Eric DeCosta's Combine Press Conference

the stage and answered questions from the media. Before we jump into General manager Eric da Costa's press conference, make sure you check out the Ravens Lounge feed soon as Garrett Downing and Ryan Mink will be sharing their takeaways from these press conferences and giving their thoughts on what else they've seen at the combine. You can also find head coach John Harbaugh's press conference from the combine in the Ravens Press Pass feed. So now here's Eric da

Costa at the twenty twenty three NFL Combine. Right, everybody, welcome. One of my favorite books. I'll quote Let the Wild Rumpus begin. Guy in questions, you guys go ahead and ask. Yeah, you know. Lamar and I are talking. We met recently. It's an ongoing discussion. We both understand the urgency of the situation. Has been a good dialogue, a good discussion. I'm optimistic as I continue to be optimistic and we'll

see where it goes. Yeah. Well, I mean you have a lot of regard for the player first and foremost. I think when you deal with an agent, sometimes you're able to speak, you know, very freely, you know, position yourself a certain way. You have different arguments that you can use that maybe you wouldn't say to a player or you know. So I think that's part of it. There's a lot of respect, tremendous respect. Because I'm with a player like Lamar, a player like Roquan Smith who

also represents himself every day. You see the commitment, you understand where they're coming from. So it's definitely a different dynamic. It can be challenging, but it's doable, as we've proven, and we continue to be optimistic about it. Yeah, so that's a question that I appreciate, and what I've kind of said for the last two years is I'm not going to talk specifically about any discussions about the contract.

And Lamar and I had that agreement. Actually we forged that agreement probably two years ago down in West Palm and I think we've both tried to live up to that. So to appreciate the understanding in that regard the specifics of it. We can talk about the process, but I'm not going to go into all those things. So Rashad is doing really well. Obviously, you know, it was a pretty serious injury. I think we got out ahead of

it to a degree. You know, Rashade and the club, we decided to do the surgery, and I think it was probably we did it at that point because the injury could have gotten worse. He's doing well. We text quite a bit. I know he's very, very excited, chomping at the bit to get into the offseason program. We're very excited about him as a player, can't wait to see what he can do this year. Well, the Senior Bowl is invaluable to us. It's always been that way, you know. I think you know that goes back to

Ozzie Newsome and Phil Savage. You know, Ozzie playing in Alabama, Phil Savage with his Alabama roots, we have a strong appreciation for you know, the SEC being down there. Well, we've seen the very best players in the country typically show up. We have a chance to watch these guys practice every single day. The access we get is incredible. You know, Jim does an amazing job. Phil Savage before him.

The interview process. They've done a wonderful job of streamlining that and for us to get that type of unfettered access is really incredible. We feel like it gives us the best chance to know the guys and it helps us very well with the evaluation process. Well, we're always preparing for every contingency. You know, we look at every situation free agency, the TRYFF. We're talking about any possible

situation that might arise with players. In this business, you get surprised daily, and so you have to be prepared for any situation. What that means, what your cap looks like, what your cap might look like, what players are available, what playces aren't available. Oftentimes we look at guys in free agency that we're excited about, and they get franchised, they're off the market. Sometimes you'd say, oh, there's nobody

at this position that we're looking for. Next thing, you know, there's four or five cap casualties that hit the market, and so it's an ongoing process. What we try to do is strategize and plan. Going back to January, we go down to Jupiter with Steve Bischotti, our owner, kind of go through all the different contingency plans that we can risk management. Looking at all the different opportunities that

might arise, you figure out what's gonna happen. Yeah, well there's a couple of different situations where that can go. You know, there's a couple of different franchise tags. We're hopeful that we'll get a deal done with Lamar before that happens. But sure, they're big numbers where we've known their big numbers. We're prepared for that, and we've got four or five or six different plans based on what happens over the next ten days. We have not Oh,

there's no doubt. Well, you can't win in this league without a strong quarterback. I mean that's been proven. So we want Lamar here. We think he's one of the best quarterbacks in the league. He's certainly one of our best players. Uh, and we want them back. And so, yeah, we understand that living in a world without a quarterback is a is a bad world to live in. And I think there's a lot of GMS and coaches who would probably say that who are living in that world

right now. We're aware of that. Um. I think we've been blessed since two thousand and eight to have Joe Flacco and Lamar Jackson, and uh, my goal is to continue that. Yeah, well, you know, I was trained as a scout. I started out as a scout. Uh, it's kind of what you know, my development was asked, So I scout everybody anyways. You know, I don't. I don't really short change. I love football. I love the the art of evaluation. I'm gonna look at all the top players.

I'm want to do the top you know, one hundred and fifty players in every single draft class. I've done that. I look at the top guys in free agency. M I enjoy it. And so for me, that's it's not something that changes year to year. That's just a part of the process to build a draft board. You have to look at the players, you have to evaluate the players. Someone's got to do it, and so I would rather have it be me than somebody else. You know, that's a that's an X. I could talk, you know, I don't.

I don't think you guys want me to talk about that, because I'll talk for fifteen or twenty minutes on that alone. But I will say this, You've got to have a lot of draft picks every year. You've got to draft a lot of players because guys do get hurt um and there's an element in the draft. We're just having more picks proves over the long time to be to be a good thing. It's like investing in the stock market.

You might have some up and down years, but if you continue to invest, eventually you're gonna see you come out ahead. And so that's kind of how I look at the draft. The other thing you have to have, I think, is a really strong performance department, a wellness department. That's training room, that's wellness, that's mental health, that's diet, nutrition, strength,

coach performance people. Dave got to be the very best as well, because players are going to get hurt and you can get incremental value by having the very best people working for you to get your players back on the field. Excuse me, no, Marcus is a free agent. He's a guy that I hold him very, very high regard. I've had a few conversations with Marcus's agent, who's a good friend, and Marcus is a great friend. He and

I have communicated that will be ongoing. But that's a guy that when you talk about two Ravens, guys that have done a lot for your team, for me, for the Ravens over the last four years, Marcus is on that list. Expect Yeah, JK finished strong. Really really impressed with his passion, his work ethic, the way that he battled back from a very very serious knee injury. It was very impressive to me to see how, you know, he really kind of matured over the course of the season.

He came back from that second procedure surgery that he had and he started to really look like the old JK, which is extremely exciting for the organization. And we fully expect JK to have a great year this year. No, I'm not really concerned about that. Again, the only you know, the only camps that I know is me and Lamar, and we talk and we text, and so you know,

I'm not really too concerned with perceptions. I've seen a lot of perceptions in the last twenty seven years, and a lot of times those perceptions are probably not accurate. So Lamar and I continue to talk. I have a lot of admiration and respectful Lamar. I think he would say the same about me. And like I said, it's a tough negotiation. There are some dynamics that make it challenging, but I remain optimistic and we remain talking, and I'm

excited about that. You know, I think it's it's a good question, I think, Tony, I would say a lot of people would say the same thing. It's a challenging position to evaluate in different ways. I don't have If I had an answer, that means I would probably have some better receivers. I guess we keep trying, you know. I think there's a lot of things that go along with that position. Sometimes it is tied to the quarterback, and I think it's tied to things like durability, It's

tied to you know, a lot of things. We're gonna keep swinging. You know, there have been some guys that you know, have been successful players for us that with draft picks, We've never really hit on that all pro type of guy, which is disappointing, I would say, but it's not for lack of effort. We believe in what we do. We believe in our scouting, we believe in the system that we have, the scouting system that we have.

It's one of those anomalies that I really can't explain other than to say we're not going to stop trying. We're gonna keep trying. That we've drafted I don't know, Chad, I would probably know, but probably at least five or six receivers in the last four years. Maybe we're gonna just keep swinging and hopefully at one of these points we'll hit the ball out of the park. But that's our goal. We understand the importance of the position, you know, so we'll keep we'll keep trying to do it. Yeah,

I think it's a good class, you know. I think there's probably five or six guys that you look at his potential first round type guys, and then a pretty strong you know, through the second, third, and fourth round as well. Now, well we've seen we saw it last year. The dynamic is these guys typically go higher than you might have them rated because of the importance of the position. We've seen that with the pay scale at that position as well. I think the league recognizes the importance of

that position. That being the case, I think it's strong. It's a good class. Hopefully we're a position to get a guy that we like at some point, whether that's the first round or the third round, or if we trade or get a second round pick, whatever it might be we're in position, they get a guy that can come and help us win football games. Yeah, you know what, have a plan. Obviously I'm going to think about everything, but I'm not really I don't fear a lot of

different things. If you think about it, then you're planned for it, you discuss it, you talk about it, then what's the point of fear. So, I mean it's not like we didn't know what I mean, might be in this position last year at this time. We talked about it. So we've had a full year to really discuss all the different plans. We'll make the right decision. Yeah, I mean I think we just we talked that that question was already asked. I think it's difficult. It's challenging. You're

dealing with a player, so of course it's different. You know, it's a personal relationship. You win that guy every single day and you have a great appreciation for who he is and what he does, and so yeah, it is challenging. You love Justin. Justin had a great season for us. You know, he's a proven vet. I mean, he's a guy that when you talk about the best pass rushes of the last couple of decades, you put Justin on that list. I had a great season for us, came

up big in some games. He's a great leader, a

hard worker. Um, that's gonna probably be you know, the last time, the last two times we signed Justin, it was later in the process, and I can probably say that that'll be the case this time as well, with some of the unknowns that we have and that we're faced with the roster wise, that I'll probably be you know West last year we signed him and I was at the beach, literally on the beach, throwing a football to my son Jackson, and uh, we got I got the call from Joel Siegel and the deal was done.

But that was probably July tenth, maybe, So I think you could expect the same if we go down that road. Yeah, this is some good corners. In fact, Coach Harbor, I gave him about ten guys to look at and he's he's been cranking on him and he's excited about this class. And I think you've got some some guys that have excellent size. Uh, there's a couple of guys that like man, they're like old school Chris mccanalist or type guys. Body

side body type wise, you've got some great athletes. You get guys that make players in the ball You've got guys at the ball Hawks, you got some physical guys. And so basically you're going into a restaurant with a lot of different things in the menu and basically what do you want? And so the question just is do we have enough picks? You know, we have only have five draft picks this year, which, as a draft is a guy that loves a draft, that's not a lot.

I have to keep reminding myself that our second round pick this year is Roquan Smith, which I can live with, but I still I still look at that void and I'm like, man, I wish I had that pick. You know, we'll spend time with Todd. I was really impressed with Todd, and I've been able to spend a little time with him here and get his vision for what he wants to do. You know, anytime you bring in a new coordinator, there's going to be some slight changes. I think our

system is intact. That's not going to change. Our system for evaluating and building out a draft boards not going to change. And basically, you know, the culture and what we look for in most positions will not change the fiber of what we believe in players. But toddall have his opinions and have a voice, and he'll he'll have specific things that maybe he thinks we're lacking or that might make his offense more robust, and so we'll look

at that very closely. We've been through a lot offensive coordinators and every time they come in, I look at it as a great opportunity for me to learn from those guys, and it'll be a better job to do a better job of building out a board and being a better drafter. Two more sure. So, first of all, uh, that was a horrible tragedy. Let me say that. Secondly, I don't know a lot about the situation, and so you know these things kind of like kind of like

you guys, I'm just I don't really know. I wouldn't want to comment on the specifics of how that would affect somebody's draft status because you know, there's a lot more information and I'm not I'm not a privy to that. I might be by the time the draft rolls around. There's a horrible thing that happened down there, and I feel horrible for the families, the parents involved. I have children, it's a horrible thing. So that's what I would say about that. Again, I could probably talk about that for

six hours, but you know, it's basically a mosaic. So imagine a huge board and basically you're taking all these different data points and you're trying to mold them all together. And certainly there are some positions that quote unquote, you know, the PF people of the world would say these positions are more valuable than other positions, and we factor that

into a degree. For us, it's how the guy plays, it's the comps, it's the sequence lists that the scouts do, which is the rankings of the players by position, but also across the board. We'll use some analytics and we'll use some some true old school scouting. The views will play a factor in that, so we'll background information that our scouts get, which I think is probably some of

the best in the league. And then my job and is to come up with a list ranked all positions that we think of top to bottom the best, and we'll make the decisions based off of that list. Thanks guys. So it's obviously good to hear that DaCosta and Lamar recently met that the contract discussion is ongoing and that Eric is still optimistic about getting a deal done. He added the Ravens have about four to six different plans depending on what happens with Jackson over the next ten days,

but he made it clear we want Lamar here. Thanks for listening to Ravens Press Pass. Don't forget Head coach John Harbaugh's press conference is also available in the Ravens Press Pass feed, and we'll be dropping an episode of The Ravens Lounge with Garrett and Mink's combine takeaways and that feed soon. If you haven't done so already, make sure you subscribe, rate and review, and we'll be back with you soon