The Chicago Bears had one of their greatest seasons in recent memory, but one of the downsides is the “brain drain” that is expected to take place this offseason. Teams looking to make changes to their coaching staff or front office will likely look toward Chicago to try and get a piece of a fast-rising organization, and one of the moves that was expected to happen involved assistant general manager Ian Cunningham.
Cunningham was expected to be a strong candidate for the Atlanta Falcons general manager position, as new President of Football Matt Ryan was leaning on former college teammate and Bears GM Ryan Poles for advice. But according to Sports Mockery’s Erik Lambert, Cunningham is unlikely to earn the role after the Falcons agreed to hire Kevin Stefanski as head coach on Saturday night.
The move has to be disappointing to Cunningham, who has been Poles’s right-hand man since coming to Chicago since his arrival in 2022 and interviewed for the job on Jan. 9. But it also is a big win for the Bears, who get to keep one of their key figures in the front office.
Falcons’ Ian Cunningham Snub a Big Win for the Bears
According to the Bears' official website, Cunningham has overseen personnel, draft strategy, analytics and player engagement alongside Poles in his current role. He also had championship pedigree before coming to Chicago, being a part of the Baltimore Ravens’ front office when they won the Super Bowl in 2012 and with the Philadelphia Eagles during their title run in 2017.
With two rings to his name, Cunningham helped build the Bears from the ground up and will likely get his shot at running a team in the near future. But there’s also a benefit for him to not land the Falcons job.
Atlanta will be a lengthy rebuilding project as they have dynamic weapons in Drake London and Bijan Robinson, but an uncertain quarterback situation with Michael Penix recovering from an ACL injury this offseason. The Falcons also do not have a first-round pick in this year’s draft after trading up for James Pearce Jr. in last year’s draft, and have just $18.1 million in cap space to fill their holes in free agency, according to OverTheCap.
While Cunningham could see the benefits, so will the Bears, who finished the regular season with an 11-6 record and advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs for the first time since 2010 before losing to the Los Angeles Rams in overtime on Sunday night.
With Cunningham in the fold, that process becomes a lot easier and could turn the Falcons’ loss into the Bears’ gain as they look to build on their 2025 campaign.