The Bears lose a key executive to Atlanta, but a loophole means they won't get crucial draft compensation, leaving fans frustrated.
It was a bittersweet Thursday night for Chicago Bears fans.
After interviewing with the Atlanta Falcons multiple times, Assistant General Manager Ian Cunningham was announced as the organization's next General Manager via ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Cunningham joined the Bears at the same time that GM Ryan Poles did in 2022. He played a role in the transformation that the organization underwent and its recent success with current head coach Ben Johnson.
While fans are going to be happy for the former Bears executive, the draft picks are in the back of everyone's minds.
Under the NFL's Rooney Rule, the Bears should be awarded some draft compensation in the form of a third-round pick for 2026 and 2027. However, the way that the Falcons' power structure is set up changes that.
With most teams, the GM is typically the most powerful executive in the organization. With the Falcons, the executive with the most power is former Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan, who is the team's President of Football.
Cunningham interviewed for that position but lost it to Ryan. While a move from Assistant GM to GM is a promotion, since Ryan is the top executive for the franchise, the Bears can't be awarded the extra draft picks over the next two seasons.
The Chicago Tribune's Brad Biggs broke down why that was. The NFL views Ryan as the primary football executive for the Falcons, not Cunningham.
Chicago could've blocked Cunningham from interviewing with the Falcons to try and get draft compensation from another franchise if he was hired, but the Bears chose not to. If Cunningham had been hired as the Falcons' President of Football, then the Bears would've gotten draft picks for the next two years.
Executives aren't the only ones who have been hired away from the Bears.
Running backs coach Eric Bieniemy left to accept the offensive coordinator position with the Kansas City Chiefs, a position he held there from 2018-2022.
Defensive backs coach Al Harris and OC Declan Doyle have had interest, but haven't accepted any positions. Harris was interviewed by the Green Bay Packers for their defensive coordinator opening, but they hired Jonathan Gannon.
It was then reported that Harris was the favorite to join his former head coach, Mike McCarthy, at the Pittsburgh Steelers as their DC. The Steelers hired Patrick Graham away from the Las Vegas Raiders.
Doyle interviewed for the Philadelphia Eagles OC job, but withdrew his name. He interviewed with the Baltimore Ravens for their OC position recently.
Unfortunately for the Bears, they won't be getting their draft compensation. The loophole means that the NFL sees things differently when it comes to Atlanta's executives.