Browns
During a recent interview, Tom Brady was asked why a quarterback like Shedeur Sanders fell to the Browns in the fifth round of the draft, and seemed hesitant to reply.
“It’s a good question,” Brady said on WWE wrestler Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast.“I wasn’t a part of any evaluation process. I actually texted Shedeur because I know him very well, and I said, ‘Dude, like, whatever happens, wherever you go, like, that’s your first day. Day 2 matters more than the draft. I was [pick] 199. So, who could speak on it better than me, like, what does that really mean? Use it as motivation. You’re gonna get your chances. Go take advantage of it.’ What does it matter other than some overhyped day, where people are selling stories, and saying, ‘Alright, this is the big day, and this is the draft?’ And it’s an important day, and it’s fun, and I love watching it and seeing it. But I’ve actually been there on Day 2 when they have to show up and actually learn a playbook, learn to be a part of a locker room. There is a lot of growth that needs to happen.”
Brady advises Sanders to simply work hard in order to win over the locker room.
“He’s gotta show up every day … as a quarterback you have to be a leader,” Brady added. “To be a leader is: Do I care about my teammates, and do I care about what we’re trying to accomplish? Rules one and two. And I would say that to every quarterback that I come across. … That’s what’s endearing to your teammates. You’re not just appealing to your 22-year-old rookie. You’re appealing to the 32-year-old veteran who is trying to get the last couple years out of his career. You’re appealing to the coach who doesn’t want to get fired. You’re appealing to the owner who has made an investment in you. You’re appealing to the staff, whose lives are riding on the fact that you need to perform well. The only thing that mattered over time were my teammates. Did they feel like I gave them the best chance to win?”
Steelers
Steelers DL Cam Heyward is excited about what first-round DL Derrick Harmon brings to the defense.
“I think he’s got a good motor. You can’t expect someone to be refined off the bat and know everything that’s going to happen in the game, but I think he plays with a good motor. He finishes a lot of plays.” Heyward said, via Steelers Wire. “He’s only going to continue to keep getting better, and I think he’s a great fit in our [defensive line room].”
Ravens
Ravens fifth-round OT Carson Vinson became one of the rare draft selections from an HBCU when Baltimore selected him out of Alabama A&M. The North Carolina native said he had opportunities to land at a bigger school but felt like he had a chip on his shoulder to stay put and prove himself.
“I’m from Cary, North Carolina, and N.C. State is right here. Duke is right here. [The University of] North Carolina is right here,” Vinson said via Clifton Brown of the team website. “None of them wanted me, and I slipped through the cracks. But, Alabama A&M, they found me. They took me in with open arms. I wanted to go to Carolina, and they came back calling around my junior or senior year, and I wasn’t going to go because they didn’t want me out of high school. It was really just a chip on my shoulder that I took throughout college. I said, ‘OK, I’m going to do it from the school that wanted me first.’”
Ravens HC John Harbaugh said they liked the tools the 6-7 and 314-pound Vinson brings the table as a developmental tackle.
“He’s big, he’s rangy, he’s got long arms, he’s high cut, and he can really move,” Harbaugh said. “He moves his feet really well. I look at that frame, and you say, ‘Man, we can grow so much into that,’ and he’s got to get in that weight room and get to work right away. He’s kind of like a young colt out there, trying to learn how to control that frame.”
- Former Ravens OLB Tyus Bowser withdrew his $4.5 million grievance against the team for how it handled his knee injury during the 2023 season. The Ravens will get a $1.8 million salary cap credit for Bowser. (Jeff Zrebiec)
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