Cowboys
Cowboys HC Brian Schottenheimer described the team’s draft process and said it took “long hours” to set their draft board.
“It took us a lot of long hours and long, hard conversations,” Schottenheimer said, via NY Times. “And the beauty of it was all that hard work came together because I really felt like when we got into the draft process, we trusted the process and we trusted the board. I think it just proves that rolling up your sleeves and going to work and having the hard conversations before the weekend hits (pays off). When the weekend hits, there’s emotion and there’s things going on. But I thought the leadership of (Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones and Will McClay) allowed us to stay true to the conversations that we had almost ad nauseam at times. Setting the board, but getting it set right, that allowed us to do that.”
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones praised Schottenheimer for his knowledge of the prospects within the draft.
“At any point in the draft, someone might mention a player, (and) we hadn’t been sitting there studying and looking in his computer to see,” Jones recalled. “Without even blinking, he knew (the) player. … (He) just knew him as well as anybody in the room. He had obviously given that kind of effort to learn these players. I’ll tell you this right now, I don’t know if he’s ever had the opportunity or been in a position of where he could show that in a draft room, but as head coach he can sure show it in this draft room, and does. So, my hat’s off to Schotty. You’ve really done your homework.”
Schottenheimer added that the draft was a collective decision and there were a lot of conversations about potential prospects.
“I knew going in that, obviously, there’s some incredible minds that have been doing this a long, long, long time at a high level,” Schottenheimer said, “but I was made to feel very comfortable that this would be an organizational decision. The disagreements we had two and three weeks ago that we worked out and decided: ‘OK, well, let’s maybe go do a little bit more work on this guy. Hey, let’s throw the film on with the scouts and a couple of the coaches.’ Those things made it to where it was very, very easy. And so, when we debated and had some of these conversations, I feel like we gave Jerry and Stephen the ideas and our thoughts, and they were convicted. They were able to make the decisions, ultimately. That doesn’t happen without all the hours of work and disagreements and discussions that happened during the draft readings that we did for three to four weeks.”
Eagles
- Eagles C Cameron Jurgens signed a four-year, $68 million extension that includes $23,346,000 fully guaranteed at signing, per Over The Cap.
- Jurgens received a $9.246 million signing bonus and base salaries of $1.1 million, $1.215 million, $1.26 million, $1.305 million and $1.435 million. He has four option bonuses: $11.535 million in 2026, $14.49 million in 2027, $15.445 million in 2028 and $14.315 million in 2029.
- Jurgens’ 2026 salary and option are guaranteed at signing, and the option is due in March. The other bonuses are due by September 1 and there are four void years to spread out the money. There is a $1 million roster bonus in the final year of the deal and annual $250,000 workout bonuses from 2027-2029. Another $5 million in incentives is available over the life of the deal.
Giants
The Giants prioritized getting another running back in the backfield this offseason, selecting former Arizona State RB Cam Skattebo in the fourth round. Giants HC Brian Daboll said Skattebo fit the bill for what they were looking for.
“Toughness all the way through the draft was something that we have talked about, both mental and physical,” Daboll said via Matt Citak of the team website. “I think Skattebo has got both.”
Skattebo added that he thinks his defining trait can have a positive impact on the whole team.
“Physicality is definitely contagious,” Skattebo said. “If someone gets ran over, it hypes the other guys up and it gets them going. I’m going to continue to bring that and hopefully it feeds off on to my teammates.”
He’s also open to doing whatever it takes to get on the field, including playing on special teams.
“I did play some special teams, something I can do, something I will do in the league, and something I’m going to take very prideful in what I do because that can lead to a long career,” he said. “I’m excited to, like I said, play any role that they give me, and it’s going to be fun.”
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