2026 NFL GM Hiring/Firing Grades

As with the coach-related page, I have made a centralized post for all 2026 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.

January 30, 2026

Vikings Fire GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah:
This was a shocker. We’re so late in the hiring cycle, and Adofo-Mensah just got an extension last year. Maybe Sam Darnold going to the Super Bowl ruined the team’s faith in him. I’m kidding, but his management of the QB situation is certainly what cost him his job. He allowed Kirk Cousins to walk because he wouldn’t pay him. Daniel Jones was around after the Giants cut him, but he too left to go start for the Colts and had a great half season. Darnold led the team to a 14-3 record last year, but Adofo-Mensah wouldn’t pay him either because he had just stupidly drafted JJ McCarthy 10th overall. McCarthy was handed the job this year, and he bombed hard. It’s hard for a team to find ONE good starting QB, so imagine how bad you have to be at your job to let three of them leave for nothing. Most of the roster is really good, so Adofo-Mensah deserves credit there. In the modern NFL though, it’s all about the QB, and he couldn’t handle that one task with any sort of competence. In a side note, more than 50% of his 1st-round picks have been whiffs. You can’t miss on such premium selections. The Vikings announced that VP of football operations Rob Brzezinski will run things through the draft, which would be really weird if he isn’t going to be the new permanent GM. That’s still better than letting Adofo-Mensah do the job though. I apologize to Vikings fans that this move didn’t come two years earlier.
Grade: A+

Falcons Hire Ian Cunningham as GM:
It took time for this search to culminate in a hire, but Atlanta landed their man in Bears assistant GM Ian Cunningham. Amazingly, this will not earn Chicago any compensatory draft picks as Matt Ryan is seen as the Falcons’ “primary executive”. Anyway, that just makes the hire a tad better for Atlanta, as a conference foe won’t gain more ammunition. Cunningham has been part of a fantastic turnaround in Chicago. I like to try and determine assistants’ exact levels of impact before I grade their hiring, and this one looks promising. Cunningham has been on GM shortlists for a couple of years now. Teams are really taking note of the work he has done. His other notable experience was as a scouting executive with the Eagles, and we all know how well they draft and target players. This is one case where I can actually project success with a GM hire and not guess as much. Cunningham has worked his way up to the role, and he’s ready for his shot. That’s good, as there’s plenty of work to do in Atlanta.
Grade: A

January 9, 2026

Dolphins Hire Jon-Eric Sullivan as GM:
It’s always hard to tell how good another team’s assistant front office personnel will be in the head role because you don’t know how influential they were on their former team’s decisions. I like to look at these hirings based on the characteristics of the organization to see what we can glean. Green Bay is famous for drafting and developing talent extremely well. As their former VP of Player Personnel, Sullivan would’ve been a key factor in related decisions. Miami’s exact problem has been effective drafting, as Chris Grier whiffed on numerous first-round picks. Most people were going to be upgrades over Grier, but this is actually a quality hire. Unless you’ve got a can’t-miss candidate, it’s hard to earn an A, but this is about as solid as you can otherwise get.
Grade: B+

January 4, 2026

Rams Fire GM Terry Fontenot:
Atlanta went all-in on their house cleaning, firing Fontenot along with HC Raheem Morris. Once again, they’re making the right choice. Whenever I think of Fontenot, all that comes to my mind is signing QB Kirk Cousins for $100M guaranteed and then drafting a QB 8th overall a few months later. No matter how good Michael Penix Jr can become, that moved sabotaged the team. Penix has often been unavailable due to injury, and Fontenot never put a defense around him until it was much too late. He finally did so in 2025 but at the cost of next year’s first-round pick. That selection is going to be fairly decent due to his roster construction shortcomings. I think it’s right to move on from both men at the same time. They made this mess together, so they can depart together. His successor will be in a hole without that pick, but someone professional needs to be in charge.
Grade: A+