Combine Notes: Carroll, Thurmond To Walk?
Walter Thurmond and Nolan Carroll. (Jeff Fusco)
INDIANAPOLIS — From Howie Roseman’s comments on Sam Bradford and Fletcher Cox to Doug Pederson’s lessons learned, we had a lot to report on from the first day of media availability at the NFL Combine.
Here are some more highlights from Wednesday.
BAALKE ON CHIP, BRADFORD
When Trent Baalke spoke to reporters Wednesday afternoon, it seemed as though there were as many media members from Philadelphia as there were from San Francisco in attendance.
Baalke initially explained how he expects Colin Kaepernick to be a 49er next season, and he later said he hasn’t studied Sam Bradford “in depth.” But, as you’d expect, the bulk of the questions were about how he gets along with Chip Kelly so far.
“I always say there’s perception and there’s reality. Reality is what we deal with every day in the office. Perception is what everyone else speculates on,” Baalke said. “But it’s been awesome. He’s been very easy to work with. We haven’t spent a ton of time together, because he’s been putting the staff together and I’ve been involved in draft meetings for the last 17 days. So there hasn’t been a lot of overlap, but we’ve had a lot of good discussions and I look forward to continuing those.
“It’s like a marriage. Yeah, it takes a while. Like any relationship, it doesn’t happen overnight. But all indications are … Like I said, I’ve known coach since he was at Oregon and see him no different than the conversations I used to have with him when I went in to recruit his players at Oregon.”
Baalke described Kelly as someone with an “easy personality” and that he feels “pretty good” about how they’re communicating. The 49ers General Manager also said he didn’t look into how Kelly worked with Howie Roseman before hiring Kelly.
“I’m a huge believer in sitting down with somebody and just talking and figuring out if that relationship will work or not work,” Baalke said. “We all run into people that other people don’t like, then you sit down and all of a sudden you have a pretty good relationship. We’ve had pretty good communication back and forth. I know what was out there being said. We all did. But that didn’t play into our decision at all, obviously.”
PRIORITIZING OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
The Eagles will speak with a plethora of offensive linemen this week, and two guys to keep an eye on — who confirmed “official” visits with the Eagles — are Stanford guard Joshua Garnett and Kansas State guard Cody Whitehair.
Roseman confirmed the obvious Wednesday afternoon — that offensive line will be a priority in this draft.
“We were leading the league in offensive linemen drafted from, I think, 2000 to 2013,” Roseman said. “It’s a priority for us. You talked to coach Pederson before, he talked about how important it is, we’re going to build along the lines. A lot of the resources we’ve already spent in the offseason have been along those lines. As we get in here and look at all the prospects, it’s an important priority for us.”
TWO POTENTIAL DEPARTURES
Nolan Carroll and the #Eagles have had preliminary talks about a new contract, per source….Mutual interest, but I think he’ll hit FA
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) February 24, 2016
BTW, I’m told it doesn’t look great for #Eagles getting deal done w/Walt Thurmond before March 9 start of free agency. No offer made yet.
— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) February 24, 2016
A SHADY SITUATION
Rex Ryan said he talked to LeSean McCoy the morning after his alleged assault, and the Bills head coach dismissed a report that Buffalo is preparing for him to miss several games. He declined further comment, before saying that he would let the Bills’ statement speak for itself.
That statement?
We are aware of the reports regarding LeSean McCoy and in the process of gathering more information. We will not provide any further comment at this time.
FISHER ON FOLES
Los Angeles is one team to watch this offseason because of reports that the Eagles may want to bring Nick Foles back, and because they may be an active player in acquiring a quarterback in free agency or trading up in the draft.
Jeff Fisher reiterated on Wednesday that Case Keenum is the Rams starting quarterback while Nick Foles can compete for the job, and he talked to reporters about why Foles may have struggled last season.
“I have this feeling that when guys get into their third or fourth years, quarterbacks, sometimes they need a deep breath,” Fisher said. “There’s so much pressure on the quarterback position. Not on Sundays, but also Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays. It’s a big burden.”
MISSING ON MCADOO
New Giants head coach Ben McAdoo only spoke 20 words on the Eagles, but here’s the exchange he had with reporters on how close he came to succeeding Chip:
How far did talks with the Eagles get?
“I went down for an interview.”
Did they offer you the job?
“They never offered me the job.”
Was there a second interview scheduled?
“There was a potential for a second interview.”