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NFL Virtual Draft Roundup: A peak at the home office war room setup for all 32 GMs

I did my best to find out how every team is prepared for this weekend’s wild NFL draft

By Kenneth Arthur

The concept of this article is really simple. You’ve probably figured it out already and it took a little while to compile all these tweets and articles, so with no further ado to you ....

Here’s what I found for the home virtual draft setups for all 32 GMs, and in some cases, coaches too. I will add to this list as relevant tweets and articles are brought to my attention. How do you feel about LA Rams GM Les Snead and HC Sean McVay handling this unique situation compared to the other 31 teams?

NFC North

Minnesota Vikings GM Rick Spielman

Chicago Bears GM Ryan Pace

Detroit Lions GM Bob Quinn

Green Bay Packers GM Brian Gutekunst

AFC West

Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach

LA Chargers GM Tom Telesco

Denver Broncos GM John Elway

Las Vegas Raiders GM Mike Mayock

“To be honest with you, for me personally, it is kind of what I’ve done for the last 20 years,” Mayock said. “I feel very comfortable sitting at my dining room [table] crunching tape, calling college coaches and looking to get any advantage and any information I can on any guy we’re interested in. To be honest with you, as a group, we’re embracing it and I think it’s been a great process.”

AFC North

Baltimore Ravens GM Eric DeCosta

Pittsburgh Steelers GM Kevin Colbert

Cincinnati Bengals GM Mike Brown

Bengals Head Coach Zac Taylor

Cleveland Browns GM Andrew Berry

NFC East

Dallas Cowboys GM Jerry and Stephen Jones

Philadelphia Eagles GM Howie Roseman

Eagles HC Doug Pederson

New York Giants GM Dave Gettleman

Washington Head Coach Ron Rivera

AFC East

New England Patriots GM/HC Bill Belichick

Belchick:

In terms of the draft, it’s a little bit different logistically over the last month from where we’ve been in the past. But as usual, Nick Caserio and his staff have done a great job of putting things in order, assembling information, following up on all the many things that we have to try to look at. I know it’s not normal, but I think we’ve had – we’ve accumulated a lot of information, we’ve had a lot of opportunities to talk about all the players and all the other things that are involved here in this process, and there will be more as we go forward between ourselves and the league and with other teams and so forth. So, still have some work to do in that area in terms of just seeing exactly how everything’s going to function. We’ve talked about it and have an idea, but we’ll actually put it into place early next week and just see exactly how it’s going to go. But, I’m sure that it’s all well thought out and organized from a league standpoint, and we’ll just do our part when we’re involved in the process. That’s really about where we are here and there’s some things going forward that haven’t been detailed out yet in terms of logistics and specific communications and so forth, but I think the general idea is to handle this the way it’s been handled in the past. We just can’t be together, so we’ll communicate in other ways to be able to exchange ideas and opinions and thoughts and make decisions. So, that’s where we are now.

Q: Because of the circumstances this offseason, have you mastered the technique of all this technology that you maybe have not bothered with over the years?

BB: I’d say master is probably not the right word, Dan, but I’m certainly better at it than I was four weeks ago. I mean, I didn’t know what half of this was. But, at least now I can do more than I did, let’s put it that way. So, I get a little better every day – learn a new button or learn a new thing to click on and see what trick that does. So, yeah, it’s been very, very educational as a first floor, maybe even the basement – I’ve lived below the first floor. Yeah, it’s been interesting to get educated on different technologies. Dan Famosi has done a tremendous job for us because he’s had to navigate a lot of this. I mean, there’s the coaching side of it, there’s the scouting, there’s the playbook and preparing for the offseason program side of it, meetings and so forth. Just to be able to deal with so many people that are – some are very proficient at some of the things we’re doing, and others, like myself, are remedial. And so putting things together on a lot of different levels for multiple groups and interactions that cross over different connections and needs and ‘can we do this with this type of meeting and this kind of conversation and can we do something else’ – you know, some are one-on-ones, some it’s five people, 10 people, 20 people, and we’re preparing for larger groups than that. So, there really are a lot of moving parts, and Dan’s done a tremendous job for us and tried to pull a lot of things together and remotely help out people like me that need a lot of help.

New York Jets GM Joe Douglas

Miami Dolphins GM Chris Grier

Dolphins.com:

What makes this year different is that none of them will be at Grier’s side when he selects, so the feedback and the pressure-packed discussions must come by video hook-ups.

It’s not the ideal scenario by any means, but part of the new world in which we now live. It’ll be challenging enough for the teams with only one selection in the first round. But three first round selections? Made in the solitude of your own home? With an entire fan base anxiously peaking over your shoulder?

I’m sure it’ll be an experience unlike any Grier has ever had.

“It’ll be different,” he says, “but we’re ready to go.”

Buffalo Bills GM Brandon Beane

NFC South

Atlanta Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff

Carolina Panthers GM Marty Hurney

?

Panthers HC Matt Rhule

Rhule’s Virtual Press Conference

New Orleans Saints GM Mickey Loomis

Saints HC Sean Payton

Tampa Bay Buccaneers GM Jason Licht

If technology fails in virtual draft, Bucs’ Jason Licht will phone it in

And if all else fails?

Licht will pick up the telephone and call Ken Fiore, the NFL’s vice president of player personnel, and give the league the name of the Bucs’ pick.

There are contingency plans for backup plans, but despite the awkwardness and inconvenience of conducting arguably the most important draft in club history in a virtual fashion during the COVID-19 outbreak, Licht expects everything to go smoothly.

“Sometimes you can get over-technical in these situations,” Licht said Thursday in a conference call. “You want to make sure you have a hardline phone. You want to make sure you have several phones available to you, cell phones, what have you. But sometimes it comes down to old-fashioned picking up the phone and calling on the league office and saying, ‘We’re going to pick this player.’

“We’ll have all our scenarios done when the draft starts in terms of where I would trade up, where I would trade back. What we’d be looking for, what we would be wanting. What players we’re going to take in order — those types of things. But in terms of the technical part? We’re still working through it a little bit, but I feel very confident.”

But just in case, Licht will participate in a mock draft hosted by the NFL sometime in the next two weeks in an attempt to iron out any kinks.

“I may pick a kicker,” Licht joked on the Rich Eisen Show on Thursday.

NFC West

San Francisco 49ers GM John Lynch

Seattle Seahawks GM John Schneider

Los Angeles Rams GM Les Snead

LA Rams HC Sean McVay

Arizona Cardinals GM Steve Keim

AFC South

Tennessee Titans GM Jon Robinson / HC Mike Vrabel

Houston Texans HC Bill O’Brien

Jacksonville Jaguars GM Dave Caldwell

“We will have everyone on a Microsoft Teams call, everybody that normally would be in the draft room will be on the call,” Caldwell said on April 16 when asked how the team will manage the draft virtually.

“There will probably be some additional people now that we are not limited by space. (Owner) Shad Khan will be on the call, too and Doug (Marrone), myself. Anybody that normally is in the draft room (will be on the call).”

Aside from being in a virtual draft room with their own personnel, Caldwell and Marrone will also be on another call for administrative purposes.

“We will also have a call that is tied to the league and Doug, myself and probably (Director of Football Administration) Tim Walsh will be on that call in terms of submitting that pick and for trade purposes,” Caldwell said.

Indianapolis Colts GM Chris Ballard / HC Frank Reich

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