Owner involvement in NFL roster decisions spans a wide spectrum, from casual participation to day-to-day management. The hands-on role can include everything from an owner claiming a late-round draft pick at an after‑dinner table to an owner functioning as the team’s general manager, the report said.
Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti provided a detailed example of an owner stepping into the draft process. Bisciotti engaged in after‑dinner talk with general manager Eric DeCosta at the team’s offseason meeting in Jupiter, Florida, insisted on selecting a fifth‑round pick and enlisted DeCosta’s 15‑year‑old son, Jackson, to help with research. Bisciotti said he called Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, who vouched for running back Adam Randall, and then nervously made the call to the player when the Ravens were on the clock, later saying, “How scared I was to literally make the pick.” DeCosta recalled telling Bisciotti, “You did the work. Pick your guy.”
The report contrasts that hands‑on approach with Chicago Bears chairman George McCaskey, who spent the final day of the 2024 draft umpiring a high school baseball game instead of remaining in the draft room at Halas Hall. Chauncey Carrick, the athletic director at Sycamore High School in Illinois, said he was the one updating McCaskey on the Bears’ selections and described the surprise when McCaskey learned the team had traded back into the fifth round.
The piece also notes the Dallas Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones has served as both owner and general manager for 38 years, a role that ensures a deeply involved approach to personnel.
Outcomes tied to owner influence have varied widely, according to the report, ranging from disastrous decisions in New York and Cleveland to controversy in Miami and a successful blockbuster trade in Indianapolis. The examples illustrate how differing styles of engagement by owners can shape—and sometimes complicate—front‑office decision‑making.
