NFL confirms suspicions that Bears fans were dreading regarding the Ian Cunningham compensatory draft picks
It’s a ridiculous situation but one the Chicago Bears have little to say about.
When Chicago Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham was hired by the Atlanta Falcons to be the team’s next general manager, it opened up a whole bag of worms that fans have complained about for weeks now.
The complaints had nothing to do with Cunningham’s well-deserved promotion, getting the opportunity to return home and finally run an organization of his own. The complaints centered around the NFL’s compensatory draft pick rules and whether or not the Bears would receive the two third-round compensatory picks for developing a minority candidate into a general manager position.
The problem with this situation is that the rules actually award teams for developing a minority candidate into the “primary football executive” position. It’s still unclear what that position really means, but the NFL is taking a firm stance that Cunningham isn’t in that position with the Falcons.
NFL states the Bears WILL NOT receive compensatory picks for losing Ian Cunningham
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk took matters into his own hands this week and reached out to the NFL to get a final answer on whether or not the Bears will receive those picks, and the NFL confirmed the reports that came out after Cunningham was hired.
“The policy for receiving picks pertains to the head coach or the primary football executive,” the NFL told PFT on Tuesday via email. “The primary football executive position was filled by Matt Ryan.”
It’s a ridiculous decision. Ryan was hired by the Falcons earlier this offseason as the team’s newly-created “president of football” a fancy title that really doesn’t explain much. Because of that, Ryan and the Falcons have explicitly stated what his role actually is multiple times now and nothing about that description leads anyone to believe he’s making primary football decisions in that building.
“Ian is driving this boat and he is the one that’s leading us moving forward,” Ryan explained last week. “…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.”
Florio mentioned a previous and similar situation that also involved the Falcons. When Atlanta hired former general manager Terry Fontenot in 2022, the New Orleans Saints received the compensatory picks despite Atlanta having a team president and CEO in the building in Rich McKay. That’s essentially the same role Ryan has, just with a new fancy title, so what gives?
The Bears have one last chance to make an argument at the 2026 NFL Annual League Meeting that will be held from March 29-April 1. We’ll see what kind of argument George McCaskey and Kevin Warren can make, although the only thing on their minds right now is building a new stadium.
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