Total Pro Sports
The Chicago Bears hoped to get some additional draft capital because of this year’s hiring cycle. Unfortunately, Matt Ryan might cost his friend Ryan Poles that chance.
According to multiple reports, the Atlanta Falcons want to poach Bears assistant GM Ian Cunningham for their GM job. Former QB Matt Ryan, who was just appointed as the new president of football operations, is reportedly working closely with Poles to find a guy for the job.
Normally, Cunningham taking a GM job somewhere else would result in the Bears getting a couple of third-round compensatory picks. Unfortunately, that might not be the case this time around. According to Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Falcons might get in the way of that:
“A league source says the #Bears would NOT get two compensatory third-round picks were Ian Cunningham to be named the #Falcons GM,” Finley reported. “New President of Football Matt Ryan is considered the primary decision-maker there.”
The Bears should get third-round compensatory picks in the next two NFL Drafts, according to the NFL rulebook:
“The employer-club of a minority employee who has been hired by another club as its Head Coach or Primary Football Executive (General Manager) shall receive Draft choice compensation in the form of a compensatory Draft pick in the third round in each of the next two Drafts for an employee hired as either a Head Coach or Primary Football Executive,” the rulebook read.
Nevertheless, the Falcons could block that because of a loophole. They just created that new executive position exclusively for Matt Ryan, so they can now argue that Ryan is their new ‘primary football executive.’ As such, getting Cunningham wouldn’t lead to the compensatory selections.
Ironically, Poles is essentially helping a fellow NFC competitor find their new executive while also not getting anything in return.
The Falcons will have two of the most-coveted openings in the league in this hiring cycle. Even with all the uncertainty regarding Michael Penix Jr’s future because of all the injuries, they still have a plethora of young talent.
Multiple head coaches would love to get a chance to coach Drake London and Bijan Robinson. And with a franchise legend like Matt Ryan now pulling the strings behind closed doors, it may not be long before they’re back to playoff contention.
Football is a cold business, as the Falcons proved with their actions toward Raheem Morris. Now, it’s the dawn of a new era in Falcons football.
