Masterminds of the NFL: Ranking the Best Front Offices That Thrive Through Change
The NFL playoff race is heating up with spots being secured by some of the most perennially successful franchises.
Meanwhile, others are falling by the wayside with each passing week as the regular season enters its closing stretch.
Franchises like the Philadelphia Eagles have become a perennial threat to hoist the Lombardi out of the NFC, in search of a third Super Bowl appearance in the last eight seasons. Similarly, the Pittsburgh Steelers are a model of consistency, and few rosters have benefited more from stability within the organization than the foundations that have been set in places like Kansas City and Baltimore over the past decade.
Yet, not every contender is created equal.
Not every roster is built by a front office that has the luxury of retaining top executives year after year and is forced to find ways to win despite turnover in some of the most influential positions within the building.
So, what separates the most successful front offices from franchises such as the New York Jets, New York Giants, Carolina Panthers, and Jacksonville Jaguars, where despite multiple attempts at wholesale rebuilds and countless dawnings of new eras heralded by the arrival of the next ascending star at general manager and or head coach can’t seem to break through the proverbial glass ceiling regardless of how many new approaches or roster overhauls are attempted as the fruit of new organizational philosophies often imported from teams at the peak of championship success?
One NFL agent who represents several executives in buildings across the NFL believes that a front office led by a general manager capable of executing every lever of roster building at the highest level while sustaining at least a modicum of consistency in philosophy regardless of who the other decision-makers are surrounding them is paramount to getting multiple bites at the Super Bowl apple.
“An NFL agent for 20 years,” he tells me. “I have found the most successful organizations are those that prioritize consistency and experience. The most respected general managers that I reflect on have all won Super Bowls and, excel by addressing every inquiry, resolving even the smallest issues, and staying true to their values and core competencies.
“They understand the agent relationship which is beneficial during Free Agency whether it is Priority Vets or UDFA at the end of the draft. Their success is built on having a clear plan, strong support systems, and unwavering commitment to what they do best.”
Then, there’s the ability to mine diamonds in the rough off the practice squads of teams across the league, a track record of success when it comes to filling out the bottom of the roster with players claimed off the waiver wire who develop into key contributors when called upon due to injury or simply rising up the depth chart. And, which general managers and front offices are bold enough to zig on a contingency plan when they intended to zag such as the Steelers signing Russell Wilson after trading for Justin Fields or the Vikings drafting J.J. McCarthy after signing Sam Darnold.
Consider this an attempt to rank the top front offices across the league based on a specific set of criteria; sustained postseason success, the ability to thrive as an organization despite premier personnel evaluating talent leaving for influential roles elsewhere, and a track record of turning over sizable portions of the roster without dipping towards the top of the draft from the summit of championship contenders.
The most successful teams across the NFL cultivate winning cultures. Often, those cultures are forged because of the convictions in their decisions and commitment to adapting to what is called upon during a given moment of an offseason or aftermath of a devastating injury to a key player, rather than needlessly throwing money at the next marquee free agent whose best days may be behind him but his name brings excitement and hope to a fanbase or locker room.
While teams like the Baltimore Ravens, Green Bay Packers, and San Francisco 49ers are often recognized as among the NFL’s best-run franchises, they fall outside the scope of this particular ranking because of the criteria established.
These rankings prioritize front offices that have demonstrated sustained success in the face of significant internal or roster turnover, including the departure of premier talent evaluators or undertaking major roster rebuilds.
Stability and continuity, while admirable, are not the primary focus here.
For example, the Ravens have been a model of stability under general manager Eric DeCosta, who seamlessly succeeded Ozzie Newsome in 2019, and head coach John Harbaugh, who has been at the helm since 2008. While Baltimore consistently reloads talent and remains competitive, their success has largely been built on organizational continuity rather than overcoming disruptive changes. For as long as Lamar Jackson is behind center and Harbaugh on the sidelines, expect DeCosta’s Ravens to consistently rank in the pantheon atop the AFC.
Similarly, the Packers have adhered to a steadfast draft-and-develop philosophy under Brian Gutekunst, benefiting from decades of stability at the quarterback position until and now through the recent transition from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love. Their ability to stay competitive has been remarkable, but the Packers haven’t faced the frequent shakeups that are central to the rankings’ criteria.
The 49ers have achieved success under John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan, whose partnership since 2017 has created a perennial contender. However, like the Ravens and Packers, the 49ers’ success has been driven by consistency in their leadership structure rather than an ability to adapt to significant turnover or upheaval.
The franchises included in these rankings, by contrast, have thrived despite dramatic shifts, whether through rebuilding rosters, replacing key personnel, or navigating major leadership transitions. Their ability to remain among the NFL’s elite while embracing bold, unconventional strategies and handling adversity is what sets them apart under these parameters.
Here are the rankings:
1. Philadelphia Eagles
Howie Roseman seems to conduct a masterclass each offseason by making bold and aggressive free agent signings to buttress a roster whose foundation is built upon relentlessly targeting prospects that marry upside, value, and need throughout the NFL Draft.
Roseman’s philosophical discipline and approach helped the Philadelphia Eagles appear in two Super Bowls in six seasons, behind a different head coach, different quarterback, and almost completely new core of skill position players, with sights set on a top-two seed in the NFC this season to potentially make a run at a second Super Bowl trip in the past three seasons.
Meanwhile, the Eagles have seen Andrew Berry hired away to become the Cleveland Browns’ general manager, Joe Douglas left to take the top job with the New York Jets.
Then there’s rising star Brandon Brown, hired away by the New York Giants, as assistant general manager, Ian Cunningham became Ryan Poles’ top assistant with the Chicago Bears, The Browns also hired away Catherine Raîche as their assistant general manager, and the Steelers hired Andy Weidl to serve as Omar Khan’s assistant general manager which simultaneously sprouted a prominent executive tree for Roseman while creating a talent drain that Philadelphia has seemingly seamlessly replaced without the product on the field skipping a beat.
Roseman also hasn’t shied away from surrounding himself with executives used to having final say, either.
When former Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell, an outstanding eye for talent became available, Roseman hired him to a top personnel evaluation post.
Few individuals have proven more vital to this era of Eagles football or more trusted by Roseman than Jake Rosenberg. But, when Rosenberg departed prior to this season Philadelphia’s machine kept churning.
Dating back to 2017, the Eagles have finished with a winning record seven times in eight seasons, and made two Super Bowl appearances, while boasting a 6-5 playoff record over that span.
Along the way, the Eagles acquired All-Pro wide receiver A.J. Brown in a draft day trade in 2022, later bucking a historical trend across the league when it comes to devaluing running backs by signing Saquon Barkley to a three-year deal worth $37.8 million this spring, and have continuously fortified the NFL’s premier offensive line by prioritizing it each spring during the NFL Draft.
One of Roseman’s core beliefs is maintaining a steadfast commitment to making winning along both lines of scrimmage the bedrock for everything that the offensive and defensive schemes are built upon. So far, it’s served the Eagles well.
2. Kansas City Chiefs
On the surface, no organization has benefitted more from stability across the NFL than the Kansas City Chiefs.
The trio of general manager Brett Veach, head coach Andy Reid, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes have built the franchise that has become the gold standard across the NFL and the gate to Super Bowl Sunday that the entire AFC must [attempt to] pass through each season.
It is easy to say that Reid and Mahomes are the catalysts for what Kansas City has accomplished over the past five seasons, winning three Super Bowls while playing in four and now leading the charge toward the top seed this season. And, in a lot of ways, that’s completely accurate.
But, the Chiefs have also had to navigate significant turnover both in the front office as well as at key positions on the field and have done it while losing only 21 games dating back to 2019 and adding three Lombardi Trophies to their trophy case over that span.
Veach has empowered assistant general manager Mike Borganzi as one of the most influential talent evaluation voices in Kansas City. But, Brandt Tilis left for Carolina this season and the Chiefs still have a roster that’s the envy of the NFL and sitting atop the AFC at 12-1.
Chris Shea’s mastery of the salary cap helped Kansas City stay ahead of the curve both in terms of the timing of signing Patrick Mahomes to a contract that will pay him generational wealth but also at a cap number that is far less prohibitive to the Chiefs continuing to build around him than some of the mega-deals that have come afterward for other star quarterbacks across the league.
Meanwhile, on the field, Mahomes has thrived despite a revolving door of wide receivers in recent years.
After watching the Chiefs win a Super Bowl despite a receiving corps that led the league in dropped passes last season, Veach tripled down on the position over the past 10 months by trading for Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, drafting Xavier Worthy in the first round of this spring’s NFL Draft, and later acquiring All-Pro DeAndre Hopkins ahead of this fall’s trade deadline.
Similarly, knowing that Pro Bowl cornerback L’Jarius Sneed was about to command a top-of-market contract, Veach and the Chiefs selected cornerback Trent McDuffie in the first round in 2022. McDuffie was named a First-Team All-Pro in his second season and has become a backbone of the Chiefs’ success on defense.
Veach and the Chiefs also brought back running back Kareem Hunt, originally to the practice squad, who stabilized the running game when Isiah Pacheco was injured earlier this season.
The Chiefs’ defense is often overshadowed by Mahomes’ brilliance and the explosiveness of Kansas City’s offense, but Veach has quietly and consistently armed mastermind defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo with elite playmakers at all three levels of a defense that operates at a consistent championship standard.
Stability in Kansas City has helped, but Veach, Reid, and the Chiefs’ front office have consistently done what’s necessary at the highest levels to fortify weaknesses on the roster with foresight into the future as well as rapidly reacting to adversity in the present to maintain what has become a modern-day gold standard for competitive longevity in today’s NFL.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers
Contending, and the Pittsburgh Steelers may as well be listed as synonyms in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary.
Likewise, if consistency had an image above its definition, that image would be a Steelers logo.
That’s, of course, because dating back to Chuck Knoll’s hiring on January 27, 1969, the Steelers have had just three head coaches. They each have won at least one Super Bowl.
Omar Khan has been a member of the Steelers front office since 2001, was promoted as the franchise’s general manager in 2021, and over that span has two Super Bowl rings on his fingers won after the culmination of two of Pittsburgh’s 14 trips to the postseason.
Khan has helped foster and fortify what it means to be a “Pittsburgh Steeler,” steadfastly committing to both maintaining and modernizing an identity rooted in a relentlessly aggressive defense, consistently dominant running game, and at least this season, thanks to at least in part to the influence of Director of Player Scouting, Mark Sadowski, an explosive vertical passing game.
Sheldon White, the Steelers’ director of pro scouting has his fingerprints all over a roster that this season is the team to beat in the AFC North thanks in large part to additions made over the past several offseasons.
“[Steelers GM] Omar Khan and [Andy] Weidl have struck gold in the NFL Draft and free agency,” NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger told me recently. “Pittsburgh has unbelievable leadership. Nick Herbig comes in, Wisconsin guy, latches onto T.J. Watt, and follows everything he does like a puppy dog. Keenu Benton latches onto Cameron Heyward. Minkah Fitzpatrick understands the Steeler Standard.”
Playmakers simply find their way to Pittsburgh because Khan, Sadowski, White, and head coach Mike Tomlin have built a culture that expects excellence at every level of the organization. That culture has powered a team that has finished .500 or better every season since the George W. Bush administration, in 2003.
Regardless of who is alongside Khan and Tomlin, the Steelers’ reputation as a heritage franchise isn’t just safe but potentially being expounded upon thanks to realistically attainable Super Bowl expectations year in and year out.
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4. Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are one of the most pleasant surprises of the 2024 season because general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has flawlessly and seamlessly landed the plane of meticulously rebuilding while simultaneously competing.
Adofo-Mensah has built what one NFL scouting director tells me is the "best-receiving duo” in the league, ahead of this season signed free agent pass rusher Jonathan Greenard — who leads the league in pressures, while logging 10 sacks, in addition to adding heat-seeking missile Blake Cashman at linebacker, who has 73 total tackles while already tying a career-high with three sacks. Likewise, free agent addition Andrew Van-Ginkel has nine sacks and one interception returned for a touchdown, in his first season in Minnesota
Meanwhile, Adofo-Mensah and the front office made a $10 million wager that Sam Darnold could become a mentor to first-round rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy, chosen No. 10 overall this spring, but Darnold instead has played his way into the MVP conversation. After McCarthy’s rookie season ended before it could begin thanks to a torn meniscus suffered during training camp this summer, Darnold has played well enough to potentially secure his future as the Vikings’ franchise quarterback of at least the immediate future.
None of it would have been possible had the Vikings not zagged when the strategy may have called for zigging and investing resources elsewhere surrounding their incoming rookie quarterback last spring.
Winning while building was made possible because Minnesota turned its roster over thanks to one of the most prolific and effective crops of free agents signed by any team in recent memory, and the Vikings are 11-2 with a legitimate possibility of stealing the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Rob Brzezinski has been instrumental to the Vikings’ ability to sign a free agent class as dominant as the Vikings’ haul due to his deft and creative management of the salary cap.
The Vikings’ plan has involved making sound NFL Draft decisions and a bold free agent plan executed following Senior Vice President of Player Personnel, Ryan Grigson’s vision of the kind of players who should fill this roster.
Then, there’s Vice President of Football, Demitrius Washington, who arrived from the 49ers, bringing with him the analytical approach that has fueled Lynch and Shanahan’s success in San Francisco, which melds perfectly with Adofo-Mensah’s philosophy of building through analytics alongside Grigson’s prowess as a talent evaluator.
The trio of Adofo-Mensah, Grigson, and Washington is a powerhouse most NFL franchises are envious of.
Additionally, and importantly, this front office has established a culture from top to bottom throughout the organization that makes Minnesota a destination that players across the league line up to come play for.
That culture doesn’t come by accident and isn’t forged merely by victories on the field. After all, the Vikings have only made the playoffs four times since 2015, but are consistently graded as one of the highest teams in the NFLPA’s annual survey of players.
The Minnesota Vikings' 2024 success is a testament to a front office that blends innovation, strategic decision-making, and an unwavering commitment to building a winning culture.
With Kwesi Adofo-Mensah at the helm, the Vikings have redefined what it means to compete and rebuild simultaneously, crafting a blueprint that other franchises will undoubtedly look to emulate for years to come.
5. Los Angeles Rams
General manager Les Snead has survived the Rams’ “Fuck Them Picks” era, which resulted in a Super Bowl victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in 2021, and retooled a roster on the fly that seems to have the young core in place surrounding a Hall of Fame quarterback to make sustained runs at multiple more Lombardi Trophies in the coming years.
Without the luxury of a full war chest of draft capital after trading two first-round picks and a third-round pick for Matthew Stafford, two first-round picks and a fourth-round pick for Jalen Ramsey, and a second and third-round pick for Von Miller back in 2021, Snead and the Rams effectively pressed the “pause” button on what had been a successful era of building by adding elite prospects at the top of the NFL Draft.
The strategy ultimately resulted in the aforementioned Super Bowl victory.
However, despite the Rams having virtually zero presence at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis each winter and largely staying away from the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., Snead and staff are the poster child for utilizing modern analytics and data to mine their talent in the NFL Draft.
Still, Snead, alongside senior personnel executive Ray Farmer and staff, and of course thanks to head coach Sean McVay’s innovative schemes and input have appeared in two Super Bowls dating back to 2018 with two different quarterbacks and appear to have struck gold late in recent draft classes building a roster capable of challenging for more championships in the coming years.
Running back Kyren Williams was chosen in the sixth round of the NFL Draft and has surpassed 1,000 yards and scored 12 touchdowns apiece in his first two seasons. Wide receiver Puka Nacua didn’t come off the board to the Rams until the fifth round, yet is already arguably a top-ten player at the position, or better, in his second season.
Likewise, Future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald’s retirement would leave most organizations scrambling, yet Snead and staff replaced him in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft with Kobie Turner who is playing like he has perennial All-Pro upside.
The Rams’ ability to seamlessly integrate the likes of Williams, Nacua, and Turner into key roles is a testament to the front office’s ability to identify undervalued prospects’ upside and a coaching staff that excels in player development.
Snead gets the accolades as one of the more innovative and non-risk-averse general managers in the league, for good reason, but has also leaned heavily on the influence of Farmer, Chief Operating Officer Kevin Demoff, personnel executive Brian Xanders, and the steady influence of 15-year front office veteran Tony Pastoors.
Headed by Snead, the Rams' front office has mastered the art of balancing boldness with precision, ensuring their roster remains competitive and forward-looking, even as they transition from a star-laden Super Bowl team to one built on homegrown talent and savvy decision-making.
By staying ahead of the curve in analytics, embracing risk, and fostering a collaborative culture, the Rams have proven that their front office is among the NFL’s elite—and they're not done yet.