Last month, the NFL announced which teams would receive compensatory draft picks in 2026, and the Chicago Bears were not among them. That should have finally closed the door on any hope that the franchise had that they’d be awarded picks for losing Assistant General Manager Ian Cunningham to the Atlanta Falcons, who hired him as their new General Manager.
After all, the League’s Rooney Rule is clear. Each club declares who their primary decision maker is, and whether they call that individual a general manager, a team president, or the head of football operations; that’s the number one guy. Anyone under them, even if they are called the general manager, is secondary. Meaning that Cunningham’s move was considered a lateral one, even though he went from assistant GM to GM.
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Then again…
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Even though the Bears already appealed the decision that Atlanta’s organizational structure resembles their own, which should have garnered them the comp picks, they appealed it again.
Earlier today at the annual owners’ meetings, Bears Team President Kevin Warren said that he, Chairman George McCaskey, and General Manager Ryan Poles recently flew to New York to meet with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to appeal.
Warren said he expects to hear a final decision soon and that he feels they “deserve the compensatory picks.”
The 2026 NFL Draft is later this month, so shoehorning in a pick wouldn’t be impossible, but it seems unlikely.
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Then again…
Goodell could look at this unique situation and see that it warrants something for the Bears. Maybe not the standard two-third round comp picks, but maybe they award them one in 2027 while revisiting the language of the Rooney Rule. Because even though Matt Ryan is technically listed as the Falcons’ number one guy, the Falcons have spelled out Cunningham’s responsibilities more in line with that of the primary decision-maker.
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