What's the #1 Most Important Job of an NFL GM?

[Sarge4Tide]

They're probably ALL important, but which of the tasks listed above is the 1 most important thing you would look for in a GM if you owned an NFL team?

[BROOKLYN JET]

Working with the coach.

[tkiss24]

Drafting significant talent in the 3rd-5th rounds. This prevent needs to overpay for non-premium positions in free agency. As we see looking at the Jets current roster, these type of players are virtually non-existent.


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[The Crusher]

Don’t suck. 

[RoadFan]

Finding a QB...

Macc failed in many areas... and it was time to move on.  But I think he succeeded at priority #1.

[56mehl56]

I went with college scouting and the draft . This is where a GM and staff get to spend a large portion of their time . While I've always said the draft is a virtual crapshoot , I'd like to feel confident that my GM and scouts work as hard as possible to find players with the biggest upside for the team. 

[Sarge4Tide]

Just now, The Crusher said:

Don’t suck. 

There's only 1 job where that isn't job #1 

[T0mShane]

Shoring up the safety position.

[JohnnyLV]

I said vision. The GM needs to define what the type of players they will have on their team, the offensive and defensive philosophies  and how to build a roster. To be successful, this is obviously hugely dependent on collaboration with the HC, coordinators and owner, so in general the GM is hired first, and then hires a HC that fits that vision.

Obviously not an option for us as we have staff already. So we need to choose a GM that is aligned with Gases vision.  McCoffee was not aligned at all with Gase. We are doing it completely backwards after another half measure in January, but the silver lining is that it looks we can wind up with a GM that not only is aligned with Gase but way way more qualified as well. All the negativity has been ludicrous over a justified firing.

[Peace Frog]

A sense of style. 

Three piece suit, kind of svelte, finely trimmed beard and mustache, chic glasses. 

Either that or the ability to attract massive amounts of talent through drafting, free agency and guile. 

[jetstream23]

Roster Mgmt and the Salary Cap gets my vote.  As you said all are important, but those two things go together and truly decide if your team is going to be stuck in the mud longterm or if you can consistently field a team of reasonable quality.

It essentially comes down to the "Keep or Cut?" and "Buy at a Nordstrom's or Costco?" type decisions.  Where do you spend and when?  When do you let a guy go?  It's the types of things that Bill Walsh and Bill Belichick did/do well.  Letting a guy go a year early instead of a year late and knowing who not to spend on.

Do you know what all-time great Offensive Lineman received the most annual money in the history of the NFL?  That's why you let some guys walk.

[jetstream23]

Deciding between Dunkin and Starbucks?

[UntouchableCrew]

Probably overall vision and plan for the direction of the team -- ideas on how to best build a team and use talent in 2019. Obviously you want a guy who can manage the cap and who is a grade A scout but you can build a department with those types of guys. You need a leader.

[section314]

Sarge.....may I add this?   Winning?

[New York Mick]

The first 3

[Sperm Edwards]

1 hour ago, T0mShane said:

Shoring up the safety position.

After being late to open the thread, I was hoping no one would beat me to this obvious layup. **** you. 

[ASH1962]

The only answer is all of the above

[Nixhead]

Maccagnan did a good job with contracts and cap management and that’s about it. His drafts were horrible. He Apparently didn’t have good relationships with other GMs or head coaches for that matter. He established no team identity. His teams didn’t win games. He drank too much coffee. He was very indecisive. Not much good to say with this guy. Some but not near enough to be a successful GM. 

[T0mShane]

30 minutes ago, Sperm Edwards said:

After being late to open the thread, I was hoping no one would beat me to this obvious layup. **** you. 

The day I get beat to an unsolicited cheap shot on the drafting of Jamal Adams is the day I hang em up, pal

[southparkcpa]

27 minutes ago, Nixhead said:

Maccagnan did a good job with contracts and cap management and that’s about it. His drafts were horrible. He Apparently didn’t have good relationships with other GMs or head coaches for that matter. He established no team identity. His teams didn’t win games. He drank too much coffee. He was very indecisive. Not much good to say with this guy. Some but not near enough to be a successful GM. 

Other than that he was awesome though. ?

[BCJet]

I went with Roster Management/cap but could also have gone with "other".

In my opinion Mac's biggest issue was a lack of negotiating whether it be contracts or navigating the draft board.  How could there not have been a single instance where we targeted a player and traded up for him?  Mac constantly traded back like someone who was afraid to actually make a decision and seemingly wanted the board to dictate who he took.

On top of that he actually got held hostage by Ryan G***anm FItzpartick - who exactly was going to pay him or let him start if it wasn't us that year?

Gase doesnt not like bell.  He felt that there were not other bids and we could have paid less to get him, again Mac negotiating against himself.  We "overpaid" for Mosley because there were other bidders and wanted him, thats why Gase didnt care about the money.

You have to be a shrewd business person to be a good GM, and hire good scouts to provide quality information so you can stack your board in FA and the draft and then make the moves you think help the most.

[JetFaninMI]

I think all are equally important. For me, scouting and drafting are top of the list. Assembling a top notch scouting operation is tantamount to running a successful organization. 

A successful GM must oversee the whole operation and picking top people in key positions is what makes it work. Being able to depend on the guys you pick is what it's all about. A GM's many duties in the day to day operation of the team means you rely heavily on your staff. If your staff is incompetent you won't last long. Just ask every failed GM and I'm sure they will agree.

[GreenFish]

Drafting well is a cure all. Drafting well allows you to have cap flexibility because you have young players at cost effective prices. Also, it allows you to have the upper and when negotiating because you have the next guy who can step in.  

[Peace Frog]

So chic glasses isn’t even rating?

[bealeb319]

I think the answer is situational. When we hired idzik the number one job was to fix the cap space. He was successful at his primary goal but failed at Every other task. For Mac the most important was to build a successful roster which he did not do well. The thing is though that the most important job means nothing if they are unsuccessful at other parts a good gm needs to be well balanced, they don't need be the best at everything it they need to be decent at it all to survive.

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[Warfish]

#1 job is roster and talent management (which kinda by default includes college and pro talent eval/decision making, having a good front office, salary cap, etc.  The GM runs the roster).

GM buys the groceries, coach is expected to make those groceries into a winning dinner. 

Owner/President can handle the business (non-football) side (the restaurant, advertising, etc., if continuing the analogy).

[ljr]

There's only 1 job where that isn't job #1 

Gay


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[Bocajetfan]

Voted Roster management and manage the cap. First six listings are in my opinion are interwoven to the above. To manage the roster you need to have a mix of Vets and younger players. That covers the scouting departments Pro and College. To provide that right mix you have to know the needs of the Coaching staff so working with the Head Coach is paramount. If a GM is doing all this the team has direction. If the GM is truly managing the roster not just bodies as I believe Mac was and others before him you are able too control the cap for the long term future you struck gold.

[thebuzzardman]

I searched for the "All of the Above" button, but could not find it

[Kleckineau]

#1 NFL GM job search requirement credo for those truly qualified....  Never take a job that comes with meddlesome ownership baked in.

 

[FidelioJet]

17 hours ago, RoadFan said:

Finding a QB...

Macc failed in many areas... and it was time to move on.  But I think he succeeded at priority #1.

The answer is, without question, find a QB.

But it took Mac 4 years to do so.  To me it means he failed miserably.

[Lith]

I said college scouting and the draft, although that and the QB are 1a and 1b.  Since we appear to have the QB, it is college scouting and draft for us.

It is almost impossible to win in today's NFL without drafting well.  You need to hit on a reasonable amount of cheap draft picks in the salary cap era.  We have seen what happens in ths last decade when a team does not draft well and needs to rebuild through free agency.  An occasional stud, but a lot of overpriced, late 20s, mid tier talent through FA, even with a top QB, is not going to build a sustainable contender.  It may give you a window for 2 or 3 years, especially with a QB on a rookie deal.  But once we have to pay Sam, we are going to need some low priced talent through the draft to win consistenlty.

[whodeawhodat]

17 hours ago, johnnysd said:

I said vision. The GM needs to define what the type of players they will have on their team, the offensive and defensive philosophies  and how to build a roster. To be successful, this is obviously hugely dependent on collaboration with the HC, coordinators and owner, so in general the GM is hired first, and then hires a HC that fits that vision.

Obviously not an option for us as we have staff already. So we need to choose a GM that is aligned with Gases vision.  McCoffee was not aligned at all with Gase. We are doing it completely backwards after another half measure in January, but the silver lining is that it looks we can wind up with a GM that not only is aligned with Gase but way way more qualified as well. All the negativity has been ludicrous over a justified firing.

I voted roster management and cap.

I think that team president would be more of the visionary role. 

Draft would be more about scouting department which he would be the final word on draft pick.  Same with pro personel scouting. I would think he would be looking at other rosters where they may have an abundance of talent where we may be lacking, a trade could be made.

[Sperm Edwards]

3 hours ago, whodeawhodat said:

I voted roster management and cap.

I think that team president would be more of the visionary role. 

Draft would be more about scouting department which he would be the final word on draft pick.  Same with pro personel scouting. I would think he would be looking at other rosters where they may have an abundance of talent where we may be lacking, a trade could be made.

If this were the case then Idzik wouldn't have been fired. Yet they fired him, not merely the scouting dept. 

Drafting is a huge part of it, as well it should be. So is making sure there's some cohesive thought to the roster you've got and the FA/draft roster players you add.

Just spending money is easy, and so is cap management.

[Jet_Engine1]

Yes.