Football GM guide: how to build a winner
RetroGM Football GM is a free American football general manager game in your browser: a 32-team league, 17 games in 18 weeks, a 7-team playoff per conference, a hard salary cap and a seven-round draft, all on a real calendar from the opener in September to the draft in April. You can play a season in an evening. This guide covers what wins in the game and the rules that trip up new GMs.
Your first season: the office
The office is your home screen. Your next game sits at the top, with each side's chance to win, and one button plays it; in the preseason, Watch the opening game starts the season and takes you straight to week 1 live. Now lists what needs you (contracts, injuries, the trade deadline, the draft) and your owner sets three goals for the season. Anything you leave alone, the assistant handles.
Ratings run from 0 to 100. OVR is how good a player is now at his position: around 60 is a backup, 70 a starter and 80 or more a star. POT is what he may reach at his peak: young players grow, veterans decline.
The depth chart
The coach sets the depth chart by himself, best players first. The field view shows your offense and defense with every starter; tap a position to change the order, or send it back to automatic. Each player shows his rating at that position, including at positions he does not usually play, which is how you find a backup safety among your cornerbacks.
The game plan: calls that meet
Your offense has a mix (run first, balanced or pass first) and a fourth-down attitude (conservative, normal or aggressive). Your defense has a front, and the two sides meet:
- Base: no weak spot.
- Stack the box: eight men near the line shut down the run, but coverage gets thin.
- Two-deep shell: takes away the deep ball, softer against the run.
- Blitz: more pressure and sacks, but a quarterback who gets the ball out finds open receivers.
A run-first team runs into a stacked box and runs all over a two-deep shell; a passing team is the opposite. Computer coaches plan for each opponent, and so can your assistant: read the scouting report of the next opponent to see how they play and what works against them.
Tip: Momentum is real: 14 unanswered points get the stadium going and make that team stronger for a few plays, more so at home. The other coach calls a timeout to stop it.
Decisions during the game
Watch a game live and the assistant asks at the moments that matter: at halftime (run more, pass more or blitz more) and in a close fourth quarter (go for it on fourth down, play it safe or drop back in coverage). Your answer changes the rest of the game from that play on.
The hard cap
The salary cap is hard: nobody can go over it, with no exceptions and no tax. Dead money counts too: release a player and the guaranteed part of his contract stays on your cap. So read the guarantee before you sign anyone.
- Franchise tag: keeps one expiring star for one more season, at a high one-year salary.
- Rookie contracts are set by draft slot, and the whole first round is guaranteed. They are still the best value in the game.
- Quarterbacks cost the most and kickers the least: the market prices positions differently, and so do trades.
Trades and free agency
In Trades, put players and picks from both sides on the table: the bar shows whether the other team would accept, and What would make this work? suggests the pieces they want. A player is worth more to a team where he would start. The trade deadline is the Tuesday after week 9, and the window reopens with the new league year in March.
Free agency opens in March. Players want money, guarantees and a role, and each one picks the best offer on his decision day. After that, signings are instant.
The draft
Seven rounds at the end of April. Before it, the Combine publishes the 40-yard dash, bench press, jumps and 3-cone for every prospect. Ratings show as a range until your chief scout sends a scouting trip (a better scout gets more trips). Order your board or let the assistant pick, and trade picks during the draft to move up or down. A first-round pick is around 67 overall after training camp, and about two in three become starters.
Money that changes the team
Your staff has ratings from 25 to 95: a development coach (young players grow faster), a conditioning coach (fewer and shorter injuries) and a chief scout. The training center, built in three levels, adds growth every season and draws free agents.
The gate matters. Your stadium has three sections with their own prices and fans: the lower bowl, the cheap upper deck that watches the price, and the club seats that do not. The crowd changes every game (a rivalry, a division game, prime time, a winning visitor, a playoff race), and a full stadium helps at home. Let the assistant price each home game, or set it yourself in Finances, Tickets.
Keeping your job
The owner and the fans each have a confidence bar on the top of the screen. The owner judges each season on wins, the playoff run, profit and the season goals. Seven teams per conference make the playoffs: four division winners and three wild cards, and the top seed rests on the first weekend.
Quick checklist
- Let the coach set the depth chart; change it only with a reason.
- Match your front to the opponent: stack the box against runners, two deep against passers.
- Check the guarantee before you sign: dead money stays on the cap.
- Spend high picks where the market is expensive.
- Let the assistant price your tickets; build seats only when the stadium sells out.
Play it now
RetroGM Football GM is free in your browser, on a phone or a computer, with no account and no download. Your save stays on your device and the game works offline.