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change. What

1:04

is up, Dolph fans, and

1:06

welcome to the Drive Time Podcast. I

1:08

am your host, Travis Wingfield, and

1:10

on today's show, we are covering the

1:12

Chris Greer Press Conference. He spoke

1:14

to the local media here on

1:16

Tuesday afternoon ahead of the NFL

1:18

Draft, talking about some of the

1:21

major landscape shifts across the roster,

1:23

and that includes some new information

1:25

about cornerback Jalen Ramsey, all of that

1:27

and a heck of a lot more from the

1:29

Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training

1:31

Complex. This is... The Drive

1:33

Time Podcast. So

1:36

the press conference begins with an

1:38

opening statement from Chris Greer about

1:41

the news of the morning that was

1:43

reported that Jalen Ramsey and the

1:45

Dolphins have mutually agreed to part ways

1:47

and they will look to facilitate

1:49

a trade for the all -pro cornerback.

1:51

Here's Chris Greer on Jalen Ramsey. So

1:53

really after a couple weeks of

1:56

discussions between ourselves internally and Jalen

1:58

and his representation. we

2:00

decided that it was

2:02

probably in the best interest

2:04

for all parties to

2:06

move forward. So I will

2:08

say these decisions aren't

2:10

done quickly, and they're not

2:12

taken lightly because we

2:14

spent a lot of time

2:16

this offseason working through

2:19

this, talking through things. At

2:22

the end of the day, Jalen did

2:24

not ask for a trade, so we went

2:26

through the process after

2:30

numerous conversations and then talking last week

2:32

with Jalen and his agent that it was

2:34

best to move forward and it was

2:36

best interest of the Miami Dolphins and for

2:38

Jalen Ramsey. Naturally, a lot of questions

2:40

arose from that statement that it has obviously

2:42

become made clear that the Dolphins and

2:44

Jalen Ramsey are going to wind up parting

2:46

ways. And you'll hear him talk in

2:48

a few of these answers about we'll deal

2:50

with the fallout of him. being here

2:52

or the situation of him being here if

2:54

and when that happens or acquire the

2:56

draft picks. And he was asked about urgency

2:59

to get done before the draft to

3:01

make sure they get picks in this year's

3:03

draft. He said that that was not

3:05

part of the discussion, that they'll do it

3:07

when the best time for it is

3:09

to be done. He

3:11

was also asked about Ramsey wanting a

3:13

salary adjustment. He said no. He opted

3:15

to keep it internal when asked why

3:17

this is happening because he did say

3:19

that Ramsey did not ask for a

3:22

trade. Did not ask

3:24

for a raise. There was not an issue

3:26

with the scheme or anything. And so he

3:28

was asked, why is this trade happening or

3:30

why is this discussion even happening? And he

3:32

said that will stay internal. He was also

3:34

asked, it didn't seem like the moves you

3:36

made this offseason matched up with what... did

3:38

in free agency or to build the rest

3:40

of the roster out. And I think if

3:42

you look at the Dolphins current roster, you're

3:44

going to have to get some guys that

3:46

step up that have been unproven. And that

3:48

might even include, you know, Cater Kohu playing

3:51

on the outside more than the inside than

3:53

he has in the past. If

3:55

you guys are long -time listeners of the

3:57

podcast, you know I think he's very capable

3:59

of that, a very good football player. And

4:01

Chris Greer touched on Cam Smith later on

4:03

in the press conference as well, and we

4:05

saw Storm Duckett playing time last year, Ethan

4:07

Bonner the year before that. If you go

4:09

into the season right now, which you're not,

4:11

you have the draft and undrafted free agency,

4:13

and as you'll hear from Chris later on,

4:15

there's... you know, the free agent veteran market

4:17

hasn't closed either. That's still available to them.

4:20

And while I don't think it makes sense

4:22

to sit here and talk about the roster

4:24

on April 16th from a completion standpoint, I

4:26

think that the general idea is that if

4:28

you don't have like sure things at every

4:30

single position group that you're lacking in that

4:32

group. And I understand that from an outside

4:34

and fan perspective, but sometimes in this league,

4:36

especially in this league, I should say with

4:38

how the salary cap is and, you know,

4:40

the turnover that we've seen the last couple

4:42

of years. You have to have guys that

4:44

haven't shown stuff in the past show up

4:46

and be players that you maybe didn't expect

4:48

them to be, or maybe the team did,

4:51

but maybe the fan base didn't, but... It

4:53

happens every single year on every single football

4:55

team. And for the Dolphins at the cornerback

4:57

spot right now, they're going to have to

4:59

have a couple of guys step up and

5:01

play to a higher level than what they've

5:03

shown in the past or play at all.

5:05

And that could include rookies, you know, high

5:07

draft picks or mid -round draft picks or UDFAs.

5:09

So we'll see what it looks like. But

5:11

right now, it sounds like Ramsey and the

5:13

Dolphins will try to find a way to

5:15

facilitate a trade to get Ramsey out of

5:17

Miami after a two -year run here with

5:19

the Dolphins. One more here from Greer on

5:22

Ramsey, and we'll go ahead and move on.

5:24

When you're talking through the offseason and all

5:26

these conversations are happening throughout the offseason, you're

5:28

still working and you try to prepare for

5:30

scenarios. So, like, again, this was

5:32

a long discussions, many discussions, I

5:34

would say, throughout the offseason. So

5:36

this wasn't anything we rushed to

5:38

and just said today, let's do

5:40

this. So we're prepared. If he's

5:43

here, you know, we'll deal with

5:45

it. And if he's not, you

5:47

know, we'll. will

5:49

adjust as well so we feel good about

5:51

where it is it's never easy to replace

5:53

a player like Jalen um he was a

5:55

good player for us he's a good player

5:57

he'll probably be a hall of famer here

5:59

um but For the Miami Dolphins going forward,

6:01

we feel like this is the best chance

6:03

to help us win, not only just this

6:05

year, but in the future as well. He

6:07

was also asked about the mindset of Steven

6:09

Ross about this team and how hopeful he

6:11

can possibly be. Chris Greer just basically said

6:13

that he doesn't step over the football decision

6:15

makers to make football moves. So I think

6:17

this concept that Ross has been handing out

6:19

levies about spending money or not, like that's

6:21

never been Ross's MO, right? He's always been

6:23

spend the most money possible to get the

6:25

best team on the field possible and spare

6:28

no expense in doing that. And I

6:30

mean, that's been pretty well proven with the

6:32

facilities and the constant report cards that you

6:34

get back from the NFLPA survey that say

6:36

A -plus across the board. So this building

6:38

and this facility and the commitment to winning

6:40

is something that I think would be, I

6:42

mean, I don't know how you could possibly

6:44

ever question that given all of the surroundings

6:47

that you see down here in South Florida

6:49

and Stephen Ross's commitment to winning here with

6:51

the Miami Dolphins. And, you know, I think

6:53

what you look at with this year's team

6:55

and this offseason, like, everything that they do

6:57

or that they've done is through the prism

6:59

of like, what's going to make us win

7:01

most now, but also for the longterm, because

7:04

you'll recall back when his, you know, 2019

7:06

press conference, when they made the move, it

7:08

was like, we are our biggest thing right

7:10

now is trying to find a way to

7:12

sustain success. And that was after a couple

7:14

of years of teams that pushed money into,

7:16

you know, some, some aging veterans and went

7:18

onto the free agent market and signed big

7:20

time names. And they didn't always work out.

7:23

And you would get these, six and 10,

7:25

seven and nine years and kind of be

7:27

up against the books every year. And that

7:29

was kind of a change in process. And

7:31

I think the idea behind sustained winning is

7:33

how every decision gets made here for Miami

7:35

and especially for Steven Ross. Just continuing for

7:37

the posterity of the entire press conference, which

7:40

you can find on the team YouTube channel.

7:42

But I think that breaking it down here

7:44

is a better option. What do I know?

7:46

It's up to you guys. He also was

7:48

asked about the effort to re -sign Calais Campbell.

7:50

He mentioned that Calais opted to go back

7:52

to the team that drafted him. And we

7:54

have heard, you know, I had heard previously

7:56

that Campbell is a big Arizona guy, loves

7:59

it there, and wants to set his roots

8:01

long -term down in Arizona. So that makes

8:03

the most sense to me. And then the

8:05

question I want to go ahead and play

8:07

the answer for was, would you label this

8:09

a soft rebuild or a reset of the

8:11

roster? Because I've made it clear that the

8:13

2024 Rams were a great example of this.

8:16

I think you're seeing the Niners go through

8:18

something similar to this and we'll see, you

8:20

know, how these teams shake out on the

8:22

other side. And we have seen the results

8:24

of teams that have kind of taken a

8:26

different approach or maybe just changed their overall

8:28

structure for how they do things. And you've

8:30

seen that with the Miami Dolphins this year.

8:32

I mean, it wasn't about the top of

8:35

the class of free agency. It's not about,

8:37

you know, making the big trade and big

8:39

splash. And it's been more about acquiring draft

8:41

picks and trying to reset the way the

8:43

building operates through the draft and through young

8:45

players. And you've seen teams, not just across

8:47

the league, but from this particular coaching tree,

8:49

have success doing that. Chris

8:52

Greer was asked about the actual

8:54

label of a soft reset or

8:56

a rebuild, and I thought that

8:58

his answer was just instructive in

9:00

terms of how they view this

9:02

entire thing from this point forward.

9:04

We have a lot of really

9:06

good football players on this roster

9:08

still at some places that impact

9:10

games. So our goal is to

9:12

win this year and keep winning

9:14

for sustained success in the future.

9:16

Quick pause for a follow -up

9:18

for Chris Greer on a similar

9:20

question. And some of the players

9:22

we added. or quality human beings

9:24

and people that have been leaders

9:26

at other teams. But I do

9:28

think in -house when you have guys

9:30

like Zach Seeler, just

9:32

to name a few, like,

9:35

I mean, you could

9:37

say Tyreek, Waddle. Alec

9:40

Ingold, Austin Jackson, the offensive line

9:42

guys love, you know, those guys,

9:44

they lead differently. You know, they're

9:46

quiet guys and how they do

9:48

it by example and stuff. So

9:51

we feel comfortable. They know the

9:53

expectations, you know, as we talked

9:55

about at the post -draft press

9:57

conference. Mike addressed that and

9:59

what he told the team. And

10:01

so Mike and leaders on the

10:03

team have been meeting all throughout

10:05

the offseason talking about things. very

10:09

excited for where it's going and they know

10:11

the expectations. And, and, um, so looking forward to

10:13

see how this group responds. Let's go ahead

10:15

and take a break right there. Come back on

10:17

the other side and continue here with Chris

10:19

Greer, his pre -draft press conference. That's next drive

10:21

time podcast brought to you by auto nation. I

10:26

think this next part here will be

10:28

of interest for those that are concerned about

10:30

all the needs on the roster. He was

10:32

asked about this, Chris Greer, about kind of

10:35

bowing out of the high end of

10:37

free agency. And you guys have heard this

10:39

podcast time and time again. That's for no

10:41

team. Is that a good process to invest

10:43

heavily into that portion of the offseason or

10:45

team building program, team building portion of the

10:47

offseason program? But there was

10:49

some interesting tidbits in here about the draft

10:51

picks and also. the extension of free agency

10:54

beyond that first couple of weeks the first

10:56

waiver to a free agency and you're going

10:58

to hear him talk about how they're in

11:00

connection right now to a few players that

11:02

are out there which I always thought was

11:04

the case but interesting to hear Chris Greer

11:06

talk about this In a salary cap era,

11:08

you just can't keep when you have high -priced

11:10

players. And you've seen it around the league

11:13

as a team. So you make decisions. We

11:15

have 10 draft picks this year for the

11:17

first time with that many draft picks. So

11:19

excited about that. But at the end

11:21

of the day, we were just looking

11:23

to sign some good players at prices

11:25

that we felt comfortable playing. And that

11:27

continues all the way. through

11:30

the draft and post -draft is we've been in

11:32

touch with a number of players as well

11:34

still that we're still tracking. So here's where I

11:36

think there could be a disconnect from someone

11:38

like myself or Kyle Krabs for that matter. And

11:40

obviously, you know, my job and attachment to

11:42

the team comes with a different level of expectation

11:44

for this. But like Kyle is also a

11:46

pretty optimistic guy that we like to call it

11:48

like we see it when it goes wrong.

11:50

But for the most part, we involve ourselves in

11:52

this because it's more enjoyable to be looking

11:54

at things. from the lens of like, what could

11:56

it be if it goes right? Because the

11:58

entire league, the entire process of the sport is

12:00

make a decision. It could go this way.

12:02

It could go that way. We'll see what happens.

12:04

And if you make enough of the decisions

12:06

that go the right way, you are a consistent

12:08

winner. And I, I I'm not, you know,

12:10

naive enough to acknowledge that it never goes wrong,

12:12

but. I always like to look at it

12:14

that way. And I even thought about this today

12:16

before the press conference went off and we

12:18

heard about the Ramsey news. Like I remember covering

12:20

the team in 2019 and I kind of

12:22

enjoyed it because it was like there was no

12:24

need to get upset about what you're watching

12:26

on the field because they were not going to

12:28

be a contender to begin with. But there

12:30

was things to get excited about from an evaluation

12:32

standpoint. And I will not sit

12:34

here on April 15th and be like,

12:36

they have no chance. positions

12:39

X, Y, and Z, because there's going

12:41

to be a lot of more additions made

12:43

to the roster. We have to watch

12:45

how those guys, you know, acclimate to the

12:47

football team and where they are in

12:49

September. And even beyond that into like Thanksgiving

12:51

and where this thing grows. So that's

12:53

all I set up to say, like. they

12:56

could sign three impact free agents still

12:58

and hit on four draft picks and get

13:00

a couple of UDFAs that play on

13:02

special teams. And they could wind up adding

13:04

seven or eight more contributors to the

13:06

football team. Is that super likely? I don't

13:08

know. I don't think the history and

13:10

math of the league tells you that it

13:12

is. I think there's examples of it,

13:14

but probably more examples of it not working

13:16

out for you. The reason I say

13:18

all this is because he was asked a

13:20

question about... this has been something he

13:22

said every all the five years that I've

13:24

been here. Like we want to go

13:26

into the draft without having any glaring needs,

13:28

like the ability to line up and

13:30

play a football game tomorrow. Then we can

13:32

just draft the best players and supplement

13:34

what we already have from a roster standpoint.

13:36

And it's obviously not like that this

13:38

year. And so he was asked, do you

13:40

adjust your draft strategy to fit those

13:42

needs? Because right now, and you'll hear him

13:44

talk about this press conference about like

13:46

going into this draft with maybe more needs

13:49

than years past or, you know, how

13:51

the draft strengths align with the needs the

13:53

Dolphins. have on their roster so will

13:55

you adjust accordingly so here's Chris talking about

13:57

that and addressing the fact that there

13:59

are particular needs on this roster know for

14:01

us it's it's the draft kind of

14:03

aligns with a lot of the positions of

14:05

need for us that people perceive and

14:07

and what's on our roster right now so

14:09

for us we think at 13 there'll

14:11

be good players there that will will be

14:13

NFL ready players that are also fill

14:15

a need so If we choose

14:17

to stay there, we'll have options. And if we

14:19

move around, we'll take advantage of that as well.

14:21

Yeah, I get the sense they would prefer to

14:23

add even more draft picks to the 10 that

14:26

they do have and just try to, again,

14:28

do what the Rams did in 2024. It

14:30

was 2023 when they really... you know, hit

14:32

the reset button and had all those draft

14:34

picks and signed like 27 UDFAs and got

14:36

impact performance from a couple of them. And

14:38

that's how teams have restacked the deck for

14:40

a long time now when it comes to

14:42

like, okay, we made our aggressive push. Now

14:44

it's time to kind of peel back and

14:46

go more back towards the draft. Like there's

14:48

team cycles, right? You have teams that are...

14:50

ready to go after it right now. And

14:52

those are the teams that are attractive towards

14:54

the top of the line, veteran, one -year,

14:56

mercenary types of players. And then you have

14:58

teams that are trying to slowly build the

15:00

thing up. And we've seen the Panthers kind

15:02

of do that a little bit over the

15:04

last couple of years. And then you have

15:06

teams that have to kind of reset back

15:08

and kind of reformulate. Every different team in

15:10

the league has a different particular cycle. And

15:12

right now, Miami's in their cycle where they're

15:14

trying to get younger and trying to get

15:16

more contributing draft picks and young players on

15:18

their roster. Let's go

15:20

ahead and pivot forward here. He was asked,

15:22

is the belief that both the starting safeties are

15:25

in the building? And I thought this answer

15:27

was pretty interesting. Yes. Yes. We

15:29

feel good about those three and Elijah Campbell

15:31

as well as back. So we feel like

15:33

we have some depth there, but we'll keep

15:35

looking to add as well as we will

15:37

to every position. And I do think that...

15:39

the best version of those players, you do

15:41

probably have starting quality talent, but I think

15:44

you also have good depth if you were

15:46

to tap into this pretty deep safety class,

15:48

which we've seen reports to the Dolphins being

15:50

attached to a few of the draft prospects

15:52

in terms of their visits to Miami. In

15:54

free agency, there was talk about Jeremy Chin

15:56

having interest in the Miami Dolphins. They go

15:58

sign Ifatu Malafonwu, who's a similar... player type

16:00

and so i think that with this class

16:02

with the amount of draft picks you probably

16:05

could look to add more safety help and

16:07

that would really make that room even deeper

16:09

and better but uh yeah you've got a

16:11

bunch of guys and they're going to compete

16:13

for positions and i'm excited about the turnover

16:15

in that spot because i thought safety last

16:17

year was kind of a struggle for the

16:19

dolphins and having that whole room over made

16:21

was probably a good thing and i i

16:23

kind of view the entire weaver defense right

16:26

now through that prism of like Hey, what

16:28

do you need coach? Because it seems like

16:30

that hybrid, you know, box impact safety that

16:32

can play the run, which is so paramount

16:34

in today's league, right? Like if you can't

16:36

play the run at the safety position, man,

16:39

you put your defense in a bind because

16:41

of the inability to play high coverage and

16:43

play off the football, but also be able

16:45

to insert into the running game. Like if

16:47

you give the offensive front a hat advantage,

16:49

a numbers advantage in the running game, because

16:51

you can't come down and play the run,

16:53

like it changes the entire dynamic of how

16:56

you play football. This is

16:58

getting way into the weeds here in terms of

17:00

the discussion about analytics and whether or not

17:02

running the football matters. You guys remember 10 years

17:04

ago when it was like, it does not

17:06

matter who your running back is. It does not

17:08

matter if you run the ball ever in

17:10

a game. You should throw the ball every single

17:12

time because if you average eight yards per

17:14

pass attempt, and that's a good number, and you

17:16

average four yards per rush attempt, and that's

17:19

a good number, which one should you choose every

17:21

single play? And that's how like... I

17:23

even subscribed to that thought a while ago.

17:25

I remember I had a friend who was

17:27

a high school running back and I told

17:29

him one time, running backs don't matter. He

17:31

was like, what? He was so mad at

17:33

me. And that was a foolish take. And

17:35

I, one of the reasons I bring it

17:37

up is because like, you have to be

17:39

able to impact your physicality and put the

17:41

threat of the run game. in the mind

17:44

of the opposition to be able to open

17:46

up your entire offense, especially for Miami and

17:48

all the play action that we have and

17:50

how good of a ball handler Tua is

17:52

at quarterback. Like when you can do that

17:54

and impact the run game that way, it

17:56

changes the way teams have to defend you

17:58

and vice versa with the ability to play

18:00

the run from depth to safety. So when

18:02

I watch these moves and when I think

18:04

about Anthony Weaver's impact on the defense and

18:06

who could possibly run what he wants to

18:08

run. I look at those types of impact

18:10

safeties and think, like, that seems like a

18:12

really good fit and a good idea for

18:14

how this team builds out that room on

18:17

the very back end of your defense. More

18:19

questions about culture and all that stuff. I

18:21

feel like we've covered that pretty in -depth,

18:23

so no need to get into that any

18:25

further. Do you guys see Patrick Paul as

18:27

the long -term left tackle here, or the starting

18:29

left tackle for 2025? He was asked about

18:31

that. And Liam Eikenberg, will he start at

18:33

guard? Back to CG. In terms of Patrick

18:35

Paul, yes, he will be our starter at

18:37

left tackle and get the first crack at

18:39

doing it. We signed Larry

18:41

Borum, who we felt really good

18:43

about. We really liked him in

18:45

free agency. And Liam

18:47

will come in and

18:50

provide. swing

18:52

versatility, and he'll compete for a job. And

18:54

he's not promised anything, and he knows there's

18:56

going to be competition for it. And remember

18:58

McDaniel mentioning that Liam Eikenberg is going to

19:00

have to be the best version of himself

19:02

if he's going to start in 2025, which

19:04

I think the writing on the wall between

19:06

that and the versatile backup options and competition

19:08

that you heard from Chris Greer, that all

19:10

kind of tracks to me. I'm sure that

19:12

was part of the conversation with Liam when

19:14

he signed. Like, hey... we're going to bring

19:16

you back, but you're going to have to

19:18

compete if you want to keep that starting

19:20

job. This next question was posed by Omar

19:22

Kelly in a pretty, pretty upfront way about

19:24

what. created the change that you guys had

19:26

in terms of philosophy of going into the

19:28

draft without having any roster holes to now

19:30

having several of them. Here's Chris Greer on

19:32

what changed your core philosophy to have this

19:35

approach going into April's draft for the first

19:37

time really that we can remember. For us,

19:39

we feel good with our scouting staff and

19:41

what we've done and our ability to be

19:43

able to fill some holes with the free

19:45

agency like we've done with the guys we've

19:47

added. The strength of the draft

19:49

was a little bit of the reason

19:51

where we felt like okay. Like

19:53

we said, we're going to need NFL -ready

19:55

players. Like, it's not like there's no, like,

19:57

hey, let's hope this guy's ready. Like, he's

19:59

going to be, these guys are to be

20:01

forced into play, and that's a good thing,

20:03

you know. So we just have

20:06

to be right on the person and

20:08

the characters of the guys that we bring

20:10

in here that they're going to do

20:12

that. So there was really no grand plan

20:14

of doing it. It was just as

20:16

we were looking through, because you really always

20:18

look a year. into the future, like

20:20

when you're looking at the quarterbacks' evaluations, like

20:23

who's the next class of college players.

20:25

So you always try and get a peek

20:27

at what the next year's draft class

20:29

looks like in strength. So for us, it

20:31

just aligned to where it made sense

20:33

for us to invest in some younger players

20:35

at those positions, and then we'll fill

20:38

in the rest post -draft through free agency.

20:40

They're not shopping in the markets that provide

20:42

you the Jalen Ramseys and the Bradley

20:44

Chubbs and the Tyree Kills anymore. They're trying

20:46

to find the next Aaron Brewer, right?

20:48

That's the idea here. And I did find

20:50

the answer about like, we can't expect

20:53

to draft guys and just have them like

20:55

register for a year. He didn't say

20:57

that, but we have to have guys that

20:59

can make an immediate impact. Like that

21:01

wasn't the case last year because the first

21:03

two picks were guys that needed some

21:05

time and seasoning, especially your second round pick,

21:07

who is now looked at in hindsight

21:10

as a smart move because of what happened

21:12

to Toronto Armstead's career and his retirement.

21:14

So let's go. ahead and take our last

21:16

break right there come back on the

21:18

other side talk about the qb position we'll

21:20

talk about uh pressure trade down interest

21:22

all kinds of stuff here more from chris

21:25

greer's april 15th tuesday press conference ahead

21:27

of the draft all the coverage here on

21:29

the drive time podcast brought to you

21:31

by auto nation quarterback talk why zach wilson

21:33

here's chris greer we were all going

21:35

through it and um we spent a lot

21:37

of time on that you know with

21:40

mike and the offensive coaches and the scouts

21:42

and We just felt

21:44

like Zach had a lot of

21:46

potential and a lot of

21:48

talent. And I know, you know.

21:51

you could go the veteran route with someone

21:53

that, you know, more proven, you know, Zach

21:55

has won a few games. I know everyone's

21:57

going to say, you know, his record and

21:59

stuff, but I think for us and dealing

22:01

with it and getting to know him talking,

22:03

you know, once he signed and getting to

22:05

know him and going through it and going

22:07

back to the relationships people had with him

22:09

prior to the draft, when he came out,

22:11

we just felt that. in

22:13

talking to him and some veterans that

22:15

he was the right fit and right choice

22:17

for us because we do think that

22:19

his skill set really fits what our offense

22:22

does. And perhaps my favorite part of

22:24

the entire press conference was a response to

22:26

a question about would you guys take

22:28

a quarterback in the first round? Well, we

22:30

already have our starting quarterback. Never rule

22:32

anything out, but we have our guy. I

22:34

would say we have our starting quarterback,

22:36

so I wouldn't. be looking to it but

22:38

i'd never rule anything out but i

22:40

would not be looking to draft a quarterback

22:42

in the first round i to go

22:44

ahead and play this soundbite for you guys

22:46

about the willingness to come off the

22:48

13th pick to acquire more picks i think

22:50

that's you know let's go ahead and

22:52

play the audio first um definitely open to

22:54

moving around in the draft and uh

22:56

but also if the opportunity arises to get

22:58

a really good player um be open

23:00

to uh figuring out a way to go

23:02

get them too as well so um We

23:05

do have needs, but I think you

23:07

guys would even say that there's more good

23:10

street -free agents on the street now than

23:12

there have been in a long time.

23:14

Seems like a lot of veterans are waiting

23:16

until after the draft to see where

23:18

they're going to sign. So, again, there are

23:20

opportunities to keep building the roster that

23:22

way. So I want to first address that

23:24

by saying, like, typically when you get

23:27

these breadcrumbs, these trails of consistent messaging from

23:29

Chris or Mike, They typically come to

23:31

fruition. And a few times now we've heard

23:33

him mention the idea that there's players

23:35

on the free agent market that can round

23:37

out the roster. And there are some

23:39

pieces, like at cornerback, I'm a fan of

23:41

Asante Samuel's game. He would be a

23:43

good fit, in my opinion. There's a safety,

23:46

Julian Blackman, that remains out there who

23:48

could be of interest to me. A

23:50

couple of guys on the offensive line. I

23:52

think Marcus Williams at safety makes some sense

23:54

as well. So there are guys that exist

23:56

out there that would help this roster improve.

23:58

But there's also some areas that are pretty

24:01

scarce, like defensive tackle or the cornerbacks beyond

24:03

Asante Samuel. But it does sound like there's

24:05

going to be a pretty good surge here

24:07

of players coming in post -draft or post -June

24:09

1, whatever it might be. I think that'll

24:11

be a pretty – it's pretty telling that

24:13

they're looking to do that already. And then

24:15

the other thing was the trade -down interest,

24:18

which, again – I think there's been breadcrumbs

24:20

there about how they've built this thing and

24:22

the interest in draft picks of a team

24:24

that wants to build their entire program through

24:26

the draft and has kind of pulled back

24:28

the reins on the aggressiveness of going after

24:30

veteran talent. I mean, if you offer that

24:32

team more draft picks, they're going to say

24:35

yes, right? If it's worth it for them

24:37

in terms of the deal that gets done.

24:39

So I think those are two things you

24:41

can look forward to as potentially more accumulation

24:43

of picks, as well as more veterans being

24:45

brought in between now and September. And we'll

24:47

go ahead and close with this. I found

24:49

this to be a very interesting answer, probably

24:52

one of the best of the entire press

24:54

conference, when he was asked about... of running

24:56

a draft for 10 years now, really going

24:58

back to 2016. And what has he learned

25:00

in that process? And I'll go ahead and

25:02

weigh in after we hear from Chris and

25:04

a pretty lengthy answer here. Now, it is

25:06

an interesting question because it's an evolution and

25:09

you kind of know how I work with

25:11

coaches. So I've had, you know, three different

25:13

coaches here and it is interesting and they

25:15

all have different types of players they like.

25:17

So it's the adjustment. But, you know, I

25:19

think the one thing that's common is Just

25:22

finding those guys that love football,

25:24

that are tough kids, that are

25:26

competitive and love ball. And so

25:28

I think there's some times when

25:30

maybe I veered a little bit,

25:32

guys like, hey, we're just going

25:34

to take the athlete or something

25:36

or whatever, whatever trait this player

25:38

has. And you kind of like,

25:40

OK, we'll make it work. Sometimes

25:42

it does. It doesn't always. And

25:44

so I think. We

25:47

do a lot of work vetting backgrounds

25:49

and personalities of players, and I

25:51

think that plays a big role in

25:53

the success of people because, like

25:55

you said, these players read everything that

25:57

is said about them. You guys

25:59

know. And for those guys to handle

26:01

it, it takes a special player

26:03

to be able to handle it because

26:05

they want to react to everything

26:08

someone says about them. So

26:11

myself, I think, for

26:13

me, sometimes. You

26:16

know, maybe I defer too much, and

26:18

I've talked about that, and that's probably

26:20

the one thing I've learned that as

26:22

I've gotten more, I guess, along in

26:24

my years, that the pushback is great,

26:26

and that's what's great with Mike. We

26:28

don't always agree on everything, but we

26:30

always come into alignment to where we

26:32

get to help the Miami Dolphins. So

26:35

it's been really good working with them.

26:37

So all things told, a pretty interesting

26:39

press conference there. I thought that last

26:41

answer was kind of like a little

26:43

bit of getting to know Chris more

26:45

than we ever have in terms of

26:47

his press conferences and talking about maybe

26:49

some of the things that he could

26:51

have done better throughout his career so

26:53

far and where he is right now

26:55

in 2025. But on balance overall, I

26:58

think the fan base might be a

27:00

little bit dubious about what's going to

27:02

happen. My messaging to you would be,

27:04

let's let this thing play out and

27:06

see. see what the draft

27:08

brings, see what that, you know, the

27:10

kind of hint or teaser there towards,

27:12

you know, more potential free agent acquisitions. Why

27:15

don't we go ahead and see what that

27:17

looks like, and then we'll kind of make

27:19

our judgments come August, September, when they kick

27:21

this thing off for real. Because if you

27:23

don't, you're going to drive yourself crazy all

27:25

summer long. And you've got baseball, and you've

27:27

got golf, and you've got the Miami Heat

27:29

playing tonight. All kinds of fun stuff for

27:31

you in the sports world. Okay, let's go

27:33

ahead, though, and call it a show. You

27:35

can find, again, the entirety of this press

27:37

conference up on the team YouTube channel, where

27:39

you can also find a brand new episode

27:42

of Dolphins HQ. I got a chance to

27:44

break down the Patrick Paul film in the

27:46

film room, as well as talk about... 13th

27:48

pick of the draft. Fun episode of HQ

27:50

coming your way. You all, please be sure

27:52

to subscribe, rate, review the podcast. We're getting

27:54

more reviews. Not so good reviews, but that's

27:56

okay, on the podcast lately. Go ahead and

27:58

follow me on social at WinkfieldNFL, the team

28:00

at Miami Dolphins. Check out the Fish Tank

28:02

Seth Juice, the YouTube channel for the aforementioned

28:04

HQ, for draft interviews, for media availabilities, and

28:06

much, much more. Last but not least, MiamiDolphins

28:08

.com. next time, up. I'm Cameron, Daddy. you.