Best of the Bears: Ian Cunningham leaves to become the new Falcons GM
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Why did Ian Cunningham leave the Bears for the Falcons?
Thanks, everybody. The Bears.
Brad Biggs. Biggs time. Biggs. With Mully and Hall. Biggs time. The Biggs Report with Brad Biggs. Biggs time. Biggs it. His name is Brad Biggs. Brad Biggs talks football with you.
Mully and Haw, Chicago Sports Radio 670, the score. Shout out to everyone watching us on CHSN. Wearing the colors today, Mr. David. Nice. Thank you for sharing this with me. Yes. Thank you for clothing me. Thank you, buddy. You look good in black. And it's always fun to bring in our guy Brad Biggs, the football man from the Chicago Tribune. He's a longtime contributor to the station and a valued friend, and he joins us on the Plumbers 911 hotline. Plumbing emergency? Call 1-833-PLUM-911. Local 130 Plumbers. Get the job done right the first time. Biggs A!
Morning, Brad.
Morning, boys. What's going on? You demand what's going on with Ian Cunningham. Where are the draft picks?
Yeah, you know, a lot of outrage last night. Some of it fueled, I think, by people who have ignored reports that have been out there for some time that the Bears would not receive draft picks as part of the Rooney rule in this situation. People thinking, well, the Bears should appeal. I don't believe there's anything to appeal. The Bears were aware of this. This isn't a surprise to the Bears. The Bears could have blocked this. Now you can discuss how the rule is worded and all that. Not every team has the same flow chart near the top of the organization underneath the owner. And the Falcons... went about things differently after replacing Terry Fontenot and Raheem Morris when they fired their GM and coach into this past season, hiring Matt Ryan as president of football, which is a job that Ian interviewed for.
Like Ian was in the mix for that job. And the NFL deems that title in that organization to be the primary football executive. In New England, Elliot Wolfe is the primary football executive. He doesn't have GM as a title. He's the vice president of player personnel. The Cincinnati Bengals do a lot of things differently than most other teams. I believe their primary football executive is Duke Tobin, who has the title of director of player personnel. So, While most teams, including the Bears, the primary guy is the GM, and then a secondary football executive would be the assistant GM, which Ian was, that's not the case with every team. And the Bears knew that Ian Cunningham, in a secondary football executive role, would be leaving, for what the league considers a secondary role,
football executive job uh in atlanta brad so the league made that ruling and when it was asked several weeks ago i believe by people on the bears beat my question would be this obviously we understand that this is something that ian cunningham would seek and pursue because it is a promotion The Rooney rule, though, is confusing if they are not going to award compensation for what is technically a promotion, even though he explained it very well there. Who at the league office would be responsible for explaining to or issuing a statement for this issue? contradiction, it would seem, because the Bears have every reason to believe that this would be something that should be rewarded if, in fact, they have an executive that is moving on to greener pastures elsewhere by virtue of his success in Chicago.
Well, I think the league would tell the Bears in the way they define it, it's a lateral move. It's a secondary football executive move position in Chicago leaving for a secondary football executive position in Atlanta. And certainly it's a different title. It's a better title. I've got no doubt it'll involve a handsome pay raise for Ian Cunningham who... Then it's not lateral. Then it's not lateral.
If it's a change in title and an increase in pay, that's a definition of a promotion. Thank you. So the
the Bears' recourse would have been to block it.
Well, that's not a good recourse. You don't make any friends in the league, and that looks bad. And that defies... You're shooting the messenger here, Dave. I'm not shooting you, Brad. I'm just talking.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why did Ian Cunningham leave the Bears for the Falcons?
0:01–8:19
2
What are the implications of the Rooney Rule for the Bears?
8:19–15:35
3
Should the Bears trade DJ Moore this offseason?
15:35–21:07
4
What are the pros and cons of cutting Tremaine Edmunds?
21:07–27:43
5
Who could replace Ian Cunningham as the Bears' GM?
27:43–33:45
6
How will the Bears address their roster needs for 2026?
33:45–38:39
7
What are the potential impacts of player contracts on the Bears' strategy?
38:39–43:42
8
What are the future prospects for key Bears players?
43:42–45:47
Speakers
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