Anonymous GM Survey Season 62 - RZ Athletic

by adelfish | 4 years ago | 0 Comments

The Athletic - Anonymous GM Survey - Season 62

Welcome to the Red Zone Anonymous GM Survey for Season 62. We plan to run this survey at least once or twice a season, asking General Managers around Red Zone about the current state of the market, questions about how they go about their process, what they think of other general managers, etc. 

In this first edition, we presented 4 questions to those who participated.

1) - How does your front office approach trading? What is the goal when you all sit around the table and discuss making a move?

2) - Do you always evaluate how your moves have ripple effects, or are you a more 'deal with the consequences later' type of organization?

3) - Is there anything other General Managers around Red Zone do that you would never do?

4) - What GMs around Red Zone are great to deal with? Poor to deal with?

As I mentioned, all answers, given are totally anonymous to those who submitted, but there is some pretty revealing information given. Enjoy the survey!

1) - How does your front office approach trading? What is the goal when you all sit around the table and discuss making a move?

-" Trading is one of the biggest parts of team building for me, I'm always looking for a player who we can fit in here and give ourselves a push. I'm hoping said player takes us over the hump. If we are a playoff team we hope he helps us get to the next level. The goal is to get as much out of a trade as I possibly can."

-"We always look to splash, every offseason. That is what we have done every single offseason since I was hired a few cycles ago. Big names sell tickets, and we will figure out the fit later."

-"To always feel like I got maximum value and that I am winning my end of the trade in terms of value. I’ve been called stingy, but it works for me."

-"We always handle trading from a goal-standpoint first. This doesn't always mean that what others would consider "needs" come first, but it means our team comes first. What we want to do. When I look up and down this roster I always try and ask "okay, what do we want to accomplish". We usually label a few positions that we'd love to improve and then go from there."

-"We typically aren't big players in acquisitions of players by way of trade. We like to build in the draft and through free agency. Our philosophy in trading is contingent on our ability to compete. If we're making a championship run, we will go all in on a player to fit a need. If we're outside the playoffs, we're exclusively shopping for picks."

-"We value draft picks highly, so trading is something we infrequently do. If someone comes to us with an offer we can't refuse, of course we negotiate, but I think trading is the worst of the three big ways (trade, draft, free agency) to improve your team."

-"We go after certain teams first, there are ALWAYS teams that are willing to move good players, and most of the time receive poor value in return. I'd be lying if I told you we didn't target certain general managers. We have already targeted the new coaches coming into Red Zone."

-"We believe in having a lot of money come re-sign time. We plan far ahead in terms of our 3+1, and we like to dump contracts at the right time. I would say we use trading primarily to move off of bad contracts."

2) - Do you always evaluate how your moves have ripple effects, or are you a more 'deal with the consequences later' type of organization?

-"It's half and half. If we're in a position where I feel like we can compete right now, I'm willing to concede future or long-term effects. That being said, I don't ignore those long-term effects, I just recognize that the value of what we can get right now outweighs those consequences. Even when making a trade that is designed for short term success, we ALWAYS take into account how the trade will affect our roster 2, 3, 4 years down the road and make adjustments accordingly. There's a lot to be said about moves that teams *don't* make and for us, a lot of that has to do with handling short-term solutions and making sure those short-term solutions don't stack up and overwhelm our salary cap."

-"Every choice I make is calculated, whether it is a contract extension, trade, or free agency signing."

-"Sure, we look at how it effects us this year and next, but outside of that we can usually figure it out. I think most are in my boat, where kicking the can down the road is effective. The cap room flexibility most teams have is very forgiving."

-"No, every single year we are worrying about those 16+ games. All problems that come after the Super Bowl we will deal with them then."

-"Yes I always evaluate the ripple effects; age, money, playing time, ability to develop this guy or how it will cut into someone else's touches on the team etc. There are times where you put yourself in a bad future spot to make a win now move. But that's a very calculated move."

-"We are very aware of the pros and cons of prospective deals, however, we're very unwavering in our stance on said deal. The adverse effects of a particular deal do not deter us from the transaction."

-"If the trade helps us today, and helps our chances of winning a title, we do the trade. Organizations that are afraid of the future are the ones that never win. GMs like Lefty and Metal are always too worried about the future to pull the trigger on trades, I can't stand negotiationg with them. If you enter the trade market, you better be ready to talk shop."

3) - Is there anything other General Managers around Red Zone do that you would never do?

-"Trade the future of their teams for win now moves or trading up high in the draft."

-"'Im not sure what things they would do that I wouldn't. Anything that's legal and within the rules I will try. Including calling owners asking about guys not on the block, scouring free agency multiple times a week looking to see if someone can fit our 53 thats an upgrade. The analytics and sheets have never been used here before.That's something we are working on.Being more organized & having more of an understanding of my contracts both long & short term."

-"Targeting new users and targeting general managers who have been known to struggle with poor decision making, or aren't strong enough to make rebuttals that they want. Those that go after people like that are cowardly."

-"Using both of my trades right away. Keeping your trades is so important, and blowing them both right away can really limit you if a player comes along that you didn't know was avaialble."

-"I never rule anything out. I think it's foolish to take this question and say "oh yeah, that thing there? I'd never do that." Because you're just lying to yourself. Limiting yourself because of what other people think or second guessing decisions because you don't wanna make the same mistake that another GM made is asking for trouble. Assembling a roster in this league is not easy. It's a risk in itself. You have to be willing to make tough decisions in the Red Zone to succeed and every single move you make is going to have some level of consequence. I've always been transparent about the fact that our signings, trades, draft picks, etc... They're based on how they help OUR team. I'm not concerned about how it affects a contender or what kind of improvements this gives my division opponents. If I think a move is going to help my roster. I'm going to make it. I don't know that there's any trend or thing that others do in this league that I would rule out if I believe, with appropriate context, in that moment, that it's going to give my team the best chance to win football games."

-"The GMs that have very peculiar moves, seem to trade just to trade. There is no rhyme or reason for the trade. I would never make a deal or transaction that didn't make my team infinitely better, or didn't help me stockpile future assets."

-"Trading out of drafts completely, I think it's idiotic. Jake and Moji do this every single year and it limits their ability to build a young roster. I know that teams like this are doing it to get higher overall rookies, but to just waste 3-4 picks to do it every year seems detrimental."

-"Trading with people who are always in the playoff hunt. Astin, Lefty, Adel, Moji...why would you ever do anything to help these teams?"

-"Burn through all your cap room because you think you have to. Clearly we have a group of GMs in our league that don't think ahead, and think every free agency is a big spending spree."

4) - What GMs around Red Zone are great to deal with? Poor to deal with?

-"Weedseed and Moji are two guys I deal with often, to very much success and great trades on both sides. Everyone else is piss poor."

-"For me, I appreciate prompt responses and clear value proposition. I don't like to deal with people who handle themselves with passive aggressive comments or backhanded remarks. If we're talking turkey, I wanna know much stuffing you got. This is going to be true for guys like Lefty in Green Bay or even Astin. I know many won't appreciate dealing with Astin, but the reason he continues to make effective moves year in and year out and guys will continue trading with him is because he's very easy to work with. He's going to give you a straight forward value, he's going to tell you what he wants, and he's not going to hang you out to dry with flaky commitments or ambiguity.

What I see in a GM who is frustrating to work with is someone who doesn't know what they want to do themselves. I even may have been guilty of this in the past. These are guys who will "negotiate" without really being interested in moving a player or a piece. Guys who are okay wasting your time. Guys who may have a set value, but instead will try to be a snake in the grass and force you to over pay with backhanded remarks. If I had to drop names, I'd say guys like Metalskull, historically, or more recently, White Greg. Metal will needle you for more and more and seemingly change the value of his own guys on a whim for no discernible reason. If there's a guy on his block I like, I'll still ask, but I know it's going to be a headache to get a deal finalized."

-"IJ, Tauph, Moji, and T Spittah come to mind as good to deal with. Lefty, Metal, and Tiko come back as GM’s that are poor to deal with based on my experience."

-"Love this question. I kind of have guys into tiers on how likely I am to do business with them. Some guys are a delight & others are a nightmare. The guys I love having convos with because they are realistic & I feel we can make a trade happen: Adel, Jake, BM, Spencer, Eikim, Tauph, Pat, Spittah, Ram, Tiko,

Guys who are a nightmare because either they dont answer, they start looking to make a move AFTER half the league is out of trades, they take forever to get back to u, are VERY Unrealistic with what they want or just a prick to deal with: Metalskull, Metalskull, Metalskull, Astin, BP, Beech, BeatOven, Jim, Prew, IJ."

-"I like trading with guys who are very clear about what they want, and what they think the value of their player is. When I pick up the phone to dial you about a player, you better have a value for me, I am not playing the 'well make an offer' game. Guys that I like that do this are Ian Johns, Ramesu, Roc, and Weed. 

Guys I hate trading with? Astin, Blueprint, Lefty, Metalskull. They are slimy to deal with in my opinion, especially Astin. He always is trying to squeeze more out of you."

-"Weedseed, Jake, Cave (Before he left), Moji are my favorite general managers to talk trade with. Always a fair conversation, they always are willing to work with me on a deal. GMs like Tiko, Astin,and Metal drive me crazy. Tiko just bullies you into what he wants, and Astin and Metal are always trying to screw you over somehow. Also, guys that take forever to respond. Beat, Spittah, Prewitt, Mans (when he was here)...guys like that drive me nuts. Seriously, if YOU put a player on the block, respond to my messages when I'm trying to make a move!"

-"Great question, I've been meaning to air some issues I have. I love trading with Tauph, IJ, Astin, Adel, Weed, Ramfam. The reason why is it is a quick process every time, these guys know what they want, they work with you on a deal. I know some of these guys get a bad rap, but seriously if you want a player or pick from them, it's a guaranteed conversation. I hate dealing with inactives, or guys that are indifferent. Man up and tell me what you want or what I need to send you. Spencer, Beat, Jake, BM, Lefty, Tiko come to mind."

-"Love trading with everyone except Astin, and now that Kelly is back I love trading with everyone besides Kelly and Astin."

Thank you for reading!