Catherine Hickman: "We'll do our due diligence" | Press Conference

yes thank you Catherine why do you think a trade market for Tyler Hunley didn't develop um that's a great question I think um I don't know that I would characterize the way you characterized in your question I think our job is to um and Andrew does a great job of that is to really explore all opportunities and it needs to make sense for all the parties involved um and in some instances um it doesn't so how much did the injuries that you guys had all all through training camp how much did that impact kind of some of those decisions you know make you maybe a few of them maybe harder or than usual yeah I think it's credit to our coaches to our Player Development staff like it's opportunities for us to work with the younger guys and develop you know more people um more players on the roster and make sure they get opportunities so that when they their name is called that's the nature of the game their name will likely be called at some point they're ready to roll so I think turning this into we don't like injuries but turning things into a positive is to you know provide opportunities for other players around us you weren't able to uh claim any players did you try so as I yeah we always always always look at those options but there's so many things that goes into those decisions because when you think of claiming a player it's relative to who you have at that position but also relative to who you have on the roster because you need a spot to get that player so it's this whole puzzle of of figuring out what's that player quality and how does that make us better both from a number standpoint point but also from a talent standpoint so we felt we felt good with with who we had at the at the cut down I mean that's I mean order I mean I what I would say to that Tony is you can look at different Avenues to make those things happen and sometimes it could be like a small trade if you really want to get a player and you want to get ahead of potentially where you're at in that order so there's different things we look at um and when we think this is great opportunity for for the Browns we we pulled the trigger I asked Kevin before the impact of the injuries last year in terms of coaching quarterbacks what about in terms of like roster protection and things like that did last year affect the way you guys do business going forward I think just injuries in general is something we uh we have to plan for and be ready for and and it goes back to how we develop those players uh on the practice squad in the back end of the 53 and that's really credit again to PD and and the coaches and to your point specifically about the quarterbacks of course that's something that we we we think about um but I wouldn't say that any different than than how we think about it globally for for to Preparing all of our starters definitely a position of of priority for sure in terms of desun Watson's contract restructuring uh how does that help you guys even this year is that more about rollover or roster building or what can you say about that yeah just like Andrew I'm not going to go into any details when it comes to players contract um it's just it's the only thing I'll say is as as an organization our philosophy is to is to be um is to be aggressive when we think about uh resource allocation and management so we always look at all options does this give you an opportunity though if you guys wanted to make a trade or add a big name player or something like that you have the flexibility to do that everything anything we do is or a lot of things we do I should say is flexibility in mind and how how it can give us option optionality is is huge when we can make moves whether that's now or down the road it was widely reported that the Browns had a both a deal contract and a trade offer for brand and I true or false I'm not going to go into the details of that but I will definitely tell you that um when uh we inquire and and we look at options to add players to to our team and add talent to our team so when there are opportunities out there we'll do our due diligence and we'll do the work uh but I won't answer that specifically Cather when you have a big contract like is it almost baked the idea that you can reach that and create flexibility like like you guys have multiple times I think it's just uh deson specifically here I think it's just from a philosophy how we think about our contract structure and philosophy and management of our resource so I'm not going to go into any anything specific here outside of just being creative and aggressive on how we want to create that flexibility Catherine did you did you guys consider cutting my call after his arrest uh any my call question I'm not going to discuss uh just because of the legal process going on what do you think uh your concerns in the back of your mind are on this roster going forward for the season is it as good as you want it to be or is there still a vulnerability there that you guys want to one of the thing I love about the NFL is every year you get a new opportunity to compete for a championship and I think I think every year that's our plan that's what we prepare for now injuries are part of the game they're going to happen but if that if there are things that we can help our players there I think that's an area where um you know we've made an hour in the off season with ahe of uh performance and and medical and hopefully through our processes we can we can uh we can continue to work there and and trying to help in that area Katherine I know we asked you about the new kickoff rules like around the draft but going through this preseason how do you feel like you guys maybe got a different handle on it and does it still feel like one of those things like we're going to have to see it in real game action to know everything it's going to entail yeah that's a great question it's definitely something we thought about from the returning piece um just because there's just going to be more likely that are going to be returned um so so not just specifically at the returner position but just overall as we think of that unit and we work with with on that so that's definitely been top of mine as we think through that um and then we we'll we'll continue to evaluate as we go through in the season not a question about iuk specifically but like generally when you guys are working with one of these deals where you might want to trade for somebody who needs to be negotiated with but they're still on another team what's what's the process of that like in terms of you're asking what's our TR negotiate a trade and a contract extension at the same time oh understanding well again I'm not going to go into the specifics of contracts but just generally those are handled by Andrew um and and and we we work together as a team on on advising um uh and and giving ideas and creative ways to work through that but ultimately um e works through those those Dynamics and I'm not going to go much into detail what's your philosophy again generally on pushing money down the road on the cap versus what you know trying to keep an eye on the future Y and and making sure that doesn't come back to B yeah great question I think uh it's part of thinking about it like from a two to threee Outlook like you never yes you want to think about it in the present but part of our job in Personnel I think that's what something Andrew is so good at is to also think about the future and how we're going to like combine and and maybe balance is not a good world word sorry maybe harmonize both um so to my point earlier for us it's it's about giving ourselves options and creating flexibility if if that means uh different you know uh Maneuvers with contracts we will explore options has there been a a philosophical Evolution when it comes to offensive Personnel uh over the last you know 12 24 months you know when Kevin got here he was big on fullbacks running backs tight ends obviously there's no fullback I mean you know Nick obviously could step in there only two tight ends on the active roster he had to bring Dante back today but just organizationally is there's been a little bit of an evolution philosophically when it comes to offensive roster building now um I think one thing Andrew says all the time is like the 53 is the first 53 and it's not going to the 53 we're going to carry by the time we're at we 15 could look very different so that's kind of how we want to think about it and like so to your point specifically about the numbers at certain position it's like how are we going to look at the different Evolution that are coming in the Personnel world to try to like improve our roster so there's definitely some like fluidity and how we think about it and then when it comes to this your question about offense like I mean I'm sure Kevin must have touched on it like him and his staff has an incredible growth mindset and they're going to evolve and and look at however they can put these guys in the best position to win they will um so so that's how I would answer that question there are more players 30 and older this year than U why is that and you think next year by socking up on draft picks it's time to inject some youth definitely uh definitely something that we want to see is is our you know young players contributing and and I think we have some of those contributors that that are that are that are helping out I think there's a balance with experience that we have I think of our I think of the experience we were able to acquire on the interior defensive line like um yes to your point they're all around the 30 Mark there but um they're all players who have played and contributed in significant ways and I think can really help us where the dline is our engine um so I think it's a it's it's a balance and to your question two threee Outlook is what we look at not just from a resource allocation but from where we're at from a player quality as well so definitely look look at everything down the road too was Dorian someone that that you guys identified early on in this Camp when it looked like he was really coming on strong uh someone that you always really felt you were going to put on the 53 did you have any debate over whether or not to keep 3/4 backs and how did that all sort of play out yeah so Andrew's process is is he he he likes us to go through the entire um you know the look at the entire body of work and not anchor ourselves on you know one performance or one game particular which I really enjoy so just really looking at his entire body of work and seeing his development and how hard he works I think we're just very encouraging encouraging things but those are things we've saw from Doran last year too we had a you know really good year really good preseason Good Year with us as well so just overall someone who's working really hard very focused and we're just really glad to have him you were correct in predicting that Jim Schwarz would have a huge impact last year um from the front office standpoint where do you think that unit can make gains this season I mean Jim Jim is a huge part of this our players our coaches are a huge part of this and and I think we have a real chance to um to to one maintain um our performance level of performance and and improving in some areas like Jim I'm sure told you many times he tell us all the time like nothing's ever perfect and he's hard on these guys and he brings energy and discipline so I just think um the sky the limit on what we can see from that unit this year Catherine with the offensive tackles and with the combine and mentioned it's a good problem to have and having a handful of really good ones so I guess just going the route you guys did and obviously Jack Jed and um danan like the recoveries panning out differently like how key is that that you guys were able to hold on to all of them and just keep that talent in room right yeah well these guys are working extremely hard to get back and and and doing great progress and you know full trust in our Medical Department when it comes to to where they're at but what we talked earlier like this gave great opportunities to some of our younger guys to to develop and step in we were able to um add some veteran experience on the practice with Germaine so that's extremely valuable and then just uh you know just just having James as well is is awesome so just having a bunch of guys that can step in and help us is is huge from a from a um uh flexibility and optionality to the point about last one aging I don't you guys probably studied this closer than we do does 30 being the same thing that he he used to with all the advances and medical science it seems like guys are playing long or how how is the agent curve evolved yeah it's a loaded question because it really varies by position it varies based on you know what we ask the guys to do so I think it's on us to evaluate it as a whole and then individually and really figure out how we can put these guys in best position to succeed regardless of where they're at in their career and the age because again I could not give you a great answer specifically to that because it's just so so broad very good thank you thank you guys come back and see again