Falcons’ simplified description of Matt Ryan’s new role clears up the picture on how Atlanta’s GM search could ripple down and impact the Bears
It’s now clear who’s actually in charge with the Atlanta Falcons’ new organizational structure.
The Chicago Bears are playing close attention to the latest developments taking place with the Atlanta Falcons and the organization shakeup the franchise has gone through since the conclusion of the team’s 2025-26 season.
The Falcons parted ways with multiple members of the team’s leadership including head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot. On Tuesday, the team officially introduced former Matt Ryan as the team’s president of football, a newly created position, and noted Ryan will begin the process of hiring the team’s next head coach and general manager.
For the Chicago Bears side of things, a source with A to Z Sports confirmed that Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham is expected to be a big player for the Falcons’ vacant GM position.
The question many Bears fans are wondering is, if Cunningham is hired as the Falcons general manager, would Chicago receive the two compensatory draft selections for losing a minority candidate? It initially didn’t seem like a simple answer and looked to be a muddied situation.
Falcons describe the extent of Matt Ryan’s new role with the Falcons
The reason this is muddy for the Bears is because Ryan was initially believed to be the primary football executive with the Falcons. In order to receive a compensatory draft pick for losing a minority candidate, that candidate has to be hired as another team’s head coach or primary football executive (which for most teams is the general manager, but the Falcons’ new role made things complicated).
However, here’s what Falcons owner Arthur Blank had to say on Tuesday regarding Ryan’s role:
“Matt will be involved in that, but Matt did not sign up to do their job,” Blank explained. “He signed up to get the best people for them to do their job with his support, his wisdom, and his guidance based on his experience. That’s what I’m looking for.”
To me, that sounds like Ryan is the president and have a strong voice in the organization, and will not be the primary football executive for the team. Here’s what Ryan had to say about his role and how it relates to the new head coach and general manager’s role:
“That’s a loaded question because it’s very open-ended on the final decision,” Ryan said. “There’s a lot that goes with that. The final decisions that head coaches have, are going to be the final decisions of the head coach. The final decisions that general managers have, are going to be the final decisions of our general manager. As I look at it right now, the final decision that I’m going to have to make in this immediate process, with Arthur’s approval, is who we hire for those two positions. But, we are empowering them to go out there and do their job. And I’ve expressed that in our interviews as well with the head coaches that we’ve had… Most importantly, I’m trying to get the best people in here in both of those positions and I’m trying to support [them] in any way that I can.
“I know the stressors that are put on a head coach and a general manager, and the number of different directions that they are pulled. I view my job as taking some of those things off their plate, in terms of the responsibilities, and allowing them to focus on their superpower. Which is coaching the football team and acquiring and scouting and looking for the best players we can find.”
To me, Ryan’s description simplified a lot of that muddy mess that people have been debating over the last few days. The soon-to-be-hired general manager will serve as the general manager with all of the required duties of the general manager, which means being the primary football executive in my mind.
“I’m not doing the scouting, I’m not running those meetings,” Ryan added. “Our general manager will do that. The general manager role is going to be exactly the same as what it’s been here before. And that’s something we made clear to everybody.”
So, for candidates such as Cunningham looking to land this position, this doesn’t sound like some kind of lateral move and a lesser position than other general manager roles around the league.
“They will have no interest in compromising their job and be less of who they could be and should be in their role,” Blank added. “Matt has no desire to maximize his role and to overstep his role. His job is going to be primarily to make sure we hire the very best coach and coaching staff that we can, the very best general manager and staff that he or she will be producing, and make sure that he gives them the kind of servant leadership that we provide for our whole organization.”
This should all be good news for Bears fans. But, there is still an interview process to go through to decide on who that general manager will be. Strong signs point toward Cunningham landing that role, thanks to the connection between Ryan and Bears general manager Ryan Poles, but there’s still a full process ahead to determine who the final candidate will be.
After this press conference, it sounds like the Bears should be expected to receive two third-round compensatory draft picks, one in each of the next two drafts, if Cunningham is in fact hired.
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