The Chicago Bears are not getting compensatory picks for losing executive Ian Cunningham to a promotion with the Atlanta Falcons.
However, that is not going to stop me from trying to make sense of the situation. Unfortunately, I have my doubts that clarity will come — especially when league executives don’t even understand why Chicago isn’t getting compensation for an executive’s departure under the Rooney Rule.
While chopping it up with Falcons executive Matt Ryan, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio asks if Atlanta’s President of Football understood why Chicago’s football team did not get draft picks. And his answer is everything I expected it to be:
“He is the G.M. He is the G.M. I’m learning — I mean you talk about things that are coming on your desk every day, management council things, different things like that, why they rule certain ways, why they don’t rule certain ways. I’m not experienced enough to give you a really credible answer on that at this point. I would say this, I think in every facet of the word, Ian’s a General Manager in this league.”
Atlanta Falcons President of Football Matt Ryan doesn’t understand why Ian Cunningham’s leaving the Bears for a promotion with the Falcons didn’t net Chicago compensatory picks. Sigh. Hey, he isn’t alone on that one!
With that being said, it doesn’t necessarily make me feel the Falcons’ top football executive (in the eyes of the NFL) doesn’t even understand the league’s logic. In fact, it is a bit unnerving that the league’s protocol is unclear to even its top administrators. Considering that this league can’t even come to an agreement on defining what constitutes a catch, perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised.
Atlanta Falcons GM Ian Cunningham. (Photo via Getty Images)Given Ian Cunningham’s promotion and title upgrade upon arriving at the Falcons headquarters after leaving the Bears’ organization, there was a precedent that was set that suggested the Bears were in line to get picks. That they didn’t get picks still boggles my mind. I struggle to understand the NFL’s logic. Then again, so does Matt Ryan. I guess it feels a little better knowing that I am not alone on this island.
After watching Ian Cunningham leave for the Falcons, the Bears have since filled his role by promoting Jeff King to the assistant general manager position. After a playing career as an NFL tight end that spanned from 2006 until 2012, King transitioned to a front office life. King has been in the organization since 2015 and has been moving up the organizational ranks while working for GMs Ryan Pace and Ryan Poles.
For what it’s worth, the Chargers interviewed King (and Ian Cunningham, for that matter) for their general manager opening in 2024. And while that job went to someone else, another successful season in Chicago could lead to another assistant general manager leaving for a promotion elsewhere. But before we even cross that bridge, King has work to do as Poles’ right-hand man as the team continues its efforts to build a Super Bowl contender.
As for Ian Cunningham, he has his hands full as the general manager of a Falcons franchise that doesn’t have a first-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft and needs to figure out which of its two left-handed starting quarterbacks will get the call when things kick off in Week 1. Good luck with that, Ian. We’ll see ya whenever the Bears and Falcons square off later in 2026.
Matt Ryan Discusses Ian Cunningham Situation, More
For more from Falcons executive (and former quarterback) Matt Ryan, you can watch the video embedded below:
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