Bears GM Ryan Poles already as an easy candidate to take over as his right-hand man after losing Ian Cunningham to the Falcons
The Chicago Bears will have some shakeup in the front office in 2026.
The Chicago Bears got massive news late Thursday night when assistant general manager Ian Cunningham was announced as the new general manager for the Atlanta Falcons.
The promotion is a well-deserved opportunity for Cunningham, who’s been viewed as a rising executive around the league for years given his background and experience in a front office role.
Bears general manager Ryan Poles played a big part in Cunningham landing this gig, given his connections to Falcons president of football Matt Ryan. No one deserves this opportunity more than Cunningham, and Poles did right by his right-hand man, even if it screwed his team in the process.
The Bears could have blocked the Falcons request to interview Cunningham, considering the role is viewed as a secondary football executive position under Ryan. But, it would have been a bad look for Poles by holding Cunningham back from a general manager role of his own. Poles will now need to find a new right-hand man in Chicago and there’s already an easy candidate to promote from within.
Jeff King stands out as an early candidate to replace Ian Cunningham in the Bears front office
Poles and Cunningham developed a close relationship since joining forces with the Bears in 2022 and it’s crazy to think the two never worked together before arriving to Chicago with how close they became. It’s going to be difficult to replace that kind of trust and camaraderie.
Promoting from within would be the best way to do so and Jeff King makes the most logical sense to take over as the team’s assistant general manager. King is a rising executive as well and has been with the Bears since 2015, first starting out as a scouting intern.
When Poles was hired to lead the front office, King took over the co-director of player personnel position and in 2024 was promoted as the team’s senior director of player personnel.
“He took control of that pro staff,” Poles said of King back in 2022, via ChicagoBears.com. “He had an eye for talent. He was a very good communicator. He saw value in players. We kicked it off pretty quick, and he’s going to be valuable for this organization.”
Prior to joining the Bears, King was a tight end for the Carolina Panthers and the Arizona Cardinals from 2006-2013. It’s been a meteoric rise for King as a front office executive since hanging up the cleats and is well on his way toward becoming the next Jon-Eric Sullivan, the former Green Bay Packers scout who rose up the ranks and was hired this offseason as the Miami Dolphins general manager.
King has already been involved in pro scouting, free agency, and draft evaluations with the Bears. Moving up a peg will give King even more experience and eventually will find himself securing a general manager role of his own in the near future.
Chicago Bears News
Ryan Poles took care of his right-hand man but might have just screwed the Bears over in the process
Ian Cunningham landed his deserved general manager position, but there seems to be a caveat for Chicago.
