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NFL

How many NFL teams’ owners are also general managers?

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones insists he’s the best man for both jobs, but is this common practice in the NFL? Well, no. Not really.

Jerry Jones, dueño de los Cowboys, es demandado por difamación
TOM PENNINGTONAFP

“It’s time for Jerry Jones the owner to fire Jerry Jones the GM!” How many years have we been saying that? Too many...and yet, it’s never going to happen. Jones is steadfast on his stance that he is the only one who can properly manage the team. When anyone else even tried to step on his toes and make some decisions, he fired them (case in point, Jimmy Johnson, in case that wasn’t blatantly obvious on its own).

Just a few months ago, he went on a curse-filled rant about why no one else can do the job but him and until he “gets hit by a car”, he’s the Cowboys GM, so just go ahead and get over it already! And while he’s unwavering in this belief of his, the reality is that the Cowboys have not won a title in nearly three decades and their lack of success is largely due to the front office decision-making. But I digress.

NFL owners who act as GM

This begs the question of how normal this is in the NFL and the answer is, not very. As of the time of this writing (October 2024), Jerry Jones is the only NFL owner who also acts as general manager of the team he owns.

The Cincinnati Bengals do not have an official GM. Owner Mike Brown used to be the assistant general manager, but his official title now is just owner. Meanwhile, Duke Tobin, who is the Bengals’ director of player personnel is referred to as the de facto general manager.

For many years, the New England Patriots had head coach Bill Belichick acting as the general manager, which is also a rare occurrence in the NFL, but it has happened (Paul Brown, Vince Lombardi, Bill Walsh, to name a few).

The problem with these dual roles is obvious. It is a lot for one person to handle two separate jobs, and do them both well. And in Jones’ case, it’s caused power-battles and issues between he and his head coaches in the past.

Current NFL team owners:

  • Arizona Cardinals: Michael Bidwill
  • Atlanta Falcons: Arthur Blank
  • Baltimore Ravens: Steve Bisciotti
  • Buffalo Bills: Kim and Terry Pegula
  • Carolina Panthers: David Tepper
  • Chicago Bears: Virginia Halas McCaskey
  • Cincinnati Bengals: Mike Brown
  • Cleveland Browns: Dee and Jimmy Haslam
  • Dallas Cowboys: Jerry Jones
  • Denver Broncos: Rob Walton
  • Detroit Lions: Sheila Ford Hamp
  • Green Bay Packers: Green Bay Packers, Inc. (the only NFL team not owned by an individual - publicly owned, non-profit;ownership duties currently fulfilled by president and CEO Mark Murphy)
  • Houston Texans: Janice McNair
  • Indianapolis Colts: Jim Irsay
  • Jacksonville Jaguars: Shahid Khan
  • Kansas City Chiefs: Clark Hunt
  • Las Vegas Raiders: Carol and Mark Davis
  • Los Angeles Chargers: Dean Spanos
  • Los Angeles Rams: Stan Kroenke
  • Miami Dolphins: Stephen Ross
  • Minnesota Vikings: Zygi Wilf
  • New England Patriots: Robert Kraft
  • New Orleans Saints: Gayle Benson
  • New York Giants: John Mara and Steve Tisch
  • New York Jets: Christopher and Woody Johnson
  • Philadelphia Eagles: Jeffrey Lurie
  • Pittsburgh Steelers: Art Rooney II
  • San Francisco 49ers: Denise DeBartolo York and John York
  • Seattle Seahawks: Jody Allen
  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Glazer Family
  • Tennessee Titans: Amy Adams Strunk
  • Washington Commanders: Josh Harris

Current NFL general managers:

  • Arizona Cardinals: Monti Ossenfort
  • Atlanta Falcons: Terry Fontenot
  • Baltimore Ravens: Eric DeCosta
  • Buffalo Bills: Brandon Beane
  • Carolina Panther: Dan Morgan
  • Chicago Bears: Ryan Poles
  • Cincinnati Bengals: Duke Tobin
  • Cleveland Browns: Andrew Berry
  • Dallas Cowboys: Jerry Jones
  • Denver Broncos: George Paton
  • Detroit Lions: Brad Holmes
  • Green Bay Packers: Brian Gutekunst
  • Houston Texans: Nick Caserio
  • Indianapolis Colts: Chris Ballard
  • Jacksonville Jaguars: Trent Baalke
  • Kansas City Chiefs: Brett Veach
  • Las Vegas Raiders: Tom Telesco
  • Los Angeles Chargers: Joe Hortiz
  • Los Angeles Rams: Les Snead
  • Miami Dolphins: Chris Grier
  • Minnesota Vikings: Kwesi Adofo-Mensah
  • New England Patriots: Eliot Wolf
  • New Orleans Saints: Mickey Loomis
  • New York Giants: Joe Schoen
  • New York Jets: Joe Douglas
  • Philadelphia Eagles: Howie Roseman
  • Pittsburgh Steelers: Omar Khan
  • San Francisco 49ers: John Lynch
  • Seattle Seahawks: John Schneider
  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Jason Licht
  • Tennessee Titans: Ran Carthon
  • Washington Commanders: Adam Peters
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