2025 NFL GM Hiring/Firing Grades
As with the coach-related page, I have made a centralized post for all 2025 GM move-related grades (most recent first) as well. Once again, these moves are typically made on or near Black Monday, the first Monday after the regular season concludes. Moves can occur midseason or after the draft, but these are rare and mean that a team is either in a bad state or being grossly mismanaged. Here, I provide hiring/firing grades for each GM change made. Teams that clean house often prefer to hire a GM first, who will then have a say in picking the coach. For those coaching changes, check out this page.
February 21, 2025
Jaguars Hire James Gladstone as GM:
The final major opening of this hiring cycle has been filled. Rams’ director of college scouting James Gladstone is the new GM in Jacksonville, replacing Trent Baalke and his awful tenure. We don’t know a whole lot about Gladstone as he’s just 34 years old, and Rams GM Les Snead apparently found him as an OC at his son’s high school. What I can tell you is that he has learned from one of the great drafters in this league, and he is supposedly a very bright football mind. Beyond that, it’s hard to tell how good a brand new GM will be. I very much like that the Jags went for someone from a stable, successful organization. Gladstone also seems like the opposite of Baalke from a personality standpoint, which is another plus. I’ll go with the same grade as the one I gave Mike Borgonzi because the risks and upside are nearly identical.
Grade: A-
January 26, 2025
Jets Hire Darren Mougey as GM:
The Jets are making some interesting choices. Mougey, the Broncos’ assistant GM who has been with the team for his entire executive career starting in 2012, is a young (39) and potentially dynamic choice. Without question, 2024 was Denver’s best season since the 2015 squad won the Super Bowl. As always, the question is how much Mougey had to do with the 2015 and 2024 teams. However, in this case, we also have to decide how much blame he deserves for the 2016-2023 seasons, which formed one of the leanest periods in franchise history. Mougey was no hire than an area scout prior to 2020, so I’d minimize his involvement before that season. I’d argue that was as involved in the infamous Russell Wilson trade as he was in the decision to draft Bo Nix. Denver has made some really good picks during his tenure, as well as some whiffs. For me, that’s too polarizing a resume. New York needs a stabilizer, and I’m not sure they’re getting one. Mougey could of course grow into the role, but will owner Woody Johnson be patient enough for that? History says “no”.
Grade: C+
January 22, 2025
Jaguars and GM Trent Baalke “Mutually Part Ways”:
You’ll notice I used those famous quotes. Here’s the real situation. Two top coaching candidates, Detroit OC Ben Johnson and Tampa OC Liam Coen, were Jacksonville targets. Johnson reportedly did not like the Jaguars’ organizational structure, while Coen took his name out of the running today to stay in TB for likely the same reason. Both decisions came down to Baalke. No legitimate coach was going to choose Jacksonville over any other opening because of the GM’s presence. For starters, Baalke is terrible at his job. He passed on Aidan Hutchinson for Travon Walker and has largely whiffed on his biggest swings. Worse still, Baalke seems to always get into power struggles with his coaches, and for some reason he wins them. Doug Pederson may have been a recent victim of one, while Jim Harbaugh left San Francisco several years ago because he couldn’t deal with Baalke anymore. Clearly, this is the best front office move of the offseason. Owner Shad Khan came to his senses, even if he did so a bit late. I would characterize this as a firing that lets both men try and save face. To be honest, I don’t care what name you give it. The important thing is that the Jaguars can finally move forward and hire a coach, who won’t be scared off now, and fix the roster.
Grade: A++
Raiders Hire John Spytek as GM:
If the Raiders couldn’t poach Mike Borgonzi from the Chiefs (as you see below, they couldn’t) or didn’t want to, the most likely option was someone from Tom Brady’s most recent team. The Bucs’ assistant GM the past two years and a player personnel executive for multiple season for that, Spytek was intimately involved in Brady’s Tampa arrival. Given the amount of roster influence Brady had there, I imagine that he knows Spytek well and can attest to his level of involvement in constructing the 2020 Super Bowl team. During his tenure, Tampa Bay has hit on quite a few picks. Again though, it’s hard to know how much he had to do with it. One thing though: it probably isn’t as hard for Brady to know as it is for me. The guy is the biggest winner in the history of football, so I’m inclined to defer to him on this matter. If he thinks Spytek is the guy after working with him, then this is less risky than a typical first-time GM. We’ll know soon whether Brady was correct. As of now, I view this hire very positively.
Grade: A
January 17, 2025
Titans Hire Mike Borgonzi as GM:
Tennessee is going with the tried-and-true approach here: poach an assistant executive from a highly successful franchise. The question is always the same: how much of your new GM’s previous success actually had anything to do with him. The Titans know what happens if the answer is no; that’s exactly the situation they saw from Ran Carthon. Carthon clearly didn’t have much of an impact on the 49ers. I’d be willing to guess that Borgonzi has played a bigger role in KC. While Carthon spent 5 years in San Francisco before getting the Tennessee job, Borgonzi has been with the Chiefs for a whopping 16 years. Borgonzi supposedly participated in much of the scouting-related work at both the college and professional levels. That’s promising, as KC has built spectacular rosters while he has been there. However, he doesn’t get to bring Andy Reid or Patrick Mahomes with him. Essentially, there’s risk in hiring any first-time GM, as they don’t have track records of their own to stand on. If you go the retread route though, that person was likely fired from his prior team due to poor performance. Therefore, I think this approach is as solid as any. Borgonzi is also a much safer bet than Carthon was due to their experience gap, so I really like this hire.
Grade: A-
January 9, 2025
Raiders Fire GM Tom Telesco
I’d love to know what Tom Brady is telling owner Mark Davis behind the scenes. Whether the former QB is influencing things or not, the Raiders have now completely reset their franchise just one year after doing the same thing. You can evaluate a coach in one year sometimes because he has existing players, so you don’t have to wait for any development to occur before judgments can take place. GMs need at least two seasons unless they do something really egregious. I don’t believe Telesco did any such thing. In his lone draft, he made the best first-round pick in the league by taking TE Brock Bowers 13th overall. His second selection, IOL Jackson Powers-Johnson, also improved throughout the year and looks like a hit. I can only think of two reasons for this firing, and only one is marginally acceptable. First, Telesco botched this year’s QB situation. In his defense, he tried and failed to trade up to acquire either Jayden Daniels or Michael Penix Jr and was rebuffed, so he had to pivot. I’d have given him another shot to address the position. The second argument, as outlined by ESPN’s Diana Russini, is that the Raiders may consider the GM and coach to be a “package deal”. If that’s true, then let Telesco help with the coaching hire instead of dumping him. Constant turnover isn’t how you run a franchise. Unless the QB thing really bothered Davis, I don’t understand the move.
Grade: F
January 7, 2025
Titans Fire GM Ran Carthon
Black Monday came and went with no news from Tennessee despite finishing with a 3-14 record that was bad enough to earn them the #1 pick. A day later, the fallout came: the Titans have fired their GM but retained coach Brian Callahan. This was 100% the correct decision. Callahan has only been coach for a year, and he inherited a subpar roster. That roster is the responsibility of Carthon, who whiffed on the QB position by drafting Will Levis. Failing to properly address the most important position in sports is bad enough. The work he has done elsewhere on the roster also demonstrates his poor management skills. Despite not having a quality team, he seemed to be in win-now mode. He made a big-money offer to WR Calvin Ridley, traded and extended CB L’Jarius Sneed, and added more veterans as if he were going for a Super Bowl. This hire had promise back in 2023, but Carthon has proven that he had nothing to do with the drafting success in San Francisco. Making this move now means that he won’t be in charge of that precious #1 draft pick, which is crucial. Last and most certainly not least, he wanted former coach Mike Vrabel gone, which sunk the Titans into the abyss. I applaud owner Amy Adams Strunk. Admitting a mistake is tough, but moving on was the right thing to do.
Grade: A+