A general manager (GM) in American football is a team executive who is typically the head of football operations, which includes leading the scouting department and being responsible for handling free agent transactions and contract negotiations with players and coaches. Under such a model, the GM reports directly to the owner or team president. However, some team owners serve as their own GM or employ one who act in a supporting role to the head coach. Al Davis of the Oakland Raiders was an example of an owner who also served as GM, while Bill Belichick is an example of a head coach having de facto GM responsibilities during his tenure with the New England Patriots.
The general manager (GM) is typically the head of football operations, which includes leading the scouting department and being responsible for handling free agent transactions and contract negotiations with players and coaches. The scouting department's role is to evaluate college football players entering the annual NFL draft. [1] During the NFL Combine, general managers will interview players. [2]
Many GMs begin their front office career as an assistant scout and are promoted into roles such as director of college scouting or vice president of player personnel before being GM. The GM is also responsible for negotiating contracts with players and coaches. [3] As with head coaches and some players, GMs are required by the NFL to attend press conferences with the media. During the season, general managers will work 100 hours or more a week. [3] Some Pro Football Hall of Fame general managers include Tex Schramm, Al Davis, Bill Polian, Ron Wolf, Bobby Beathard, Gil Brandt, and George Young.
Jerral Wayne Jones Sr. is an American businessman and the owner, president, and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He bought the team from Bum Bright in 1989.
A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of the firm's marketing and sales functions as well as the day-to-day operations of the business. Frequently, the general manager is responsible for effective planning, delegating, coordinating, staffing, organizing, and decision making to attain desirable profit making results for an organization.
Phillip Savage Jr. is an American football executive, author and media personality, who currently serves as the Senior Football Advisor for the New York Jets. In 2019 he was the general manager for the Arizona Hotshots of the Alliance of American Football (AAF). He was the senior vice president and general manager of the Browns from 2005 to 2008. He served as director of player personnel for the Baltimore Ravens under general manager Ozzie Newsome, a former Browns' player and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, from 2003 to 2004. He was a scout for the Browns from 1993 to 1995. He was also the former general manager of the Cleveland Browns and the executive director for the Senior Bowl.Phil Savage also served as the color announcer for The Alabama Crimson Tide alongside Eli Gold for several years with the Crimson Tide Sports Network, and worked as a guest host, for Sirius XM Sports Radio for several years, before joining the NY Jets. Phil Savage was also on ESPN for several years as a guest host.
Ronald Wolf is an American former football executive who was a general manager (GM) of the National Football League (NFL)'s Green Bay Packers. Wolf is widely credited with bringing success to a Packers franchise that had rarely won during the two decades prior to Wolf joining the organization. He also played a significant role in personnel operations with the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders from 1963 to 1975 and again from 1978 to 1990. He joined Green Bay's front office in November 1991 from a personnel director's job with the New York Jets. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August 2015.
Albert J. Smith was an American professional football scout and executive. He served as a part-time scout for several NFL and USFL teams before joining the Buffalo Bills in 1986, serving as a scout and executive for them for 14 years. With the Bills, the team won four AFC Championships. He joined the San Diego Chargers in 2001 as a director of pro personnel, and was promoted to general manager and executive vice president for them two years later. He stayed with the Chargers until being fired following the 2012 season. Smith's son, Kyle, is the assistant general manager of the Atlanta Falcons.
William Patrick Polian Jr. is an American football executive. He rose to league prominence as the General Manager of the Buffalo Bills, building a team that participated in four straight Super Bowls—the most consecutive appearances by any team—but lost each time. Following his stint in Buffalo, Polian went on to become the general manager of the expansion Carolina Panthers. He then served as general manager and team president of the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL) from 1998 to 2011, where they reached two Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl XLI. He subsequently served as an NFL analyst for ESPN. Polian was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015. Polian co-founded the now-defunct Alliance of American Football in 2018.
Richard Spielman is an American football executive. He was the general manager of the Miami Dolphins in 2004 and the Minnesota Vikings from 2012 to 2022. He formerly worked for ESPN on NFL Live.
Reginald McKenzie is an American football executive and former player, and is currently a senior personnel executive for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the general manager of the Oakland Raiders of the NFL from January 5, 2012, until his firing on December 10, 2018. Previously, McKenzie was a linebacker for the Raiders and was later the director of player personnel for the Green Bay Packers. He played college football at Tennessee.
Scot G. McCloughan is an American football executive. He was formerly the general manager of the San Francisco 49ers and Washington Redskins, as well as a senior personnel executive for the Seattle Seahawks. McCloughan played a key role in assembling rosters that both led the 49ers and Seahawks to the Super Bowl in the 2010s.
John Schneider is a professional American football executive who is the president of football operations and general manager of the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). Schneider was previously an executive for the Washington Redskins and Green Bay Packers in the 2000s. He was a primary architect in building the Seahawks roster that went on to win Super Bowl XLVIII.
Michael Lombardi is an American football executive and media analyst. Until 2016, he was an assistant to the coaching staff of the New England Patriots and is a former analyst for the NFL Network and sportswriter at NFL.com. Lombardi also previously served as an NFL executive with the San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos, and Oakland Raiders. He hosts his own podcast "The GM Shuffle" formerly with Adnan Virk now with Femi Abebefe, and co-hosts a Saturday morning sports betting program on Sirius XM for Vegas Stats & Information Network along with a daily show on Vegas Stats & Information Network called "The Lombardi Line".
Trent John Baalke is an American football executive who is the general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL).
Tom Telesco is an American football executive who is the general manager of the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the general manager of the Los Angeles Chargers from 2013 to 2023.
Eliot Wolf is an American football executive who is the executive vice president of player personnel for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served in the Green Bay Packers' scouting department for 14 years before working as an assistant general manager with the Cleveland Browns in the late 2010s.
Anthony "Champ" Kelly is an American football executive who is the assistant general manager for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the assistant director of player personnel for the Chicago Bears from 2017 to 2021 and the director of pro scouting from 2015 to 2016. Before joining the Bears in 2015, Kelly was a member of the Denver Broncos staff and was with the Lexington Horsemen of the United Indoor Football (UIF) as general manager, coach, and player.
George Paton is an American football executive who is the general manager of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). Paton previously served as the assistant general manager and vice president of player personnel for the Minnesota Vikings and served with the Vikings in various executive roles for 14 seasons. Paton began his NFL career as a scout for the Chicago Bears before serving as the director of pro personnel for the Miami Dolphins from 2001 to 2006 and joining the Vikings in 2007. Before his career as an executive, Paton played college football at UCLA and later professionally in the Austrian Football League and Italian Football League. Paton’s tenure in Denver has been marked by a number of high-risk moves that have achieved poor results, thus leading to widespread criticism from several observers.
Brad Holmes is an American football executive who is the executive vice president and general manager of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served with the St. Louis / Los Angeles Rams in various executive roles from 2003 to 2020. Holmes was named the 2023 PFWA Executive of the Year.
Joseph Schoen is an American football executive who is the senior vice president and general manager of the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). Schoen previously served as the assistant general manager for the Buffalo Bills from 2017 to 2021. Schoen began his NFL career as a scout for the Carolina Panthers before serving in the scouting department for the Miami Dolphins from 2008 to 2016 and joining the Bills in 2017.
David Ziegler is an American football executive who currently serves as an advisor for the New Orleans Saints. He began his career as a scout for the Denver Broncos in the early 2010s before becoming a senior personnel executive for the New England Patriots. Ziegler also worked two seasons as general manager of the Las Vegas Raiders in the early 2020s.
Edward Lewis "JoJo" Wooden is an American football executive who is the senior director of player personnel for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Syracuse Orangemen and had a stint with the Phoenix Cardinals in 1993. Wooden then spent several years as a coach before joining the New York Jets in a scouting position. After 16 years with the Jets, he joined the Chargers in 2013 as director of player personnel. Wooden served the end of the 2023 season as interim general manager after the firing of Tom Telesco.