What's your GM philosophy?

[Flagg the Wanderer]

Stemming from some of the discussion around the Rams all-out "win-now" moves of trading away so many high picks for a dominant collection of talent for a short window.

Let's assume pure talent evaluation (draft, FA, and pro player) is equalized across the league.
How do you attain sustainable success? Or do you not bother, and try to overload some years to maximize your chances for a short window? I thought of a few different aspects of this that might play into it:

How do you think about roster construction? Do you focus on buttressing weaknesses or building up overpowering strengths? Offense vs defense? Depth vs impact stars? Are there certain positions where you lean towards spending more of the cap, or where you tend towards drafting vs FA/trade? Rookies vs youth vs vets?

Do you prefer well-rounded players or specialists who are exceptional at one or two things? Does this differ by position?

How do you think about contracts? Distribution across the team, as well as the structure of individual contracts - bonuses, long v short, voidables, incentives, etc?

How do you think about adding to the team via draft pics vs trades vs udfa vs udfa/rfa? Do you tend to lean towards trading up or trading down in the draft?

What about player trades? When are players "tradeable" and what makes a player a trade target? What time of year is best for trading players in or out, or does it matter?

 

[Big/Sky/Fly]

It depends on what your strengths and weaknesses are...

 

[O.Z.O.]

Build rom the line back on both sides of the ball. That's how Joe Gibbs won four conference titles and three Superb Owls with three different QBs

 

[Mazz22]

Stemming from some of the discussion around the Rams all-out "win-now" moves of trading away so many high picks for a dominant collection of talent for a short window.

Let's assume pure talent evaluation (draft, FA, and pro player) is equalized across the league.
How do you attain sustainable success? Or do you not bother, and try to overload some years to maximize your chances for a short window? I thought of a few different aspects of this that might play into it:

How do you think about roster construction? Do you focus on buttressing weaknesses or building up overpowering strengths? Offense vs defense? Depth vs impact stars? Are there certain positions where you lean towards spending more of the cap, or where you tend towards drafting vs FA/trade? Rookies vs youth vs vets?

Do you prefer well-rounded players or specialists who are exceptional at one or two things? Does this differ by position?

How do you think about contracts? Distribution across the team, as well as the structure of individual contracts - bonuses, long v short, voidables, incentives, etc?

How do you think about adding to the team via draft pics vs trades vs udfa vs udfa/rfa? Do you tend to lean towards trading up or trading down in the draft?

What about player trades? When are players "tradeable" and what makes a player a trade target? What time of year is best for trading players in or out, or does it matter?

Great thread topic!

I am tending to lean more toward the Rams model because the window to win is tight no matter how you construct a team. I don't believe in trading all the picks they did but I do think being aggressive and specifically looking for game changing type players on both sides of the ball is the way go. The cap is just so tough to manage long term so if you always have a long-term view then you miss the short term op to win a chip or two.

 

[Darth Despot]

I would try to build a deep roster because injuries are inevitable. Doing so would almost put me in the "long-term" camp by default.

 

[Mazz22]

Build rom the line back on both sides of the ball. That's how Joe Gibbs won four conference titles and three Superb Owls with three different QBs

There was no cap back then or FA.

 

[chevss454]

Stemming from some of the discussion around the Rams all-out "win-now" moves of trading away so many high picks for a dominant collection of talent for a short window.

Let's assume pure talent evaluation (draft, FA, and pro player) is equalized across the league.
How do you attain sustainable success? Or do you not bother, and try to overload some years to maximize your chances for a short window? I thought of a few different aspects of this that might play into it:

How do you think about roster construction? Do you focus on buttressing weaknesses or building up overpowering strengths? Offense vs defense? Depth vs impact stars? Are there certain positions where you lean towards spending more of the cap, or where you tend towards drafting vs FA/trade? Rookies vs youth vs vets?

Do you prefer well-rounded players or specialists who are exceptional at one or two things? Does this differ by position?

How do you think about contracts? Distribution across the team, as well as the structure of individual contracts - bonuses, long v short, voidables, incentives, etc?

How do you think about adding to the team via draft pics vs trades vs udfa vs udfa/rfa? Do you tend to lean towards trading up or trading down in the draft?

What about player trades? When are players "tradeable" and what makes a player a trade target? What time of year is best for trading players in or out, or does it matter?

Wow you're asking enough to fill a few books!

It's difficult to answer because it depends what I have to work with in terms of personnel. The starting point determines how I'd approach team building.

The draft works for a mature top 10 team if a GM chooses wisely. But a top team still needs to utilize the FA market to fill positions of need when necessary since the draft is iffy.

Those teams stuck in middle-of-the-road mediocrity will stay there if they don't use FAs to shore up important positions.

The bad teams get to draft the cream of the crop but those players may well be gone in 4 years. It's an endless cycle for them.

Starting from scratch:
QB is first and foremost.
After that I want a solid OL to protect the QB.
Then I want a solid player at DT, MLB, CB, Edge and S.
Then I fill in the defense and add WRs, TEs and RBs as feasible.
After I have all that in I upgrade whenever I can by whatever method is available.

Generally, I like BB's method of trading down for more choices.
He uses the draft for depth which is why he trades out of the 1st round so often. It's worked pretty well so long as the QB position is filled.
Once the team is "built" I'd look for constant upgrades at the starting positions, concentrating on skill positions for firepower.

 

[O.Z.O.]

There was no cap back then or FA.

that doesn't change the effectiveness of the philosophy

 

[sg14]

I think BB should do more of McVay way of acquiring talent. BB's strength in player evaluation is once the player is in the league. We've seen it via free agency.

Anyone wish we traded that Harry pick for a known NFL talent?

 

[foobahl]

There was no cap back then or FA.

Even so, If you cannot block as an offense or penetrate as a defense not much else matters.

 

[Roberto71]

Build rom the line back on both sides of the ball. That's how Joe Gibbs won four conference titles and three Superb Owls with three different QBs

Yep, it's a simple game at heart. The game is won and lost in the trenches, on the line of scrimmage.

 

[Mazz22]

that doesn't change the effectiveness of the philosophy

Sure. I agree. It’s just with no cap you can pay all the lineman and also pay every one else. The cap and FA is what makes this such an interesting discussion. Also players are now moving and forcing trades which adds another layer.

 

[Big/Sky/Fly]

I think BB should do more of McVay way of acquiring talent. BB's strength in player evaluation is once the player is in the league. We've seen it via free agency.

Anyone wish we traded that Harry pick for a known NFL talent?

BB sucks at finding WR's. He should just trade picks for legit WR's. Other positions he's very good at finding in the draft and also in free agency/UDFA. I agree with your POV.

 

[SkiptoMyLou]

As some posters have said, it all depends on what cornerstone positions you have in place already.

If you are able to have enough veteran presence then I think building through the draft works best.

First and foremost a QB you can build around. If not then the process has to change to build a strong defense and an offense that is well suited to not make mistakes and grind games out. Strong offensive and defensive front would be the main point of emphasis.

You try to build a physical defense and add weapons if you have the QB, though.

As you saw with the Bengals that model took them all the way to the Super Bowl, but ignoring the OL ended up basically losing them the SB in the end.

There has to be a balance. If there is enough cap and enough FAs available a mixture of both draft and FA can be a good balance, but even that can take years to bear fruits.

This is a fascinating topic, which could yield thousands of different answers.

 

[O.Z.O.]

As some posters have said, it all depends on what cornerstone positions you have in place already.

If you are able to have enough veteran presence then I think building through the draft works best.

First and foremost a QB you can build around. If not then the process has to change to build a strong defense and an offense that is well suited to not make mistakes and grind games out. Strong offensive and defensive front would be the main point of emphasis.

You try to build a physical defense and add weapons if you have the QB, though.

As you saw with the Bengals that model took them all the way to the Super Bowl, but ignoring the OL ended up basically losing them the SB in the end.

There has to be a balance. If there is enough cap and enough FAs available a mixture of both draft and FA can be a good balance, but even that can take years to bear fruits.

This is a fascinating topic, which could yield thousands of different answers

That was the Ravens philosophy for years until they drafted Lamar. It's been a steady descent since they abandoned that.

 

[chevss454]

That was the Ravens philosophy for years until they drafted Lamar. It's been a steady descent since they abandoned that.

So true. They benefited from Bill Belichick's drafts in Cleveland then from Ozzie Newsome as GM who learned from BB.

 

[HAMMERMILL]

So much is built on ownership.
Is ownership willing to wait for a team based on draft picks to develop
or are they in win now mode.

 

[TommyD420]

It's not a ton different from building a baseball team, if you think about it. Offensive and Defensive Lines are your Bullpen and Starters, and you have to be strong up the middle C/SS/CF vs. QB/MLB/S. The edges are the flashy names and big contracts, but you can usually find 2nd and 3rd level guys who can get similar production. (I would value Cornerback above a Left Fielder, but that's really about it).

 

[Hawg73]

Stemming from some of the discussion around the Rams all-out "win-now" moves of trading away so many high picks for a dominant collection of talent for a short window.

Let's assume pure talent evaluation (draft, FA, and pro player) is equalized across the league.
How do you attain sustainable success? Or do you not bother, and try to overload some years to maximize your chances for a short window? I thought of a few different aspects of this that might play into it:

How do you think about roster construction? Do you focus on buttressing weaknesses or building up overpowering strengths? Offense vs defense? Depth vs impact stars? Are there certain positions where you lean towards spending more of the cap, or where you tend towards drafting vs FA/trade? Rookies vs youth vs vets?

Do you prefer well-rounded players or specialists who are exceptional at one or two things? Does this differ by position?

How do you think about contracts? Distribution across the team, as well as the structure of individual contracts - bonuses, long v short, voidables, incentives, etc?

How do you think about adding to the team via draft pics vs trades vs udfa vs udfa/rfa? Do you tend to lean towards trading up or trading down in the draft?

What about player trades? When are players "tradeable" and what makes a player a trade target? What time of year is best for trading players in or out, or does it matter?

Tons of meat on that brontosaurus bone, but I'll respond to the bolded part because I've been thinking about it lately.

Sustainable success is impossible, except for Belichick and even that is under question (again) so we'll see how that goes.

The Rams formula worked, barely, so it'll no doubt be examined and possibly emulated. It is almost the opposite of our approach, but most every team
is just hoping for a single ring and they don't care about sustained success because it is ludicrously hard to do so given the cap rules etc., etc. Most
teams would take the ring and be happy no matter what happens the next year or three.

So, it's interesting to see how Snead does his thing. If the Rams implode, enter cap hell or both, he won't care because he's going to land a job with somebody
who is desperate for a ring. Same goes for McVay. Somebody will give those guys a chance for years to come, so it's a win for them, for sure. There are elements
to their approach that are admirable, but would I trade all my valuable draft picks for high-priced FAs? No, but it worked for them this year.

I'm spoiled and am all about competing every year. I could see the logic in "going all in" for our last SB win, but if you're smart enough and make wise decisions
with money, personnel and team chemistry then you don't have to mortgage the farm for one big win.

I still want it all. The Rams won primarily because they have one guy that nobody can block and one guy nobody can cover. They didn't need to trade all their picks
and pay huge money on those guys because they went out and found them, ignored that Donald was short and Kupp was slow and got them cheap for 4/5 years.
Those are good decisions, just like the ones I'd make every year.

 

[Mazz22]

Teams in general are focused on getting 2-3 superstars on offense. Reminds me of the NBA. Your best guys vs our best guys.

It all starts and ends with the Qb position in todays league. I’ve posted this before but look at the final 8 teams in the post season the last few years and you will find very good/elite/HoF QBs. The outliers this year were Tanny and Jimmy and both choked - the niners are moving on from Jimmy to Lance who they hope can be very good to elite and the fans in Tenn want to desperately move on from Tanny.

The rules have made it an offensive league. It’s interesting though the last 2 SB winners - Tampa and Rams - had elite offenses and a great defense. They were complete teams.

For the Patriots, Bill has to hit on these next 2 drafts and then go from there. Even the Rams have a lot of home grown talent. It is always a combo of draft and FA and then strategic trades and UDFA.

I think everything these days feels rushed. Like there is no time to wait and develop. Coaches are fired after one or two bad seasons. There isn’t any patience anymore and players and coaches will team hop for their next best op.

It’s a very different landscape and mindset than it was 20 years ago or even 10 years ago.