Dennis Allen meets with the media to talk about the difficult decisions for Saints final cuts.
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00:00 (claps)
00:02 - Yeah, so, always a tough day
00:08 when you have to make a lot of roster moves,
00:11 which we had to make today.
00:12 We're at 53 now.
00:14 And look, we had to release some good players.
00:20 There's still a lot to be done in terms of the roster
00:22 with the practice squad and things of that nature.
00:24 So, that process never really ends.
00:26 But we went out and had a good practice today
00:30 and we're moving forward and starting to get ready
00:33 for the start of the regular season.
00:35 - Yeah, and how's this paying into the (mumbles)
00:39 - I don't know for sure on that answer.
00:43 That's probably something that would,
00:44 if that's the case,
00:46 would probably occur at some point next week.
00:49 - How do you make a decision to make a kickoff?
00:52 - Tough, real tough.
00:55 You know, Willett's been a good kicker for us
00:57 for a while now.
00:58 And so, that was obviously a tough decision.
01:01 And look, we felt like we had a chance
01:05 to get value for a player
01:07 and we felt like we had another guy in the building
01:08 that we had confidence in.
01:09 So, those are always challenging situations.
01:14 - With both of the undrafted rookie kicker and putter,
01:17 was it just that they exceeded expectations
01:21 and almost made it sort of an undeniable pitch choice?
01:25 - Well, look, I don't know if it was undeniable.
01:27 I mean, it's a tough situation to be in,
01:31 but yet it's a good situation
01:32 'cause we felt like of those four,
01:35 we had four guys that are NFL caliber players.
01:39 And so, we decided to go with the young guys.
01:44 - Does being younger cost effect longer contracts?
01:48 - Look, there's a lot of things that go into,
01:51 you know, roster decisions.
01:54 And so, you know, we basically took everything
01:58 into account when we made these decisions.
02:00 - What about Blake's makeup makes it feel like he's the guy?
02:03 - Well, I don't know if it's necessarily about the makeup.
02:09 You know, certainly I think he's a confident young man,
02:11 but I think it's really just about the fact
02:15 that he's gone out and performed and performed well.
02:19 And so, and look, everybody, every player at some point
02:24 has been his first opportunity, you know?
02:29 And so, I don't think we're unique in that situation.
02:33 - Yeah, if you're able to share an update
02:34 on James Winston, I mean, your practice.
02:36 - He injured his wrist in the game.
02:38 It's not significant.
02:41 I think it's more or less a day-to-day deal.
02:44 - Who took the right wrist on him?
02:47 (laughing)
02:49 - We'll just leave it at that for right now.
02:52 I can't wait for the regular season
02:53 where I can just put out an injury report
02:55 and I don't want to talk about it anymore.
02:56 - I was wondering how long you were--
02:58 - It's not much longer.
02:59 - Sorry.
03:00 - How difficult was it to release Bradley Riddle
03:05 and get out and spend with you all?
03:06 - Extremely.
03:07 - What made that decision,
03:09 the confidence in the young he needs?
03:11 - Yeah, I think, you know, again,
03:13 like we've talked about with a lot of things,
03:15 there's a lot of factors that go into it,
03:16 but yeah, we do have confidence
03:18 in the young DBs being able to step in and do that job.
03:23 And so, like I said,
03:25 there's always a lot of difficult decisions
03:27 that have to be made at this time of year.
03:29 And we made the ones that we feel like
03:32 are all-encompassing best for our football team.
03:36 - What does that say about your confidence
03:38 in a lot of things, Caleb being able to play the slot?
03:40 - Yeah, I'm extremely confident in that.
03:42 He's got all the ability to be able to do it.
03:45 The one thing he lacks is the experience in there,
03:47 and certainly he'll gain that experience
03:49 as he gets more and more playing time in there.
03:52 We got a lot of time between now
03:54 and the time we line up against Tennessee,
03:56 so that's where a lot of his focus will be.
03:59 - Is Ugo Mahdi another candidate there
04:01 who seems to be that, I mean,
04:02 confidence in what you saw from him as well?
04:04 - Yeah, I thought he had a really good preseason.
04:06 You know, he did a lot of good things,
04:08 not only in the games and the practices.
04:11 So I thought, you know, the preseason
04:13 was a really good exposure for him.
04:15 - Do you think you'll have more moves to make
04:19 before the opener?
04:21 - Well, certainly there's 16 practice squad guys.
04:26 Yeah, that's hard for me to say
04:31 whether or not there'll be any more moves or not,
04:33 but typically, there's a lot of moves
04:37 that happen within the first,
04:39 call it month of the season, really.
04:41 There's a lot of up and down off the roster,
04:43 practice squad, off the practice squad.
04:46 There's generally a pretty good amount
04:50 of movement throughout the league.
04:51 I have no idea, as I sit here right now,
04:54 what any other transactions happened
04:55 across the league, really.
04:57 So obviously, we'll take a look at the transactions today.
05:02 And, you know, there's a claiming process that goes on.
05:05 There's veterans that get released off of other teams.
05:07 So we're always looking for any way
05:10 that we can maybe improve our football team.
05:12 - I was gonna actually ask you,
05:14 what's this process like after all the decisions made?
05:17 How much time do you guys,
05:19 if not the league, the international guys?
05:22 - We'll be here for a while.
05:25 So we've got roster issues to deal with.
05:32 We'll look and see what moves other teams made
05:37 across the league.
05:38 The personnel guys will be heavily involved
05:41 in evaluating players.
05:42 And we feel like we've got some guys
05:45 that we kinda like.
05:47 Coaches will get involved in that.
05:48 And then we've also got some game planning stuff
05:52 in terms of getting ready for Tennessee.
05:53 So there's a lot to get done.
05:56 - Is there a chance you'll switch to the U.S.?
05:59 - I would say there's a chance, yeah, absolutely.
06:01 - But, with your entire rookie class,
06:06 just being the (mumbles)
06:11 - Well, look, I think, you know,
06:17 I feel like all the young guys,
06:20 particularly the draft choices,
06:23 you know, stepped up and performed
06:26 at a high level during training camp.
06:28 There's always a little bit of,
06:31 I don't know what that word is,
06:33 trepidation or whatever with young kids.
06:37 We all like the experienced player,
06:40 but yet, at the same time,
06:43 having young guys that you can develop,
06:48 always having a pipeline to your football team,
06:54 I think, is important.
06:55 So it's always a good balance to have
06:58 the older veteran guys that provide the leadership
07:02 and experience, the veteran players that are in, say,
07:06 years three through seven, somewhere in there,
07:10 that are experienced but aren't at the level of
07:13 the leadership level, maybe,
07:14 that some of those older veteran guys are,
07:16 and then young guys that you're developing.
07:18 I think we've done a pretty good job
07:20 at developing guys around here.
07:21 - What would you like so much about
07:23 Curt Barrett's transition from running back
07:25 to the outlasted, more experienced guy?
07:27 - Yeah, well, I think it's probably a little bit twofold.
07:32 I thought, early on, I thought there were some growing pains
07:37 with that transition.
07:39 I thought there was a point in training camp where
07:41 he really looked good, and we felt like,
07:45 man, this is a guy that we kinda like.
07:48 And then, obviously, with the injury,
07:49 it's been a setback there,
07:51 and yet, running back is a position
07:55 that we're probably a little light at.
07:57 You know, with Alvin going on the suspension list,
08:02 so that was a position that we felt like,
08:06 well, we need to keep the extra guy,
08:08 and we'll see where it goes from there.
08:10 - His ability to be sort of a space player like Alvin,
08:13 is that a little bit?
08:14 - Yeah, probably a little bit.
08:15 I mean, he's got a unique skill set.
08:18 I think, also, his ability to potentially help
08:19 some special teams is valuable.
08:21 - And, in AK, he's officially on the list today.
08:25 He's away from the--
08:28 - He is, yeah.
08:28 - Follow up on who's question earlier,
08:32 all seven draft picks,
08:33 that make you feel good, but specifically,
08:36 the earlier picks, I think,
08:38 not that they didn't earn it as much,
08:40 but the later picks like Jordan Howden and Anthony Perry,
08:45 I mean, those guys had to have done something that,
08:48 you know, what can you highlight on Howden and Perry's
08:52 kind of development throughout camp?
08:53 - Yeah, look, I think they got better every single day,
08:57 and, you know, you started seeing some consistency
09:01 in performance.
09:03 It didn't start out that way,
09:05 but over the course of time,
09:07 throughout all of OTA's training camp,
09:10 through the preseason,
09:11 they proved that they were worthy of a roster spot.
09:13 You know, I think it's a testament to
09:16 not only our college scouting department,
09:20 and going out and finding these players that fit
09:24 both what we're looking for
09:27 from an athletic skillset standpoint,
09:29 from a mental standpoint,
09:31 from a culture standpoint,
09:33 and then I think it's also a testament
09:35 to the assistant coaches in developing these guys,
09:38 and that's the business of pro football,
09:42 draft and develop, draft and develop, draft and develop,
09:45 and so I think it's a testament to both,
09:49 you know, the college scouting and also our coaching staff.
09:53 - You've seen a lot of these UDF names
09:56 over the last few years.
09:56 Year one is kind of development,
09:58 and you're gonna see guys like Nephi, Kirk,
10:00 this year kind of latch onto the roster.
10:02 Is that kind of the messaging to some of these
10:04 younger players who might be getting caught right now,
10:06 is, okay, keep developing, keep developing?
10:07 - Yeah, look, there's guys that make NFL teams
10:10 from all sorts of different backgrounds,
10:13 whether it's, you know, a tryout guy,
10:17 an undrafted free agent, a draft choice,
10:19 a free agent that you require from another team,
10:24 so I just think, you know,
10:27 we're in the business of developing players,
10:31 and that's what our job is as a coaching staff,
10:33 and if you get the right players
10:37 that fit your needs, what you're looking for,
10:41 in terms of the athlete, the skill set,
10:45 the mental makeup, as well as fit your culture,
10:50 I think there's a chance for those guys
10:52 to come in and have success.
10:54 - Dennis, on Jimmy Graham, did he solidify the slot
10:56 with his slight performance,
10:58 or it was just kind of reaffirmed
11:00 for him to get through now?
11:02 - No, I think the last game was important for Jimmy,
11:04 and, you know, like I said the other day,
11:07 you know, I started to see signs of what I was looking for
11:15 you know, out in LA, in the practices against the Chargers,
11:18 I think that continued into last week practice,
11:21 and on into the game, so I'd say the last 14 days
11:25 have been important in terms of, you know,
11:27 his ability to be a part of this team.
11:29 Okay guys, thanks.