The Athletic: Which NFL teams have the best front offices? Head coaches and execs cast their votes

[BearNorth]

3 minutes ago, Bruffalo said:

I have a morbid curiosity for who would be worst if they were asked the reverse. 

Um - Jets, Saints, Titans and sadly Giants [staffed with a healthy group of Bills alums] could all be classified as recent dumpster fires.

[Big Turk]

36 minutes ago, RyanC883 said:

how is KC not #2?  In no universe should the Bills be ahead of them.  

 

I'm not saying we aren't 4, but this is weird.  

 

Unless the author (perhaps correctly) believes the Bills have been a better team, but not capatilized on it in January.  

 

How would the Rams or Ravens be ahead of the Bills then?  Ravens consistently fail in playoffs with "high end rosters" due in large part to their QB playing his worst game of the year and Rams had one SB win and have been a middling team ever since. Also Ravens have the league's worst defense with multiple all-pros, pro-bowlers and 7 first round picks on it.

Edited September 24 by Big Turk

[TBBills Fan]

4th place doesn't even get you a bronze metal...pathetic!

[Gregg]

1 hour ago, Rubes said:

We'll never be ranked #1 until we get rid of McDermott!

 

 

Or win a Super Bowl with him. To be fair he played a big part in changing the culture of the Bills. He has an excellent regular season record. If he gets the Bills to the Super Bowl and wins one, he will become the greatest Bills coach in their history. If Terry ever fired him then he would be unemployed for about 5 seconds before getting another HC job.

Edited September 24 by Gregg

[balln]

So basically they’re voted highly bc everyone had a negative or unclear view of Josh Allen. And yes they developed him. And yes he’s mvp. So to me it’s like the voted based on expectations being low and years later they shattered them. 

 

but what about the rest of the team / roster? And FA signings 

[HOUSE]

The best front offices will improve the team at the trade deadline almost every year.

The teams with average front offices do nothing as the competition becomes stronger 

Tyreek Hill should land in KC any day now...🤔

 

 

Edited September 24 by HOUSE

[billsfan89]

I don't really think it is arguable that the Bills don't have one of the best front offices in the league. You don't win your division 5 years in a row and 7 playoff games just by having a great QB. The Bengals have a comparable QB's and they have not had nearly the same amount of team success for example.

[Mikie2times]

17 minutes ago, billsfan89 said:

I don't really think it is arguable that the Bills don't have one of the best front offices in the league. You don't win your division 5 years in a row and 7 playoff games just by having a great QB. The Bengals have a comparable QB's and they have not had nearly the same amount of team success for example.

The Bengals have played several years without Burrow and have advanced further than the Bills despite that. We have essentially been in a state where competent defensive play would have gotten us at least to how far the Bengals have been. But we haven't been able to be competent against higher competition. You see what our offspring in New York is doing without Allen. I don't think it's inarguable at all. I think it's extremely overstated how effective our roster building is. 

[billsfan89]

6 minutes ago, Mikie2times said:

The Bengals have played several years without Burrow and have advanced further than the Bills despite that. We have essentially been in a state where competent defensive play would have gotten us at least to how far the Bengals have been. But we haven't been able to be competent against higher competition. You see what our offspring in New York is doing without Allen. I don't think it's inarguable at all. I think it's extremely overstated how effective our roster building is. 

 

The Bengals had a two year window to compete and it shut because the team has not drafted well and they can no longer paper that over with cap dollars as Burrow is no longer on a rookie deal, they got one round farther one year and you are using that as the basis for why the Bills aren't effective at roster building. 

 

I know fans like to dismiss the regular season and just focus on the playoffs but I'm sorry the regular season still counts and even in the playoffs the Bills have had some success. In order to think that the Bills are the terrible or mediocre front office and it is being papered over by a great QB you would have to look at the Bengals and see what a truly mediocre supporting cast looks like and how a great QB can only paper over so much. 

[JGMcD2]

1 hour ago, balln said:

So basically they’re voted highly bc everyone had a negative or unclear view of Josh Allen. And yes they developed him. And yes he’s mvp. So to me it’s like the voted based on expectations being low and years later they shattered them. 

 

but what about the rest of the team / roster? And FA signings 

Idk, maybe read the rest of the blurb…

 

General manager Brandon Beane and coach Sean McDermott share a like-minded view on roster acquisition. And while there have been inconsistencies in the draft, the Bills were still able to reload on the fly over the last two years, shedding veterans for a youth movement.

 

“They have a really good staff and a clear vision for what a Bill looks like,” an executive said. “With few exceptions, their guys are always tough and competitive.”

 

There’s a real significance in building through the draft in Buffalo, too. Quite poignantly, it hadn’t been a priority destination for free agents, at least not before Allen took off.

 

“They identified the QB and built around him,” another executive said. “They’ve got a good group of scouts who work hard, grind, know how to get information and they’re really organized.”

 

EDIT: Here is the blurb on KC, what’s the difference? Other than John Dorsey drafting 3 Hall of Fame players before Beane took over as GM of the Bills?

 

Former general manager John Dorsey drafted quarterback Patrick Mahomes, defensive lineman Chris Jones and tight end Travis Kelce. Still, his protégé, Brett Veach, has maintained the operation's integrity since his 2017 promotion.

 

Veach, who followed coach Andy Reid to Kansas City in 2013, worked on the college side and had a hand in the evaluation of the Chiefs’ three most impactful additions.

 

That continuity has been an asset. The player evaluation process is known to be especially thorough, and the coaches have trusted the scouting department, which has resulted in strong chemistry within the draft room.

 

“They all speak the same language and know what the coaches want,” an executive said.

 

The Chiefs don’t have a flawless draft record, but other executives insist that the overall body of work is impressive, considering they consistently select late. For example, consider 2021, when they selected linebacker Nick Bolton and center Creed Humphrey late in the second round. Kansas City then picked right guard Trey Smith in the sixth.

 

“They obviously crushed the Mahomes pick, which is an all-time great one, and he is just so good that can cover other things,” an executive said. “With all these successful teams, that’s what people don’t realize. When you are successful every year, having to pick at the end of each round, the talent is drained. Yet, they are still finding players and culture fits.”

Edited September 24 by JGMcD2

[HappyDays]

3 hours ago, RyanC883 said:

how is KC not #2?  In no universe should the Bills be ahead of them.  

 

Funny enough if you ask Chiefs fans on social media they'll tell you Brett Veach hasn't hit on enough draft picks and has mismanaged the offensive personnel. He gave a massive contract to what turned out to be a terrible RT.

 

They're 1-2 right now primarily because of major roster deficiencies at multiple key positions. The only reason they are still seen as a playoff team is the QB and the coaching staff. The rest of it is pretty middling. Not that they are a bad front office by any stretch of the imagination but they don't automatically get top 2 consideration because of the team's success.

[AlBUNDY4TDS]

3 hours ago, Low Positive said:

Cincinnati. If they are rating scouts, they have none to evaluate.

They do, although relatively small.

[Mikie2times]

38 minutes ago, billsfan89 said:

 

The Bengals had a two year window to compete and it shut because the team has not drafted well and they can no longer paper that over with cap dollars as Burrow is no longer on a rookie deal, they got one round farther one year and you are using that as the basis for why the Bills aren't effective at roster building. 

 

I know fans like to dismiss the regular season and just focus on the playoffs but I'm sorry the regular season still counts and even in the playoffs the Bills have had some success. In order to think that the Bills are the terrible or mediocre front office and it is being papered over by a great QB you would have to look at the Bengals and see what a truly mediocre supporting cast looks like and how a great QB can only paper over so much. 

When the Bengals window was open they accomplished more, including taking us to the woodshed multiple times. 

 

Nobody is saying our FO is terrible or mediocre. Is it possible they're average with an all time QB leading the way? Look at what has happened in New York to the direct disciples of this regime.  Yes. It's very possible, IMO probable. 

[RochesterLifer]

55 minutes ago, Mikie2times said:

The Bengals have played several years without Burrow and have advanced further than the Bills despite that. We have essentially been in a state where competent defensive play would have gotten us at least to how far the Bengals have been. But we haven't been able to be competent against higher competition. You see what our offspring in New York is doing without Allen. I don't think it's inarguable at all. I think it's extremely overstated how effective our roster building is. 

Please provide an example of the Bengals advancing further without Burrow. If you're going to try to show you are smarter, sentence structure matters.

[Mikie2times]

Just now, RochesterLifer said:

Please provide an example of the Bengals advancing further without Burrow. If you're going to try to show you are smarter, sentence structure matters.

I didn't say I was smarter than other people but it does appear like I have thicker skin. 

[billsfan89]

6 minutes ago, Mikie2times said:

When the Bengals window was open they accomplished more, including taking us to the woodshed multiple times. 

 

Nobody is saying our FO is terrible or mediocre. Is it possible they're average with an all time QB leading the way? Look at what has happened in New York to the direct disciples of this regime.  Yes. It's very possible, IMO probable. 

 

I would wager that the FO is at worst an above average FO at worst. The Bills lost to the Bengals once in the playoffs in 2022 by a large margin on a team that was beat up after a season from hell (the 2022 game with Hamlin was the no-contest). Other than that the Bills lost one other regular season game to the Bengals in 2023 24-18 game hardly taken behind the woodshed. That's it they haven't faced off since. 

 

To me the Bills FO is top 5-7 in the league. I don't put much stock into Daboll and Schoen failing in NY as being an indictment on the Bills Front Office because sometime coaches and executives are good in one role but not ready to go up a notch, doesn't mean that when they were in Buffalo they weren't put in the right places.

[Mikie2times]

Just now, billsfan89 said:

 

I would wager that the FO is at worst an above average FO at worst. The Bills lost to the Bengals once in the playoffs in 2022 by a large margin on a team that was beat up after a season from hell (the 2022 game with Hamlin was the no-contest). Other than that the Bills lost one other regular season game to the Bengals in 2023 24-18 game hardly taken behind the woodshed. That's it they haven't faced off since. 

 

To me the Bills FO is top 5-7 in the league. I don't put much stock into Daboll and Schoen failing in NY as being an indictment on the Bills Front Office because sometime coaches and executives are good in one role but not ready to go up a notch, doesn't mean that when they were in Buffalo they weren't put in the right places.

I get why people feel as they do on both sides. I feel like above everything else we have a very competent leadership team. They aren't going to screw the pooch or make critical mistakes. That obviously matters a lot and puts them at least in the middle. Where people slot them from that point is fairly dug in for each side unless new information comes available. 

[JP51]

3 hours ago, BearNorth said:

Um - Jets, Saints, Titans and sadly Giants [staffed with a healthy group of Bills alums] could all be classified as recent dumpster fires.

after the Watson debacle, I cant believe they wouldnt be voting for the Browns as the worst... there was a lot of po'ed GMs after that mess... who knows maybe they feel bad for them now...  Jets have to be right in there...  I feel like the Titans and the Saints are just going thru a natural cycling... 

[dpberr]

I wouldn't rate the Eagles #1.  No way.  

 

They have pushed nearly $500 million in contract expenses into the 2028-2030 seasons to fund today.  The limitation is an owner's willingness, even capability, to spend that cash up front, and Lurie is risking the value of his franchise by doing it.  (The Bills, I think, by comparison, are somewhere around $70 million.)

 

The Eagles are counting on significantly higher viewership to drive the next media deal and a massive increase in salary cap space in 2029. They're borrowing heavily against future revenue to pay players now, banking on the expectation that future earnings will rise enough to balance it out. So far, the strategy has worked.  However, if the cap doesn’t increase as much as projected, they will face Saints-like "end of days" financial trouble in 2028, 2029, and 2030.

[GoBills808]

3 hours ago, Low Positive said:

Cincinnati. If they are rating scouts, they have none to evaluate.

Lol what