The NFL owners meetings have wrapped up at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix. On Tuesday morning, media had the chance to catch up with head coaches around the league at the annual coaches breakfast.
Kyle Shanahan told a story about Jimmy Garoppolo watching tape with his dad and evaluated the state of the 49ers wide receiver corps. Here's a look at the hot topics covered by the other three NFC West head coaches.
Arizona Cardinals
A majority of mock drafts have Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray pinned to the Cardinals. Head coach Kliff Kingsbury insists that no decision has been made as of yet on who Arizona will select with the first-overall pick. However, he was exceedingly complimentary of Murray when asked what he likes about the quarterback.
"I guess it's more, 'What don't you like?'" Kingsbury said of Murray per Adam Schefter. "When you watch him play, he can run it, he can throw it. You know, he's a competitor.
"I don't know if there's one thing you can pinpoint. He's one of the best dual-threat players to ever play."
The first-year head coach also addressed the rumblings of current quarterback Josh Rosen's fit in Kingsbury's system and the speculation of his future in Arizona.
"With the first pick, there is tons of chatter," Kingsbury added. "As a coach and a player, you have to have thick skin. You have to understand what goes on and the circus that comes with this position.
"People have said a lot of things that are misconceptions, if you will. Josh is a tremendous player. I watched him at UCLA. He played his best football in a spread system. Had some similarities to what we do. He's a tremendous thinker, very cerebral, can throw it with anybody. We take a lot of pride in building a system around the quarterback. To say he doesn't fit our system doesn't make sense."
Los Angeles Rams
The Rams picked up Marcus Peters' fifth-year option for 2019 to keep him under contract for at least one more year. Rams head coach Sean McVay said on Tuesday that the Rams “absolutely” want to sign the former first round pick to an extension. Los Angeles originally acquired Peters in a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs back in 2018.
"We are excited about building into year two, and we've been really pleased with Marcus — especially pleased with what you can find out with all the experiences that we went through in one year," McVay said per TheRams.com. "The talent is there, love the person and he is passionate about the game. That was the one thing that — we talked about it a lot last year — but when you've got guys that love football and that are good people, at the end of the day you can work with that. The passion and the different things — you love that — and I've loved working with Marcus so far."
In his first season with Los Angeles, Peters recorded 43 total tackles, eight passes defended and three interceptions, including one pick-six. McVay stated that Peters' improved play in the second half of the 2018 season added to the Rams desire to bring him back long term.
Aside from Peters, Jared Goff (pending fifth-year option), Aqib Talib, Dante Fowler Jr., Cory Littleton, Greg Zuerlein and Michael Brockers are also free agents in 2020.
Seattle Seahawks
Last month during the NFL Combine, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll revealed Doug Baldwin underwent knee and shoulder surgeries following a banged up 2018 season.
During Tuesday's breakfast with the media, Carroll confirmed Baldwin will undergo yet another procedure, this time a sports hernia surgery scheduled for April.
"There's never been anybody that's tougher and more able to come back from whatever challenges he's (faced)," Carroll said per Seahawks.com. "He has been extraordinarily adept at figuring out how to return from the circumstances of being banged up. If he could, he will. I have no doubt in that. But it's been a challenging offseason for him. He's had a lot of stuff he's been working on. This latest one is going to take some time again. Whatever he has to do, we're going to follow, support and believe in it. If anybody can do it, he can get it done."
Baldwin recorded 50 receptions for 618 yards and five touchdowns in 13 games last season. Carroll gave no timetable for Baldwin's return.
