CLEVELAND MUSTANGS [GM DOUG - LOA]

[GM Wayne]

That works for me. Thanks Meadow.

Wayne ends the call and moves onto the next.

Great job with that first one. You're a natural at this. So lets get Bobby Shapiro on the line next. Keep up the great work.

Wayne waits for the call to connect.

Bobby, you've got an Ohio kid at Strong Safety by the name of Kevin White. I'd like to offer him a 1 year UDFA deal at 500 thousand.

[Talon]

We can do that.

[GM Wayne]

Thanks Bobby. While I have you on the line I'll make the same offer, 1 year 500 thousand, to tight end Edward Muhammad.

[Talon]

 

Already signed with Milwaukee, sorry.

[GM Wayne]

All good, Bobby. How about DT George Beach? I don't see any notice that he has signed yet. 1 year, 500 thousand.

[Talon]

DEAL

[GM Wayne]

Thanks Bobby.

Wayne ends the call and moves onto the next, speaking to his substitute secretary whose name he isn't sure if he ever learned.

Let's go with Eli Harris next, please. Thanks.

Wayne waits for the call to connect.

Eli, it's GM Wayne. I'd like to offer WR Terry White a 1 year, 500K contract.

[Talon]

Deal.

[GM Wayne]

Welp, never mind on that apparently he'd rather go play in a shit hole like Lincoln.. Thanks, Eli.

Wayne ends the call.

These fucking agents. They're almost as bad as referees.

Get Amber Molina on the line, please.

Wayne waits for the call to connect.

Amber, can we get WR Willie Bustamante here on a 1 year, 500K deal?

[Talon]

 

We agreed to another deal, but if you beat them to the LO, I mean... who says no?

[GM Wayne]

Vengeance is mine. You're the best, Amber.

Wayne ends the call.

James T. Crain next, please.

Wayne waits for the call to connect.

Mr. Contract Negotiator, I'd like to offer FS Alfred Bowling a 1 year, 500K contract.

[Talon]

DEAL

[GM Wayne]

Thanks Mr. Crain.

Wayne ends the call.

Drew Leventhal next, please.

Wayne waits for the call to connect.

Hey Drew. Just wanted to touch base with you about Daniel Maxley's contract. Was curious if he would be willing to reduce his salary by 750K this season and this season only, and in return I'll give him a 1 million dollar bonus check right now.

[Talon]

$1MM today, $1MM on draft day and we'll make that concession.

[GM Wayne]

Fair enough. Appreciate you doing so.

Curious about what you're looking for for QB Danny Hoak. I could give him something like 1 million for the season with a 2nd year at 5 million. But if he's looking to start, or looking for greater salary, I understand.

[Talon]

 

We'll take that deal, Pal.

[GM Wayne]

Good shit, Drew. Thanks.

Wayne ends the call and speaks to his "temporary" secretary.

Shit. That's a hard days work done and dusted.

So listen. I've got all these records and stuff I keep for myself and with Halle being away I need to update those things but wanted to make sure I got your name spelled properly on my own paperwork.

You know, since making a mistake over a vowel has already cost me 250 grand this off season. Can't be caught slipping again.

[Talon]

Brenda. B-R-E-N-D-A.  You wouldn't believe how many times those little rude Gen Z kids get that wrong at Starbucks... my god, it is literally the worst.

[GM Wayne]

Wayne jots down her name, thanking God he didn't admit that he hadn't actually known what her name was.

Yeah that is absolutely the worst thing that could possibly happen. I mean, the audacity. I'm so sorry you have to carry that cross. It just isn't fair.

Wayne continues writing, remembering that one scene from Billy Madison where the crazy guy crosses Billy's name off of his hit list, and makes a mental note to handle Brenda the same way.

Hopefully they got it right for you this morning because I know this is going to be a lot to ask as you have been working so hard. But here on my paperwork I have us with a full roster, 15 thousand dollars in cap space, 7 million in international funds, and 250 thousand in bonus money. Does that line up with your notes?

[Talon]

 

All but the 15K... I have us with $150K, but yes, everything else seems right on.

[GM Wayne]

Wayne rubs his eyes and squints at his notes.

150 thousand is what I have too, now that I look at it.

Alright, you're free to go have a spa day. I think I can handle getting the lock in details submitted to the appropriate place here soon.

[Talon]

Perfect. Tell Cyrus to get me the job full time if you want, I get results!

[GM Wayne]

Hey, if you want to tell him to swing by and see me on your way out, I'll have that conversation with him right now.

[Talon]

 

Well, Hello there GM Wayne. 

[GM Wayne]

Cyrus, good to see you. I have a couple tidbits I wanted to touch base with you on. First, I think Halle has done an amazing job in our time working together and think that she is worthy of a promotion. I imagine there are places within The Lannister Corporation that would be a step up for her. And as it stands I have the perfect young woman to fill her shoes. She took initiative and has been filling in for Halle during her time away and she's been great. Her name is Brenda. I'm sure you can make all of these things happen, no?

On top of that, I was wondering if you might have some contacts in the medical field that might be able to help our QB1 out. Justin has taken a bit of a beating over the past couple of seasons and I have concerns that he's becoming a bit injury prone. Perhaps a financial investment into making sure he is getting his meals professional cooked for him, that way he's getting the macros that would be specifically tailored to him? I don't want to get into any kind of crazy grey area with supplementation and things like that, but I know a lot of the best players in the world have their own nutritionist, trainer and health and wellness staff and I would be interested in setting Justin up with those things if it will help to keep him healthy both in the immediate and long term.

[Talon]

We have supported Justin in finding trainers in addition to our strength and conditioning staff, so hopefully he does find more stability with his physical health.

As for your secretary, that works well, as we have an opening high up the food chain. We can promote Mrs. Halle to fill that position and hire Ms. Blowhard as your new assistant.

Consider it done.

[GM Wayne]

.... That can't really be her last name, can it? Cyrus?....

....

Actually I can't hyper focus on that. Lets just get locked in for camp.

MUSICAL LICENSES (GM MUST COMPLETE THIS TASK)

1. "Cleveland Rocks" - The Presidents of the United States of America - https://youtu.be/SJ3plaSowWc
In the build up to the opening kickoff this song will blare throughout the stadium to get the fans hyped up and as loud as they possibly can be.

2. "Hang On Sloopy" - The Best Damn Band In The Land - THE Ohio State University Marching Band - https://youtu.be/ibiFbf0x7Ng
Played in the moments before the second half kickoff and, as any good Ohioan knows, will likely be sung along to by the fans in attendance with a hearty chorus of O-H-I-O echoing around the stadium.

3. "Chimes & Carmen Ohio" The Best Damn Band In The Land - THE Ohio State University Marching Band - https://youtu.be/m4QN3o1Tf0k
Played after home victories as the fans are getting ready to depart from the stadium and continue their celebration all over the city.

4. "We Dont Give A Damn For The Whole State Of Michigan" The Best Damn Band In The Land - THE Ohio State University Marching Band - https://youtu.be/ezUNyTsG4RI
Played on numerous occasions throughout the game when the Michigan Monsters come to town, but especially after the Mustangs defense causes turnovers or the offense scores touchdowns.

Lock In

[GM Wayne]

(ooc: I don't know why this didn't attach but I'm trying it again once more here)

[Talon]

Well, here we go!

[GM Wayne]

*Your team has just broken camp.  The long off-season is over, your team has trained to get into shape and be ready for the regular season and you have just completed your team evaluation meeting with your coaching staff.  The pre-season is about to begin, but first you must address the media.

1. Welcome back, what was the most challenging part of the off-season, and where do you think you did the best as GM of this club?

Appreciate that. It's always tough to have to say goodbye to some guys. For instance, Theron Bacon has been a grinder for us at Wide Receiver since I arrived here. He was one of my first major signings and while he was hampered by injury, it was still tough to know that we weren't going to be re-signing him this off season. For all that's said about me, I love the guys in this organization and goodbyes are never easy, but they are an unfortunate part of the business that has to happen sometimes. As far as what I did the best as this teams GM, I'm sure everyone is going to be proud of the player talent they were able to acquire, so I'll say I'm proud of the fact that I feel like I have put our guys in a position to be the best versions of themselves, and to grow as players and as men while here in Cleveland. Guys like Justin, Scott Owens, Kevin Bilodeau, Howard Russo, Woodrow Britt and Curt Graves have taken advantage of the extra work I've had our coaching staff provide them with and they are thriving. So, personally, I think that's what I do best every single year. Give guys opportunities.

2. After a long off-season, the regular season is within reach.  What is your view of pre-season?  Valuable or Pointless?

Both, depending on who you are. For guys who are looking to earn significant playing time, or trying to establish a role for themselves on this team, the pre-season is incredibly valuable. For guys who have gone through multiple camps, who have established themselves as core players on this team, it's probably a bit pointless. It really just varies from player to player.

My own perspective is that it is an opportunity to learn more about my team, and so as long has it is available we are going to make use of it to one degree or another.

3. Will you completely sit any of your players for the pre-season, or is it all hands on deck in the traditional pre-season limited capacity?'

We will probably sit some of our guys. I don't know who, if any, yet so don't ask.

4. Having just met with your boss, the team's owner; what do you think about their expectations for you this season?

They are all expectations I embrace and view as stepping stones on our way to the ultimate goal and expectation, an Impact Bowl victory.

5. The fans are clamoring, what should they expect this season from a record stand point?  Are you thinking this is a rebuilding season?  Is this a season where you will be middle of the pack and near .500?  Is this a club that should win 10+ games?  Is this team a lock to win the division, or is this team simply a real-deal Impact Bowl Contender and everything else is trivial?

The expectation is a division win and onward. If that's what we're internally expecting of ourselves why should the fans feel any different?

6. What's the biggest position competition you're looking forward to with your team's pre-season games?

I'm looking forward to seeing our receiving corps sort themselves out.

7. Look across the league, which team from the opposite conference do you think will be competing for the Impact Bowl when it's all said and done?

Tucson.

8. Make a bold prediction about this season:

By the time its all said and done all the nonsense about Coach Blitzer and the playoffs will be done and dusted. That disrespect stops now. We will make the playoffs and we will win in the playoffs and win convincingly.

[Talon]

 

I appreciate the support, as always.. this is the year we put those stupid pundits to rest once and for all. 

[GM Wayne]

Fuck em. You've always had my back so I'm glad to be able to repay that.

I saw the report regarding our position battle winners. Did any of those guys make significant gains?

[Talon]

 

The silly PFF stars didnt change, but all of them involved made some really good strides, so it was definitely worth while.

[GM Wayne]

As long as they're improving the star ratings are relatively insignificant. We know what all those guys bring to the table so just getting them to reach that next level, if possible, is key.

Is Woodrow ready to take over the CB1 responsibilities? I'm sure on any other team the answer to that question is yes without blinking.

[Talon]

 

I think putting him on the WR1 and giving Maxley the WR2 will be a strength for us.  Not that Maxley isn't good enough to be our CB1, but with him being older now, letting him have a little lighter work could pay dividends; but you're right.  On most teams you'd be laughed at for even asking where he should be if its not CB1.

[GM Wayne]

Love to hear that. Man, all that shit people talked when I first got here to Cleveland and traded up to get both Woody and Big Kev. Feel a little bit of validation to be honest, but not as much as I'll feel when we win that Impact Bowl.

So, as far as preseason shit goes I think we can probably deactivate Lubanzi and let the young guys handle the responsibilities at WR. Anyone else you think we could let just chill? And I'm correct in assuming I can deactivate them without having to have extra players on the roster right?

[Talon]

 

You are correct.   With Justin's history of injuries we could also consider letting him sit, yeah?

[GM Wayne]

Yeah I don't think there's any reason to risk him in a game like this. Plus it'll give Mares a chance to show us how he handles the new system and Hoak a chance to highlight his own abilities, even if Coach Mathias doesn't think he fits the system.

I was a little surprised to hear Coach Blank ask for more speed in the Receiver room when, coming out of college, speed was one of Scott Owens top traits according to our scouts. Has he taken a step back in that aspect of his game or is it just that his speed has never been great?

[Talon]

 

When he's playing with his all, Owens does have speed, but a lot of times he comes off pretty half-assed like he can't be bothered with working his hardest. 

[GM Wayne]

Well hopefully he comes around on that and sees the value in giving full effort so that when it comes time to get paid, that check is a bit fatter.

I'm ready to roll for the pre season so here's our lock in.

QB1: Justin Fields
QB2: John Mares
QB3: Danny Hoak

RB1: Merle Harrington
RB2: Prince Fournette
RB3: Jeramy Dubois

FB: Andrew Romo

TE1: Noah McCoy

WR1: Herbert Bobbit
WR1b/WR4: Enrique Campbell

WR2: Scott Owens
WR2b/WR5: Joseph Garza

WR3: Lubanzi Ntuli
WR3b: Alberto Hill
WR3c: Willie Bustamante

LT1: Kevin Bilodeau
LT2: Robert Brant

LG1: Charles Sutton
LG2: Chadwick Parrish

C1: Bruce Hudson
C2: Matthew Colwell
C3: Omer Lopez

RG1: David Mitchell
RG2: Reggie Berry
RG3: Johnny Zeller

RT1: James Poe
RT2: Robert Brant


DT1: Bruiser Elliot
DT2: Howard Russo
DT3: Kevin Duncan
DT4: George Beach

LDE1: Sydney Council
LDE2: David Lewis

RDE1: Corey Phillips
RDE2: David Lewis

ROLB1: Matthew Albrecht
ROLB2: Gary Pippin

MLB1: Bronson Forest
MLB2: Marco Bennett

LOLB1: Victor Hinkle
LOLB2: Rudolph Burkhart

CB1: Woodrow Britt
CB1b/CB5: Daniel Miller

CB2: Daniel Maxley
CB2b/CB6: Kyle Foster

CB3: Daniel Miller
CB3b: John Olmstead

CB4: Kyle Foster
CB4b: Terry Chestnut

FS1: Curt Graves
FS2: Dale Bertrand
FS3: Alfred Bowling

SS1: Clarence Wesley
SS2: LeQuan James
SS3: Kevin White


K: Robert Dees

P: James Hecker

KR1: Kyle Fosters
KR2: Merle Harrington
KR3: John Mares
KR4: Scott Owens

PR1: Kyle Fosters
PR2: Merle Harrington
PR3: Scott Owens

Inactive for Preseason:

QB Justin Fields
WR Lubanzi Ntuli

[GM Wayne]

1. What did you take away from this slate of pre-season games?

I think it showed just how important guys like Justin and Lubanzi are to our offense, but also that sometimes the risk of trying to get your guys reps comes back to bite you. Herbert's injury is a perfect example of that. Hopefully we'll be able to get a second opinion on his injury and get him back sooner rather than later but that's something we'll have to discuss internally before any decisions are made on that.

2. Which player stood out the most to you from your team?

Prince Fournette really solidified his place on our roster. We'll certainly be making sure he's getting his touches this year.

3. Did anyone surprise you and earn a starting job?

Without discussing things with the coaches it's hard to say yes for sure. But I'd point to Prince Fournette again. He really played his tail off in the second and third games and from my point of view has, at the least, forced us to consider what to do at runningback.

4. Does the pre-season change your feeling about your teams potential this season?

Nah. I believe everything I said before and I stand by it now.

5. Talk about your opponent for week 1, and what it will take to win.

We travel to San Antonio to play a team that nobody thought would look as good as they have looked during the preseason. So we certainly can't sleep on them. We know how important it is to start the season off on the right foot. We need to protect Justin, first and foremost. When he is on the field our offense just has that extra gear that makes it hard for defenses to match up with us. In order to do that we have to shut down Gordon Haynes, which is a tall task but we believe big Kev is up to it.

This is a prove it season for all of us here in Cleveland and we love that. We love the opportunity to go out and prove to the Knights that we are exactly who we think we are.

[Talon]

 

Right, so lets get things started with a road win, yeah?

[GM Wayne]

That's what we're gonna do. I'll have Brenda get Herbert set up with the specialist and we'll see how that turns out. I don't think we need to adjust anything just yet. We'll get some regular season games under our belt and reevaluate later on.

But if you're good and don't have anything else you need to discuss you can consider this our lock in with any adjustments being made by you and your staff. Just make note that we are reactivating Justin Fields and Lubanzi Ntuli, in case that needs to be stated.

[GM Wayne]

1. Talk us through opening week, what went as expected?  Where did you exceed expectations, and where did you fall short?

When you beat a team as soundly as we beat the Knights it's hard to say we fell short anywhere. But if I'm being nitpicky we could be more conscientious about protecting the football. Fumbling three times and losing it twice can hurt you in games that are closer. But we played a complete game from start to finish across the board.

2. Which player stood out the most to you from your opponents team?

I actually thought Hilton Keegan did a nice job for them. Yeah he threw two picks but he also lead them on three scoring drives. I think that shows he's got some moxie to him.

3. [IF YOUR TEAM HAS NEWS, TAILOR THIS QUESTION TO ASK ABOUT YOUR NEWS -- IF NO NEWS, TALK ABOUT A NEWS STORY THAT INTERESTS YOU]

Seeing Kyle get his flowers was nice. Sometimes it feels like the news is so negative so to see a guy get celebrated for his contributions on the football field this past week was a pleasant surprise. Obviously the way he attacked San Antonio's defenders on special teams put us in a position to run away with the game and we hope he continues breaking those records every single game.

4. Do you feel like you put your team in the best position for success coming into this week 1 game?

It was 44-7 before our backups came in. What do you think?

5. Talk about your opponent for week 2 and what you will need to see from your team.

Does anything really need to be said about St. Paul? Honestly, we don't like them but I'm not going to trash them when their GM isn't around to respond. Where's the fun in that? To be honest I think they're probably not quite as good as they were last season. They lost their star quarterback and their best corner. That doesn't mean they aren't good. But if we just let our defense control the game and let our offense play off of them, we're going to be solid.

[Talon]

A good start, something we can build on and keep on reminding these other blokes who they're dealin' with.

[GM Wayne]

I agree. The one change I would like to make just to protect Justin a little more is to scale back our QB Run standard one notch. Right now it's set at normal. Would one step back be rarely?

[Talon]

 

We can, no guarantee he stops running though unless we strictly forbid him. [REMOVE RUNNING QB TAG]

[GM Wayne]

No need to do that. He is who he is. But on our end we'll do our best to limit it as best we can.

[Talon]

 

Understood.  We can do that.

[GM Wayne]

Time to take care of business against St. Paul.

Set QB Tuck & Run to Rarely

Lock In