Matt Ryan continues to add fuel to the frustrations of Bears fans with latest comments regarding Ian Cunningham’s role with the Falcons
The NFL needs to go ahead and make a final decision on this.
Chicago Bears fans nearly started an uproar last week when assistant general manager Ian Cunningham was hired by the Atlanta Falcons as the team’s new general manager.
It had nothing to do with Cunningham getting the job, it was a well deserved opportunity for the rising executive that was long overdue. The issue was the reporting after that stated the Bears would not receive any compensatory draft picks for developing a minority candidate.
The reason being is because many believe that the Falcons general manager position isn’t considered the “primary football executive” with that title instead going to Matt Ryan in his newly-created role as the Atlanta Falcons president of football. It’s a grey area that undermines the meaning behind the Rooney Rule and it continues to be a confusing topic.
Matt Ryan confirms that Ian Cunningham has control of the 53-man roster construction
When Ryan was announced as the president of football, the Falcons leadership team made it crystal clear what his role is with the team and what role the general manager will have under him, and it’s the same role any other general manager in the league has. It’s something Ryan confirmed again on Thursday during his sit down interview with CBS Sports.
“Ian’s in charge,” Ryan stated. “Ian’s in charge of that space. I look forward to learning about, I said it the other day in Ian’s presser, I never sat in a draft meeting. Monday is going to be the first time I sit in a draft meeting. I got a lot to learn sitting, observing, being a fly on the wall. If there’s something that Ian has a question about, or something I can help with, I’m all ears and I’m happy to share my opinion. But, Ian is driving this boat and he is the one that’s leading us moving forward.”
Sounds to me like Cunningham is the primary football executive then, right? Apparently not, until the league determines otherwise, but this should be pretty cut-and-dry in my opinion.
“Ian is incredibly competent and qualified and he’s awesome,” Ryan added. “Looking forward to watching him do his thing… I also understand my responsibility is to be there to help out Ian where I can. Maybe that’s offering a different lens, offering a different perspective, but this is Ian’s regular season right now. He is in it and he is driving the ship for us.”
At the time being, this sounds like the Bears are being robbed and the Falcons are being very open about admitting it. Chicago should be rewarded with the two third-round compensatory picks and with each passing interview it gets harder and harder to figure out what exactly Ryan is doing beyond hanging out with a fancy title and name card.
The league needs to properly get to the bottom of this and figure out who’s actually in charge in Atlanta and whether or not the Bears will receive the compensatory picks they deserve.
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Ian Cunningham certainly learned a thing or two during his time with the Chicago Bears.
