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.

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+