“For the last three seasons, we’ve kind of come in during OTAs and we said, ‘Hey, let’s build the foundation.’ And then when you finish a season and half your roster leaves, you get a new season, whole new staff, or whole new teammates, you have to start a foundation. And then the next season, we lost a lot of people,” Phillips said. “And so the conversation [during exit interviews] was, ‘We’re going to bring in enough like-minded individuals who know what success looks like that we don’t [have to start a new foundation].’
“We should be able to hit the gas and accomplish [enough] that when we’re leaving here and OTAs in a couple weeks, the foundation’s already been set, and now we’re striving for a championship-worthy organization,” Phillips added. “Because we have some veterans that came in and found success in other places, played in Super Bowls, they’ve been able to jump on what we’re building here. Obviously the scouting department did a great job in the character side of things, of who’s come in this building, and I think we’re further along on June 2 than we have been in previous offseasons, while still working toward the same goal.”