Front-Office DNA Doesn't Travel

Every NFL front office is built out of the others. Every January, many an owner cleans house and brings in front-office folks who might be doing a bit better with another team.

So we pulled the family trees to see if it's a winning strategy. 30,715 front-office alumni, the 10,246 people working in NFL front offices today, ten years of Ws and Ls.

Let's go to the data.

Rival hiring. About one in six people in an NFL front office came from somewhere else in the league. The Giants built a third of their front office out of other teams' people and still have the second-worst record in football over five years.

Inbreeding. The Patriots run an inbred, Habsburg-jaw-under-the-hoodie front office, and they won .588 over the decade. The Steelers barely let anyone out of the building and still have a top-four decade.

Philly. The Eagles are the biggest talent donor in the league, high turnover, still win. The Rams get poached too and also do fine.

Then there are the head-scratchers. Browns alums show up in 28 of the other 31 front offices, for reasons the club's record can't justify. Meanwhile the Chiefs, best team of the decade, have a front office nobody seems to want, or nobody can pry away from the KC BBQ.

So is it nature or nurture? Yes. Or it depends. Anyway, plug your team in and see its ancestry.