The drawn-out saga regarding the Chicago Bears and their quest for compensatory draft picks for losing Ian Cunningham has finally reached its end, but it’s not the result the team nor its fans were hoping for. The league revealed the list of compensatory picks for the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft, and the Bears were not included.
Back in January, Cunningham left the Bears to become the new general manager of the Atlanta Falcons. As a minority candidate, the Bears were set to receive a pair of third-round compensatory picks as part of the league’s development for minority coaches and front office members. But because the Falcons had already hired Matt Ryan as the president of football, the NFL didn’t view Cunningham as the primary football decision-maker, despite pushback from Ryan and Cunningham themselves.
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For the last few weeks, there was speculation as to whether or not the Bears would qualify for those picks. The answer was finally revealed on Monday, and fans are disappointed with the league for not following through on their rules established five years ago. Here are some of the reactions from the news:
NFL world reacts to Bears officially missing out on comp picks
This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: NFL world reacts to Bears officially missing out on comp picks