Ian

Cunningham

According to Rapoport, the Bears “have been lobbying” to receive compensation for losing Cunningham, who spent the last four seasons as their Assistant general manager prior to being hired by the Falcons. On Friday, the league said that the Bears will not receive any compensatory picks and that “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 the League rules.”

Reports consistently listed Cunningham as the favorite for this role. He also notably interviewed for the Falcons’ new president of football position before later interviewing for the general manager role. Cunningham signed on with the Ravens in 2008 as a personnel assistant and was later promoted to area scout in 2013. He became the Eagles’ director of college scouting in 2017 before taking their assistant director of player personnel job in 2019 and their director of player personnel job in 2020. He then accepted the assistant general manager role with the Bears in 2021 and has served in that role until now.

Cunningham previously interviewed for the Falcons’ president of football position, and has now completed two interviews for their general manager vacancy. Reports continue to list him as a favorite for this role. Texans assistant GM James Liipfert is also considered a finalist for the position.

Both will come in for second interviews this week. Cunningham has been regarded as the favorite all along and interviewed for Atlanta’s preposterously-named “president of football” job before it wound up being Matt Ryan’s gig. Liipfert clearly impressed Falcons brass in his interview last week. We’d still imagine Cunningham as the favorite here, but we’ll see how both fare in an extended sitdown with Kevin Stefanski and Ryan.

Cunningham is one of two candidates who are considered the favorites to land the Falcons’ general manager vacancy. Cunningham was hired as the Bears’ assistant general manager back in 2022 and has been on the radar as a potential GM hire for the last several seasons. The Bears’ success undoubtedly makes Cunningham the most attractive he’s ever been as a candidate, as the decision to pair head coach Ben Johnson with second-year quarterback Caleb Williams paid immediate dividends for the Bears, and the emergence of young talents like Colston Loveland and Luther Burden also make for good points. Whether it’s now or in the future, Cunningham’s days with the Bears could be numbered as he continues to generate interest.

Both also interviewed for Atlanta’s hand-created-for-Matt-Ryan “president of football” position, and the Falcons appear to have used those interviews as a starting point for their general manager position. Neither has come back for a second interview yet, with Atlanta only just announcing some new interviews for GM candidates today after spending the early offseason on the head coach and (ugh) “president of football” positions. Cunningham has ties to Ryan through his boss, Bears GM Ryan Poles, who played with Ryan at Boston College.

We assume that Cunningham is a front runner to be whatever they want to call him in the front office in Atlanta, we’ll stick with “guy who picks the players” next to Matt Ryan’s Tony Boselli-esque role with the club. Cunningham had been reported to be interviewing for the GM job, not the “president of football” gig. Regardless, he’s a front runner for a job in this front office and the Falcons are the last GM gig still available after the Dolphins filled their vacancy earlier today.

Cunningham, whose career in NFL front offices including stints working closely with Howie Roseman and Ozzie Newsome, is considered a strong candidate to be Atlanta’s next general manager after the team fired former GM Terry Fontenot after a series of catastrophic draft picks and team-building decisions, including drafting Kyle Pitts and Michael Penix. Cunningham reportedly came close last year to landing the Jaguars GM job. He could join Matt Ryan, the Falcons’ new president of football operations, in rebuilding the Falcons.

Cunningham currently holds the title of assistant general manager in Chicago. The Jags previously conducted a virtual interview with Cunningham and have him in Jacksonville for an in-person interview today. Previous reports have named him as one of five finalists for the job. Cunningham has been with the Bears since 2022 after successful stints with the Ravens and Eagles. Both teams hoisted the Lombardi Trophy while he was on the staff. All signs point to Cunngimham landing the job, though the other finalists will meet with owner Shad Khan and interim GM Ethan Waugh over the next week or so.

According to Walters, those candidates include Josh Williams and James Gladstone, who are directors of scouting for the 49ers and Rams, respectively. Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham is also a finalist, as is Packers’ VP of player personnel, Jon-Eric Sullivan. Perhaps the most interesting finalist on this list is Jaguars interim GM Ethan Waugh, who has familiarity with those in the building but also worked closely with former GM Trent Baalke, whose firing appeared to have a direct impact on head coach Liam Coen’s willingness to join the team. Walters reports the Jaguars are expected to make a decision on GM by the end of the week.