Trent Richardson (Cleveland Browns) traded to Indianapolis Colts for 2014 1st Round Draft Pick

Transcript from the press conference featuring CEO Joe Banner and Head Coach Rob Chudzinski

(Several questions into the press conference)

Q:
I ask you, the guys in the room, the guys like Joe Thomas who's going through a lot of stuff here, how do you sell it to him? This is... You know, you expected Trent to be an impact player. Is that really tough as a head coach to tell these guys to be patient?

Rob Chudzinski:
No, the group that we have in the locker room is an extremely competitive group. These guys understand the business aspect of football, and uh, I'm a competitive guy, and I expect them to have the same expectations. Uh, we'll have the same goals. And uh, we're going to play every week to win every week and nothing's going to change from that stand point.

Q:
What are you going to do for a running back?

Rob Chudzinski:
[Laughs] We have Chris Ogbonnaya and Bobby Rainey right now.

Q:
Joe, where are you guys at with Willis McGahee?

Joe Banner:
Um, you know, I don't want to go beyond tomorrow he's coming in for a physical. We'll see how that goes.

Q:
Joe, fans have watched regimes come in here and "blow it up" and they obviously see this as you're basically blowing up what this previous regime did by getting rid of a centerpiece. You talk about sustaining winning and sustaining success, well fans of watched sustaining losing for 14 years. So how do you explain to them when the sustaining winning is actually going to begin?
Joe Banner:
You know I [pause] I can't really get into a critique of what's happened in the past. I'm aware enough of it to totally understand the emotions that the fans are experiencing and the legitimacy of the question. All we can do is what we think are the best decisions uh, to look forward and to make this team the best it can be and to position ourselves to sustain that success.

Q:
Joe, how long has this trade been pipe lined?

Joe Banner:
First conversation was yesterday.

Q:
Is there any worry that it's too early,[mumbled] that you didn't get a big enough sample size of Trent?

Joe Banner:
You know I, it [stutter] as coach just said, it was more about the moment presented itself based on the situation the Colts found themselves in. Uh, it wasn't something we could say "could you wait three weeks on this so we can think about this and learn more", we had to decide that if we thought it was a move that would make us better and we had to make that decision now. We decided to move forward.

Q:
So are you saying that the Colts initiated that trade?

Joe Banner:
I don't [stutter] want to get into the specifics of how everything happened, but we obviously ended up engaging in conversation and ended up agreeing to make a deal.

Q:
Would you guys be willing maybe at this point to make other deals as the trade deadline comes up, for any further assets in the draft?

Joe Banner:
Well, I don't think we're looking to do that. I don't think that's the plan. But at the same time I don't think any team in the league would say anything different that if the opportunity presented itself, if it'd make them better, then we'd listen. But I think we feel good at where we're at and moving forward now.
Q:
Is this a statement wrapped together with the [weakened?] situation [quiet] [quarterback?] Is this sort of a statement on the 2012 draft and [queit] trying to turn the page on that?

Joe Banner:
Again, we're really trying to look forward at what can we do and what opportunities can or we create that will make us the best team that we can be going forward.

Q:
I understand that you say you understand the mood of the fans, but do you understand, especially just [going out?] we thought he was probably one of the safest jerseys to buy in their minds, what message do have directly to them? Do you feel like the season could be gone now in your eyes?

Joe Banner:
Yeah, I just think that we have to earn their belief and trust in the decisions we're gonna make as a group. And I don't expect them to do that until we prove them that the trust is well placed. So I understand the skepticism for now, but we have to what we think is right and you know, move the franchise forward and get it to where we want it to be.

Q:
[I understand] collectively that your organization has a goal to sustain success. As a head coach, you just lost your starting quarterback and now you lose your starting running back, how tough is it?

Rob Chudzinski:
That's football. You deal with those things, whether it's injuries or trade in the case. Um, and you work your way through the season and like I said before, I believe in this group. I believe in the guys in the locker room. And I believe that the next guy will step up and we'll find a way and do what we need to do to win.

Q:
Joe, the draft has been a real sore spot here for 14 years, there's just not been a lot coming out of it for this franchise and they've had a lot of picks, so how confident are you in the personnel group that you're gonna maximum this value that you've built up. And do you understand why fans are apprehensive when talking about or looking to the future and future draft picks and things of that nature.

Joe Banner:
You know I'm very confident in the group of people that we have that are going to be involved in that. Which will include the coaches, the player personnel department, and uh, like every team, we'll hit on some picks and we'll miss on some picks, we'll be human. But collectively I think that we'll do a good job and I like to refer to it as "having a better batting average" than other teams. And eventually that produces a winning team.

Q:
Is it safe to say that you traded Trent for a number one, did you just decide that he wasn't worth a number one pick? Did he not have the elite value that you'd expect out of a number three pick or something?
Joe Banner:
Again, I just think as we looked forward to getting what we needed to get accomplished that we felt that this was good value and gave us an opportunity to accomplish what we want to as we go forward.

Q:
Were you expecting better [mumbled] [in Indanap?] any better here or say with Andrew Luck and their football group?

Joe Banner:
Well I just think Trent's a really good player. So I think he would have done really well here and I think he's gonna do really well there. That's at least my opinion.

Q:
Besides possibly maybe McGahee what do you expect to find at running back for this year and beyond?

Joe Banner:
Well there's some options out there. And as I said, we're bringing McGahee in and we'll see how that goes. But there's some options, guys out there that we can bring in for the short term.

Q:
Does it feel that you can get a long term answer, in the middle-late draft as opposed to taking a high pick on one?

Joe Banner:
We'll have to see how that goes.

Q:
How much of the decision to trade Trent went into the, when you look around the league, it's a passing league. So you know, and what you want to do here with Chud and Norv, how much of that went into your philosophy in making such a tough decision like this?

Joe Banner:
You know, you factor in everything. But again really, I just feel like the value that we were getting back in terms of what we're trying to do going forward, made this a thing that we wanted to do.