(on trading for Corey Dillon)
"Corey was everything that we hoped he would be. Bill and I spent time with him before we made that trade. We were comfortable with how we felt that Corey was going to act."
(on how he acted while he was a Patriot)
"We had no problems. I hear from him or his agent and he is doing fine. He's probably playing too much golf."
(on the process acquiring Randy Moss)
"It was quick. The conversations with Mr. Davis didn't start taking place until…because of the time difference. It was late. It was at the end of the first day of the trade. It went late into the night. It went very late (and) early into the (next) morning. We spoke to Mr. Davis and got to the parameters of what we thought (that) the trade would be, but there were other things that we had to discuss. Part was getting together with Randy, part of was to talk about his contract because he was due to make nine and a quarter of a million dollars this year. There were a number of things that had to get done. The process was (that) again we spoke to the Raiders, Randy was I believe somewhere in Texas. He got on a plane (and) flew up in the middle of the night. (He) got in early in the morning, took a physical and met with Bill and I. (And) then we consummated the trade right as we were getting to the point of coming from Texas as a matter of fact."
*(on what he remembered after meeting Randy)
*"A lot of it is private but here is what I remember. I remember Bill and I walking away from that meeting feeling very confident that Randy really wanted to be here and that we really wanted Randy to be here. It was a good meeting. It was a good, solid meeting."
(on advice that he received over the years)
"Some of the best advice that I (ever) got was from my high school coach. Frank Green. My college coaches. I don't think that there is this great epiphany (that) all of a sudden you learn all this information (on) how to evaluate players. If you play the game the whole time that you go through the process, you learn about football. As a player, you learn how to evaluate players that you're getting ready to play. Tom Dimitroff, Sr, who was a scout for us in Cleveland, Bill Billicheck obviously. I learned from Michael Lombardi. They're a lot of people who had a lot of different bits and pieces of this (success). It's not just one lump sum that you learn at one time.
(on why he has not left New England despite numerous opportunities)
"This is a good situation. We're winning football. Because of what my title is, people have a perception. I know how things go inside. I'm happy with the situation (and) the way things are right now. We're up for our fourth Super Bowl (and) we've been here eight years. It's a pretty good situation."
(on temptations of leaving)
"They're been questions and temptations, (but) so far this is where that I wanted to be."
(on the lessons that he has learned)
"Not to get caught up in the numbers. The things like height, weight and speed. The test numbers. It's not getting too caught up in numbers. I've made mistakes by getting caught up with the workouts. Tom Brady took some heat recently when they showed a video of his running a 40-yard dash. Tommy's speed and running has nothing to do with his pocket presence. Here is a guy, he has vision. He has the feel. He has the sense. He knows when to step up, so his athleticism is due to his awareness. Ted Bruschi, his instincts are incredible. They're rare. He plays a lot faster than what his numbers on paper would indicate. Ty Warren's strength-I remember when Ty was coming out, his overall wasn't great but he has this brute strength. Wes Welker is another guy. He has enough quickness to get away from folks."
*(on his assessment of QB Eli Manning when he was entering the draft)
*"We did not spend a lot of time on Eli and that group of players at the top of the draft because we were so far back. Just from a process standpoint, if we're picking 30th, we don't spend much time. We try to be more efficient, because that is spending time on players that we know will be gone at the top part of the draft. We're better off spending time on the players who we know maybe be potentially available."
(on temptations of leaving)
"They're been questions and temptations, (but) so far this is where that I wanted to be."
(on the lessons that he has learned)
"Not to get caught up in the numbers. The things like height, weight and speed. The test numbers. It's not getting too caught up in numbers. I've made mistakes by getting caught up with the workouts. Tom Brady took some heat recently when they showed a video of his running a 40-yard dash. Tommy's speed and running has nothing to do with his pocket presence. Here is a guy, he has vision. He has the feel. He has the sense. He knows when to step up, so his athleticism is due to his awareness. Ted Bruschi, his instincts are incredible. They're rare. He plays a lot faster than what his numbers on paper would indicate. Ty Warren's strength-I remember when Ty was coming out, his overall wasn't great but he has this brute strength. Wes Welker is another guy. He has enough quickness to get away from folks."
(on his assessment of QB Eli Manning when he was entering the draft)
"We did not spend a lot of time on Eli and that group of players at the top of the draft because we were so far back. Just from a process standpoint, if we're picking 30th, we don't spend much time. We try to be more efficient, because that is spending time on players that we know will be gone at the top part of the draft. We're better off spending time on the players who we know maybe be potentially available."
(on who has the final say on personnel decision)
"They're has not been a player that we brought here that Bill Belichick and I did not agree on. I've known Bill since I was in college and we have a personal relationship and a high level of mutual respect. If there is a player that Bill does not like and I like, it's kind of a feel thing. You get to a certain point and whoever doesn't believe in the player or whoever believes in the player, you kind of stop pushing. Bill and I have been fortunate. If we agree on a player, we know that we have a pretty thing.
