talk about the Minnesota Vikings and thank you so much for joining us oh great to be with you thank you skull there you go Mark W concluding a fantastic and loaded NFL

Report make sure to watch Tom Ian and Mike on the Insiders Tuesday from the league meetings at 1 pm and James Palmer and I we will not be here Thursday but we will be back next Monday for the NFL report don’t forget this is a podcast we

Come on 7 7 p.m. streaming live on all of your free streaming apps Tom pel thanks so much for joining us again Mark W and we are out and listen to the podcast

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