Updated Jan. 29, 2026, 9:10 p.m. ET
The Atlanta Falcons are hiring Chicago Bears assistant GM Ian Cunningham as their new general manager, the team announced on Thursday evening.
Cunningham joined the Bears in the assistant GM role back in 2022. Prior to that, he spent five years with the Philadelphia Eagles (2017-2021), serving as director of player personnel in 2021.
The Bears finished first in the NFC North this season with an 11-6 record, and it had a lot to do with their terrific offseason. Chicago revamped its offensive line, which included signing former Falcons center Drew Dalman in free agency and trading for All-Pro guard Joe Thuney.
Cunningham has been a finalist for multiple general manager openings over the last year, and now he has finally landed one. The Falcons fired general manager Terry Fontenot after leading the team to a 37-48 record over his five years in Atlanta.
“It was evident through our rigorous interview process Ian was the right choice for our general manager position,” president of football Matt Ryan wrote in a statement. “His vision for our team and organization aligned exactly with the type of leader we were seeking to help take the Falcons to the next level. Throughout Ian’s career, including Super Bowl championships in Baltimore and Philadelphia, Ian has demonstrated the drive and focus it takes to build championship contenders and put them in the position to win games. We love his broad and deep experience across every aspect of talent evaluation and know he’s learned from some of the best in the league. Pairing him with Coach Stefanski is exciting for us, and we can’t wait to see them bring our shared vision to life in everything we do starting right now.”
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Fontenot may not have achieved the results he desired, but the 2025 NFL draft class was arguably the best this team has produced in over a decade.
Rookies James Pearce Jr. and Xavier Watts are both finalists for the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year award, while first-round pick Jalon Walker and fourth-round pick Billy Bowman Jr. each had extremely productive seasons.
Fontenot’s biggest failure was his inability to find a long-term replacement for Matt Ryan after trading the veteran quarterback away in 2022. The team signed Kirk Cousins in 2024 before drafting Michael Penix Jr. one month later.
This strategy seemed to create more problems than solutions, with Cousins withholding injury information out of fear of losing his job in 2024. Then, the Falcons kept Cousins around in 2025 despite benching him. Penix got off to a promising start before partially tearing his ACL.
Somehow, after that monumental investment at the QB position, there is still some uncertainty on the future. It sounds like the team is going forward with Penix, which seems like the right move.
The pressure is on this team to perform considering Fontenot was fired after back-to-back eight-win seasons.
