There have been a couple of high-profile star players traded this year by teams in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. First, the Dallas Mavericks shocked the world by dealing away Luka Doncic in a trade that was so unexpected and shocking that it still gets made fun of in my group chat at least once a week.
Then, just this past week, the Dallas Cowboys decided it was their turn to make a baffling move, sending Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. It was a better trade than the Luka trade simply because a deal centered around two first-round picks in the NFL is better than a deal centered around the oft-injured Anthony Davis, but does that mean Jerry Jones is a better general manager than Nico Harrison? Let's dive into that question.
Here's our list of the 10 worst general managers in American professional sports right now.
10. David Forst, Athletics
The Athletics used to be the toast of small-market teams everywhere. Billy Beane revolutionized baseball with his Moneyball approach to team-building, and the A's always seemed to perform better than their financial picture would indicate.
David Forst is no Billy Beane, though. I can't blame Forst too much for the Athletics' lack of success of late because he's in an impossible position right now, but I can blame him for a lack of draft success. Forst has been GM since 2015, so let's look at the drafts from 2016 to now: His first six first-rounders now either play somewhere else, have retired or have chosen to be NFL quarterbacks instead.
9. Barry Trotz, Nashville Predators
Barry Trotz is proof that great coaches don't always make great GMs.
One of the best coaches the NHL has ever seen, Trotz made the move to the front office in 2023 when he was named Predators GM. This past season, his questionable trades and a mostly failed attempt to revamp this roster led to the team winning its fewest games since the 2012-13 season.
It just feels like Trotz is throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks, and so far, it doesn't look like much is sticking.
8. Jon Horst, Milwaukee Bucks
Oh, what a mighty fall for Jon Horst.
In 2019, Horst was named NBA Executive of the Year, but, in the immortal words of Don Henley, "those days are gone forever." Horst brought a championship to Milwaukee, but since then, he's struggled to keep the team at a championship level, with three consecutive first-round exits despite having Giannis Antetokounmpo in tow.
It's not enough to build a good team once. You have to find a way to keep that team good, especially when said team is led by one of the top five players in the league. Horst, though, has the Bucks on a scary path that could end with the team making its own head-scratching star trade if things don't turn around soon.
7. Joe Schoen, New York Giants
I have a very simple rule here: If you give Daniel Jones $160 million, then you're one of the 10 worst GMs in pro sports. And if the financial burden created by giving Daniel Jones $160 million leads you to letting Saquon Barkley walk in free agency, then you're definitely one of the worst.
I do feel bad for Schoen, though, as he inherited a lot of his issues in New York. He wasn't the one who made the ill-fated decision to draft Jones, for example; he was just the one who made that decision even worse by paying him nine figures.
6. Pat Verbeek, Anaheim Ducks
The 2024-25 season marked the sixth year in a row that the Anaheim Ducks missed the playoffs. Before that current run, the team hadn't missed the postseason in consecutive years since the turn of the century.
This streak didn't begin with Pat Verbeek as Ducks GM, but since being hired in 2022, he hasn't done enough to stop the bleeding. Sure, he didn't have a lot to work with when the Ducks hired him, but he just hasn't made any real impact moves to improve this team since he was hired.
5. Bill Schmidt, Colorado Rockies
The 2018 Colorado Rockies won 91 games. That was the last time the team finished over .500.
In 2023, FanSided's Eric Cole ranked the Rockies' front office as the worst in the league. Since then, it's only gotten worse, with the 2025 Rockies posting a 28.1 win percentage as of Aug. 30 — set to be the worst mark in team history.
Notably, the three worst Rockies seasons by win percentage are the past three. This team just keeps getting worse, and Schmidt's personnel moves are a major part of that.
4. Nico Harrison, Dallas Mavericks
The Luka trade is the worst move that a GM on this list has made — or, at least, it's the highest-profile bad move — but Nico Harrison only ranks as the fourth-worst GM because his other moves haven't been quite as bad as that one.
In Harrison's first three seasons as GM, the Mavericks were pretty good! They made an NBA Finals appearance! They built a really solid group around Luka! Things looked OK!
Then came the trade, and the fan backlash to the trade. The "Fire Nico" chants. The Play-In exit. The good news? Dallas somehow won the draft lottery, and Harrison got a redo by drafting Cooper Flagg. I guess he deserves credit for picking the right guy at No. 1, even if he only landed that pick by making one of the all-time baffling trades in sports history.
3. Jeff Pagliocca, Chicago Sky
I can't think of a single general manager in sports who is worse at making trades than Jeff Pagliocca. And yes, that's including the guy who traded Luka Doncic.
Pagliocca might not have a single trade as bad as the Luka trade, but his overall track record since being hired in October 2023 is bad. Like, bad bad.
Looking just at trades, the team gave up a 2026 first that looks destined to be in the lottery for the No. 11 pick this year. It traded the No. 3 pick this year for Ariel Atkins, despite the team not being good enough to justify a move like that. Pagliocca is making trades like his team is a contender, but they're actually one of the worst teams in the league.
While we're on the subject of the WNBA, another name that would have been on this list — and likely would have been at No. 1 — is Greg Bibb, the current CEO of the Dallas Wings but who was, until this past offseason, also serving as GM. Luckily for residents of DFW, Bibb stepped back and hired Curt Miller as the team's new GM, preventing this list from being even more dominated by the Dallas area. And speaking of Dallas ...
2. Jerry Jones, Dallas Cowboys
It was really tempting to put Jerry Jones at No. 1 here. He's made some baffling decisions over the years, and while he's won three Super Bowls, it's been a long time since the last one.
Here's what keeps Jones from ranking first: Yes, he makes bad decisions fueled by pettiness and outdated thinking, but he still builds rosters that are usually pretty good. Dallas went 7-10 last season, but that was largely the result of Dak Prescott missing nine games. The team had three consecutive 12-win seasons before that.
Not that it makes Jones a good GM. His inability to get the Cowboys over the hump and win another Super Bowl, as well as his complete lack of flexibility when it comes to team-building, are major marks against him. It's just that there's one NFL general manager who is worse at the moment.
1. Mickey Loomis, New Orleans Saints
Jones might be the king of baffling moves, but Saints general manager Mickey Loomis comes away as the winner of the worst GM title because of the way the Saints have stagnated under him.
Loomis took over the Saints in 2002 and had some early success, but it's become increasingly clear over the past four seasons that Drew Brees and Sean Payton were propping Loomis up.
Brees retired after the 2020 season. Now, heading into the fifth year of the post-Brees era, the Saints just named Spencer Rattler as the starting quarterback over Tyler Shough.
Five years to find a viable successor to Brees, and that's what the Saints have come up with? Loomis just feels too committed to being a team that comes close to a meaningless playoff spot at the expense of the team's future. And maybe that would make sense if the Saints were sneaking into the playoffs and had a chance at some upset wins there, but they've missed the playoffs in all four post-Brees seasons! 9-8 hasn't cut it, and now the team is left in a terrible situation.