Ryan Poles reveals the Bears are still fighting for draft pick compensation after a controversial NFL decision concerning a former executive.
Chicago Bears General Manager Ryan Poles made sure he was firm on where he stands on a key NFL decision regarding his team.
Poles spoke at the NFL Combine recently, addressing several questions from reporters. As in years past, the combine will be held this weekend at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Defensive linemen and linebackers are first, as they will show up on Thursday. They are followed by defensive backs and tight ends on Friday. On Saturday, quarterbacks, receivers, and running backs will work out.
Last but not least, will be the offensive linemen on Sunday.
On top of scouting prospects at the combine, the Bears will have some big decisions to make this offseason.
There is a debate over who the Bears should re-sign before free agency begins very soon. Kevin Byard, Jaquan Brisker, and other key players may not be on the team next season.
The team will also need to decide its strategy regarding left tackle for 2026. Ozzy Trapilo suffered a season-ending patellar injury in the Wild Card round and is expected to miss most of the 2026 season.
The first thing Poles was asked about at his media availability on Tuesday was his thoughts on the NFL's decision regarding former Bears' Assistant GM Ian Cunningham.
Cunningham left to become the next GM of the Atlanta Falcons. With the Rooney Rule in place, the Bears should've received draft pick compensation.
However, since Matt Ryan is the President of Football, the NFL viewed him as the Falcons' primary football executive, and the Bears didn't receive any compensation.
Poles shared that the Bears aren't done fighting for draft pick compensation. He stated that a decision hasn't been made yet, even though the reports said it was final.
"I think I kind of put that whole thing into two buckets," Poles said. "One, I'm really proud that Ian has the opportunity to be a General Manager. Something we've talked about for a long time before we were even employed by the Bears. It was our vision to climb through the ranks, get a seat, the GM seat, and then help the other one get to their position as well. So, really happy for him. How we do that and why we do that has nothing to do with compensation whatsoever. I want to make that very clear. On the other side, there's a set of rules that were put in place that I think can be applied to this situation. So, we've communicated through the right channels. So, we'll see what happens as we move forward. I'm not sure. We'll just wait for a response. No one personally called me from the league."
There is hope for Bears fans, and Ryan gave it to them in a recent interview.
Ryan shared that Cunningham would be in charge of the Falcons' draft picks and free-agent decisions, which are definitely responsibilities of a primary football executive.
We saw the value in having multiple picks in the same round not too long ago. The Bears had multiple second-round picks in the 2025 NFL Draft and selected both Trapilo and Luther Burden.
Both rookies made their impacts in their first year with the franchise.
This isn't going to be over anytime soon, especially since the Bears have a fighting chance.