{"id":851585,"date":"2026-04-03T16:58:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T16:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/851585\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T16:58:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T16:58:18","slug":"nfl-rejects-bears-appeal-for-compensatory-picks-after-falcons-hire-ian-cunningham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/851585\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Rejects Bears’ Appeal for Compensatory Picks After Falcons Hire Ian Cunningham"},"content":{"rendered":"

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

\"AThe NFL’s rejection of the Bears’ appeal over compensatory picks exposes the nuances and limitations of the league’s diversity hiring policies.NYC Today<\/p>\n

The NFL has officially rejected the Chicago Bears’ appeal to receive compensatory draft picks after the Atlanta Falcons hired former Bears executive Ian Cunningham as their new general manager. The league determined that Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, not Cunningham, is considered the ‘Primary Football Executive’ under the league’s rules, which are designed to reward teams for developing minority coaches and executives.<\/p>\n

Why it matters<\/p>\n

The NFL’s compensatory draft pick policy is intended to incentivize teams to hire and develop diverse coaching and executive talent. The Bears believed they should have received third-round picks in the next two drafts for helping prepare Cunningham, a Black executive, to become a GM, but the league ruled against them.<\/p>\n

The details<\/p>\n

The Bears had appealed to the NFL, arguing that Cunningham, who was their assistant GM for four years, should be considered the ‘Primary Football Executive’ in Atlanta. However, the league determined that Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who has zero prior personnel experience, is the one who fills that role under the league’s rules. The Bears had presented evidence, including Ryan’s own comments acknowledging Cunningham is ‘in charge’ of the Falcons’ football operations.<\/p>\n

The NFL officially rejected the Bears’ appeal on April 3, 2026.Cunningham was hired as the Falcons’ GM in February 2026.<\/p>\n

The players<\/p>\n

Ian Cunningham<\/p>\n

A Black executive who served as the assistant general manager for the Chicago Bears for four years before being hired as the general manager of the Atlanta Falcons.<\/p>\n

Matt Ryan<\/p>\n

The veteran quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, who was hired as the team’s President of Football despite having zero prior personnel experience.<\/p>\n

George McCaskey<\/p>\n

The owner of the Chicago Bears, who argued the team should receive compensatory draft picks for developing Cunningham.<\/p>\n

Kevin Warren<\/p>\n

The president of the Chicago Bears, who joined McCaskey in making the team’s case to the NFL.<\/p>\n

Ryan Poles<\/p>\n

The general manager of the Chicago Bears, who oversaw Cunningham’s development as an executive.<\/p>\n

Got photos? Submit your photos here. \u203a<\/a>
\n What they\u2019re saying<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve got a lot to learn… Ian is in charge and he is driving this boat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Matt Ryan<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did what the league wants every member club to do. We identified diverse talent, we recruited him, we created a position for him… We allowed him to make mistakes and to learn from those mistakes. We gave him supervisory duties. We gave him training. We made him ready to be a general manager in the NFL, and he’s getting his opportunity and we’re thrilled for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 George McCaskey, Bears Owner<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next<\/p>\n

The Bears have indicated they will not pursue the matter further, accepting the NFL’s final decision.<\/p>\n

The takeaway<\/p>\n

This ruling highlights the complexities and limitations of the NFL’s compensatory draft pick policy aimed at promoting diversity in leadership roles. It also raises questions about how the league defines ‘Primary Football Executive’ and whether the policy needs to be refined to better achieve its intended goals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a The NFL’s rejection of the Bears’ appeal over compensatory picks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":851586,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2070],"tags":[374,692,391,2493,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-851585","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bears","8":"tag-bears","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-bears","11":"tag-chicagobears","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116341843075744154","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/851586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}