Falcons GM Ian Cunningham finally admits what Bears fans have been saying for weeks and it makes the league look even worse
The Chicago Bears and Atlanta Falcons are both hoping the NFL gets to the bottom of this issue.
The real first day of the NFL Scouting Combine kicks off today with general managers and head coaches from around the league speaking with the media for the first time since the season ended.
The first issue brought up regarding the Chicago Bears had to do with the one thing fans have been arguing about for weeks, and that issue is in regards to the Bears compensatory picks or the lack thereof.
When assistant general manager Ian Cunningham was hired to become the new general manager of the Atlanta Falcons, the initial belief was that the Bears should have received two third-round compensatory draft picks for developing a minority candidate into a general manager role.
The fine details of the rule, however, state that you can only receive the picks if the candidate is the primary football executive with their new team. In Atlanta, many believed newly hired president of football Matt Ryan was in that primary football executive position, not Cunningham, despite what their job descriptions say. And now Cunningham is even admitting what we thought all along.
Ian Cunningham believes the Bears should get the comp picks
“I haven’t had much time to really dive into the wording [of the rule], it was always my interpretation that if a general manager gets hired, that team would receive two third-round picks,” Cunningham told the media at the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday. “I’m the general manager, I was hired, I would think they would get two third-round picks. I don’t know the wording of it, that’s just my perspective. Again, I wouldn’t be sitting here if it weren’t for them giving me that job and helping me grow to get this job right now.”
The fact Cunningham has to even spell it out for the league is embarrassing. It’s clear the Bears deserve those two compensatory picks and now the two leading executives in Atlanta feel the same way about this entire situation.
Bears are pushing the league for a definitive answer
“How we do that and why we do that has nothing to do with compensation whatsoever,” Bears general manager Ryan Poles said not long after Cunningham. “I want to make that very clear. On the other side of it, the rules were put in place that I think can be applied to this situation.
“We’ve communication through the right channels, so we will see what happens.”
If approved by the league, the Bears would receive an extra third-round in the 2026 and 2027 NFL Draft, so it’s a pretty notable return. It’s still up to the league to make a final decision but having both sides come to an agreement on this for the league makes it pretty obvious how this should go.
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