My understanding is that Pederson was very lukewarm on the job because of the presence of Baalke and what he experienced in Philadelphia. I’ve been in interviews like that before. If your heart isn’t in it, it’s hard to hide it…partially because you don’t really care to.

Having said that, if I’m an employer, I want the person that’s legitimately excited about the opportunity (Leftwich) not the person I have to talk into taking the job (Pederson). The desire will overcome the inexperience. Not that I don’t think Pederson would be a great choice, but I don’t want him to take it if he really doesn’t want to be here. We saw how well that went last year.

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