Wondering which NFL General Managers are favoured amongst their fans even in the offseason? We’ve rank the most popular GMs during free agency.
With the 2024 season coming to a close after Super Bowl LIX, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the NFL was in a quiet period. However, that could not be further from the truth.
Fast forward one month and fan scrutiny has switched from players and coaches to front office executives as NFL Free Agency commenced in March.
With this in mind, the team here at Betway wanted to find out which NFL General Managers are proving to be popular amongst their fans since free agency started and contracts started to be signed.
Using a social listening tool to analyze online posts since March 10th, the data found that the Jacksonville Jaguars’ James Gladstone had the most positive sentiment towards him at a whopping 96%.
While the Jags may not have had the best free agency, the high positive sentiment could reflect the fact that fans are prepared to be patient under the new leadership of Gladstone and first year Head Coach Liam Coen.
The Minnesota Vikings’ Kwesi Adofo-Mensah ranked as the second most popular GM in the league during free agency with a positive sentiment score of 88% in Minnesota. The Vikings had a strong 2024 regular season and have since added players such as Jonathan Allen to their roster while retaining key pieces such as Aaron Jones and Harrison Smith.
The table below highlights the positive sentiment for each NFL GM since the start of NFL Free Agency.
|
Rank |
General Manager |
Team |
Positive Sentiment |
|
1 |
James Gladstone |
Jacksonville Jaguars |
96% |
|
2 |
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah |
Minnesota Vikings |
88% |
|
3 |
George Paton |
Denver Broncos |
75% |
|
4 |
Ryan Poles |
Chicago Bears |
70% |
|
5 |
Eric DeCosta |
Baltimore Ravens |
60% |
|
6 |
Brandon Beane |
Buffalo Bills |
50% |
|
7 |
Adam Peters |
Washington Commanders |
49% |
|
8 |
Darren Mougey |
New York Jets |
48% |
|
9 |
Nick Caserio |
Houston Texans |
47% |
|
10 |
Brett Veach |
Kansas City Chiefs |
45% |
|
11 |
Brad Holmes |
Detroit Lions |
43% |
|
12 |
Jason Licht |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
41% |
|
13 |
Omar Khan |
Pittsburgh Steelers |
37% |
|
14 |
Chris Ballard |
Indianapolis Colts |
35% |
|
15 |
Eliot Wolf |
New England Patriots |
34% |
|
16 |
Monti Ossenfort |
Arizona Cardinals |
31% |
|
17 |
Andrew Berry |
Cleveland Browns |
30% |
|
18 |
Les Snead |
Los Angeles Rams |
29% |
|
19 |
Howie Roseman |
Philadelphia Eagles |
28% |
|
20 |
John Spytek |
Las Vegas Raiders |
27% |
|
21 |
Chris Grier |
Miami Dolphins |
26% |
|
21 |
Mickey Loomis |
New Orleans Saints |
26% |
|
23 |
Mike Borgonzi |
Tennessee Titans |
25% |
|
24 |
Dan Morgan |
Carolina Panthers |
24% |
|
25 |
Jerry Jones |
Dallas Cowboys |
22% |
|
26 |
John Lynch |
San Francisco 49ers |
21% |
|
27 |
Joe Schoen |
New York Giants |
20% |
|
28 |
Joe Hortiz |
Los Angeles Chargers |
17% |
|
29 |
John Schneider |
Seattle Seahawks |
15% |
|
30 |
Duke Tobin |
Cincinnati Bengals |
11% |
|
31 |
Brian Gutekunst |
Green Bay Packers |
10% |
|
32 |
Terry Fontenot |
Atlanta Falcons |
9% |
On the flip side, Atlanta Falcons’ Terry Fontenot is the GM facing the most heat. Posts mentioning Fontenot in Georgia had a positive sentiment score of just 9%.
Key losses in players such as Drew Dalman and Grady Jarrett combined with the Kirk Cousins situation seem to have Falcons fans frustrated at the activity from the front office so far this offseason.
Green Bay Packers’ Brian Gutekunst narrowly ranked as the second least popular GM in the NFL during free agency with a positive sentiment score of 10%. While the Packers have made notable additions such as Nate Hobbs and Aaron Banks, many fans seem to feel like the team needs a little bit more.
With speculation surrounding Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins’ future at the start of free agency mixed with uncertainty over the defensive side of the ball, Cincinnati Bengals GM Duke Tobin rounded off the top three GMs on the hot seat.
Tobin’s positive sentiment score was only 11%. However, after securing long term deals for both Chase and Higgins, the Bengals GM may have eased the pressure on him.
There’s still plenty of time remaining in the NFL Offseason though which means many GM’s have the opportunity to redeem themselves via trades, signings or even the 2025 NFL Draft. And if you’re looking for more interesting insights like this throughout the offseason, just head over to the Betway site!
Methodology
Using the social listening tool Brandwatch, we analyzed online mentions of each NFL General Manager in their team’s home location. These General Managers were then ranked highest to lowest by the percentage of positive sentiment in these mentions.
Online mentions from March 10th, 2025 – March 21st, 2025, were analyzed.
