2025 General Manager Rankings || Part 1 || NFL

Edition #211

If you’ve been following Sports Square for a while now, you know what emphasis I put on General Managers. I personally think that if a team doesn't have a good GM, their team sucks. They won’t bloom. That’s kind of been my motto from day one, and an example of that would be the Philadelphia 76ers. I’ve never really talked up about this team, because to me, they just don’t have a good GM.

Since we’re in 2025, I thought, why don’t we rank the General Managers?

So, I’m beginning this series by talking about who the best GMs really are. We’re starting with the NFL, and we’ll make our way down to the MLB. The NFL today. The NBA sometime next week. The MLB sometime next to next week. In the middle, or at the end of it all, we’ll finish it up with a roundup, where the people speak.

Let's begin.

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Many people are going to think that the people I’m nominating at #1 is biased, but it absolutely isn't.

Howie Roseman is the best GM in the NFL right now, if not the best GM of all time.

I don't think he should get credited for finding QBs and their contracts. For Howie, that's always been a weak spot. One of the biggest examples of this would be Carson Wentz. Finding Wentz wasn't a big deal, but extending him to that four-year contract extension that would give him $128 million, including over $107 million guaranteed, was pretty bad. In fact, it would have kept him in Philly through the 2024 season .

Many think this is going to be the case with Jalen Hurts as well. Many think he's going to be a bust, just like Carson Wentz was. After all, it really seemed like a huge repeat with $179,399,000 of the $255,000,000 guaranteed. Doesn't look too bad right now.

What makes Howie the best, though, is his ability to actually do the work of a GM. To me, though, it's his ability to draft great players.

Yes, he’s amazing at doing the work of a GM. Stealing Saquon Barkley, that too from a division rival, is a crazy accomplishment. Plus, don't even forget about getting AJ Brown to Philly, I mean come on.

But, drafting is Howie.

Yes, he's had A LOT of draft busts. Jalen Reagor, Derek Barnett, Sidney Jones, JJ Arcega Whiteside, and Davion Taylor to name a few. But, we aren't talking about Howie 5 years ago. We’re talking about the Howie Roseman of the last 2-3 years, who drafted Cooper DeJean, Quinyon Mitchell, Jalen Carter, Devonta Smith (I know), and even Landon Dickerson. These guys are all absolute studs at what they do.

Lots of guys that Howie drafted,are either still with the Eagles, or are succeeding in another environment.

It's crazy to think that there was a time when Howie Roseman was labeled the worst GM in the NFL.

To trades. He traded up for DeVonta Smith. He stole AJ Brown. He got Big Play Slay. Ripping off the Saints with picks, which turned out to be Jalen Carter. Getting CJ Gardner-Johnson. Most importantly, getting a suitor for Carson Wentz.

To free agent pickups. Obviously Saquon Barkley, Haason Reddick, and James Bearberry are just a few of the amazing additions Howie Roseman has made.

The thing with Howie Roseman is that he's a very inconsistent drafter, but it's not really about who he drafts on draft day that makes him special, but what he does, because on that day, he's always going to be trying to trade up. He's always going to be trying to get some veterans. If he wants a guy, he's going to go all out for him. As simple as that.

Veterans is something I want to stress because the Eagles are pretty young all around, but are still old compared to teams like the Green Bay Packers.

“Trades that weren't strict draft pick swaps or deals for players who wanted to leave their existing teams used to be rare in the NFL. Roseman has been the most aggressive GM when it comes to trading for veterans, both during the offseason and at the deadline during the season. Other teams have followed, but it's a surprise when the Eagles don't add at least one veteran to the mix via trade in a given season.” (ESPN)

Most of the time, the Eagles have made huge peace with these moves, but sometimes, you have busts like Jalen Reagor. For example, the Kevin Byard and Shaq Leonard additions last year, weren't as impactful as they should have been.

Another one of Howie Roseman’s biggest assets is his salary manipulation technique. There is obviously some relation to this during the Candy Reid days, but being aggressive in signing players to extensions early in their careers to keep their costs down and create more flexibility is something that you can't just learn, but put in action.

The actions of Howie is what is allowing the Eagles to build a very expensive roster. This year, they fielded the most expensive offense in the history of football, spending $213 million plus on their offensive players. Roseman has players on significant contracts at quarterback (Hurts), running back (Saquon Barkley), wide receiver (Brown and Smith), tight end (Goedert) and at three of the five offensive line spots (Mailata, Dickerson and Johnson).

My point is, Howie does the job of a GM extremely well. According to multiple sources, a job of a GM only lasts about 3 years. Howie’s already been in the business for the Eagles for a decade now, and there's even more years coming.

The eagles may not be the most successful team in NFL history, but they got a GM who can draft young studs right, pick up amazing free agents, and swing trade however he wants.

More of what I'm trying to prove in this series is that GM’s should be valued a lot more than they are, because this is the mastermind behind who plays down on the field.

If we were ranking the top 3 executives in the NFL, it would be:

1. Howie Roseman (Eagles)

2. Brett Veach (Chiefs)

3. John Lynch (49ers)

Brett Veach is on this list because of the fact that he's built a dynasty.

John Lynch is an interesting case. He hasn't won a Super Bowl, but he's gone to 2 (lost to Brett Veach), and is always aggressive going after free agents. This SF team he's built is really good, and while they're going to be in a cap he'll in the coming years, if John Lynch can navigate out of it, we might be seeing him in the 2028 Sports Square Best GM Rankings.

Thanks for reading this edition and a special thanks to tmay on X for the beautiful thumbnail (if you're reading this and don't see it, I'm going to update it soon). Please make sure to like this post and subscribe to Sports Square to support me.