Analysis: If assistant GM Ian Cunningham had left the team after one of the many other job interviews he had, it might have been disaster, but no longer.
It was back during the 2024 NFL Draft, and after the Bears had taken Caleb Williams first overall that Ian Cunningham’s value in the team’s front office became the most obvious.
GM Ryan Poles was contemplating moving up with a trade from No. 9 overall to draft Rome Odunze because Williams needed a big-play target besides DJ Moore.
“Ian and I sequenced the board out all the way across and Rome was extremely high on that list,†Poles said after the draft. “That’s why I was nervous. He wasn’t gonna be there at nine. Our simulations had about a 50/50 shot if he was gonna be there.”
Cunningham stepped in during the tense moments as they waited.
“But as it started to unfold, he had to hold me back from not trying to trade up and do something crazy to get him but it ended up working out really well,” Poles said.
Now the right-hand man who was a sounding board and advisor is gone.
The assistant Bears GM has been hired by the Falcons after trying repeatedly to get a GM position and turning down the Arizona post in recent years. It had been four years for him as Poles’ assistant, and now the effect on the Bears is likely to be far less severe than if this happened two years ago.
They could replace Cunningham with senior director of player personnel Jeff King, who has been with the organization since 2015 as a scouting intern. They also have Trey Koziol, the director of player personnel, and Breck Ackley, who is the director of college scouting.
Either way, it’s a move probably for after the draft or even before the NFL Scouting Combine, as they have currently begun the drafting process for this year at the Senior Bowl.
Whatever they do, it doesn’t matter as much as it would have before last January. Poles already has someone else to work with closely on personnel matters in coach Ben Johnson.
Poles has done nothing but praise Johnson and staff for the input personnel receives about the type of players they need to best fit their system.
If the praise wasn’t enough, it became obvious how much difference this made this year in the draft.
Rookie Colston Loveland led the team in receptions and receiving yards, second-round pick Luther Burden finishing with 47 catches, tackle Ozzy Trapilo emerged as a left tackle starter until a season-ending knee injury, and seventh-round pick Kyle Monangai outrushed all but four other backs drafted in 2025.
It might have been their best draft haul since the 1980s.
Perhaps the biggest loss for the Bears is personal for Poles as he and Cunningham were friends even before 2022, when Poles became GM and Cunningham his assistant.
“My experience in Chicago has been important to me in so many ways, and I wouldn’t have this opportunity in Atlanta without George McCaskey, Kevin Warren and especially Ryan Poles,” Cunningham said in a statement. “I am deeply grateful for the opportunity they gave me and everything I’ve learned from them over my years with the Bears. It has been a first-class experience, and I will never forget what they, our staff, coaches, players and the great fans of Chicago have done for me.”
The work goes on for the Bears and Poles will continue the close collaboration with Johnson, one which went a long way toward a division title this year.
Read more on Sports Illustrated
