The Chicago Bears made their case to the NFL about the team not receiving compensation draft picks after Ian Cunningham's departure, and the league made its final ruling on the matter.
Despite the Chicago Bears' efforts to fight for draft pick compensation after former assistant general manager Ian Cunningham left the organization to become the GM of the Atlanta Falcons, the Bears will receive no picks.
Here is what the NFL announced on Friday.
“The matter is now closed following the club’s appeal. The NFL informed the Bears today they will not receive compensatory picks. The policy is designed to provide picks for the Primary Football Executive position. The League determined Mr. Cunningham did not fill that role with the Falcons as it is defined in League rules.”
In the Falcons' organization, Matt Ryan serves as the president of football and Cunningham is the general manager. Ryan is considered Atlanta's "primary football executive," even though Ryan and the Falcons have said publicly that Cunningham will handle the roster construction among other tasks that are required of a general manager position.
At the NFL annual league meeting, members of the Bears' front office said that general manager Ryan Poles, president Kevin Warren and chairman George McCaskey flew to New York to meet with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to appeal the league's ruling on the draft picks.
The team felt they met the requirement to receive two third-round draft picks, which is stated in the Rooney Rule. The rule was established in 2003 and looks to encourage NFL team to develop minority candidates to front office or coaching positions. If a minority candidate is hired by another club to become a "primary football executive," then the team would receive the picks.
Before Cunningham became the general manager of the Falcons, he served as the assistant GM to Poles in Chicago for the last four seasons. The Bears didn't have an assistant general manager position in the organization prior to 2022.
McCaskey shared his thoughts on the situation at the NFL's annual league meeting.
"We think what we did is what the league wants every member, club to do," McCaskey said. "We identified diverse talent, we recruited him, we created a position for him, we allowed him access to the general manager role, to work hand in hand with Ryan Poles, we allowed him to make mistakes and to learn from those mistakes, we gave him supervisory duties, we gave him training, we made him ready to be a general manager in the NFL, and he's getting his opportunity and we're thrilled for him."
The Bears' chairman didn't want to speculate what the NFL's decision would be when he spoke to reporters on Thursday, but he thought the Bears made a compelling case. However, the NFL thought otherwise.