Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Everyone agrees the Bears got cheated out of compensatory draft picks
17 Mar 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What are compensatory draft picks and why are they important?
Rahimi Harrison-Groney, middays 10-2 on 104.3 The Score. Ryan, did you have much dialogue at all about Ian Cunningham and the compensatory picks? Yeah. I'll see most of you guys at the league meetings and we can talk about that. I'll leave that alone right now. Oh, we will talk about it, Ryan Poles. We have kept that same energy. And yet again, I ask on this St.
Patrick's Day, March 17th, 2026, a Tuesday, hey, the NFL, where are the picks? Keep asking them. You know why? Because it's the only thing we can do. They're up in the tree. Laila, you can't see them? Right next to that pot of gold up in the tree.
Chapter 2: What did the survey results reveal about Bears fans' opinions?
I'm going to uproot that tree. You get a backhoe? Take it down? If you've seen Marshall's shirt on Twitch or YouTube, the score Chicago is our address. You can see what we're referring to. So like I said, I get the athletic newsletter. I get all of them. They get scoop. I get the bounce. I like them. They provide a lot of information.
And sometimes they have a little gem that you can't actually get on the athletic if you check the website. So here's why I think this is important. They surveyed 16,977 subscribers who get the newsletter. 95% of them said the Bears got cheated by the NFL in the survey.
Chapter 3: Who are the key figures involved in the Bears' draft pick situation?
I'm sorry, give me that percent. 95% of the athletic newsletter survey. 16,977. And this isn't the Bears newsletter. This is the athletic NFL newsletter. So roughly 17,000 people who subscribe to their Scoop City newsletter, which you know is a quality product, 95%. You know what I call those people who were surveyed? Ball knowers. Who's the 5%? Ball knowers. Are you in the division?
They're the non-ball knowers. That's what we've been trying to figure out is who are the ops in this, right? Because you're not giving up draft picks. Everybody thought that at first, and then you explain, no, they're compensatory.
Chapter 4: How does the NFL's compensation system work for teams?
They're free. They come from the clouds and the sky and your heart. They come from an Easter egg that you create. But really, they come from the NFL enacting rules that they don't actually want to enact. They don't want to come through. It's like hitting the one-up in Super Mario Bros.,
But that stat, for that to be that significant, and 95% really is when you consider the data, that tells you that for everybody who asks the question, who comments on our social media, as I've mentioned, this is a topic that is not only felt passionately about by Bears fans and by people who listen to us, but by 95% of the people who voted in their survey. What does that tell you, though?
Like, I... Here's the thing. I have accepted... I know you'll be shocked to hear this. I have accepted the Bears aren't getting the picks. Martical, Martical, Marshall. I like Martical. Well, that's your radical acceptance name because Marshall practices the therapeutic, the therapy practice, like the actual professional therapy practice of radical acceptance.
Chapter 5: What factors influenced the NFL's decision on the Bears' picks?
You are Martical in that way. I understand what is in my control and what's not. I think the Bears are understanding. I think fans are upset and they have every right to be upset when you understand really how we got here and that we, In previous situations, this might not have gone this way. All right, so you scroll down a little bit on the newsletter, and The Athletic is doing God's work here.
In Minnesota, Detroit, and Wisconsin, 848 people disagreed. And then the follow-up sentence says, I'll be monitoring this. I bet you will. Also, let's find the 848 people, and let's convince them. Can I point you to the direction of the Jacob Robinson article in The Athletic? Oh, the actual article? But wait, there's more in the survey. Oh, go ahead. Just to close the loop here.
Chapter 6: What historical precedents exist regarding compensatory picks?
This is from Reader Jeremiah, who is correct in how he phrases this. Quote, this situation may not meet the exact letter of the rule, but it 100% meets the intent of the rule. And the NFL should honor that. And Jeremiah, I don't know who you are, but you are correct, sir. And you also share the same sentiment as 95% of the 16,977 people. That is statistically significant.
That is a large sample size. It is containing one piece of information. I can submit that in a court of law. Period. Paragraph. 95 is wild, though, because that's not like, you know, even if I said 80%, you'd be like, oh, that's strong. 95 is like, yeah, it was basically a consensus except for the 5% that just don't know any better.
And you know me, I don't apply statistics like that that can be refuted or maybe there's a lot of variables into place and that type of thing. I don't believe in that because I usually think that the data is not collected properly.
Chapter 7: How do fans and experts interpret the NFL's actions?
But in this case... Now you could argue, oh, well, it's not a true survey of people. You have to go outside. But I don't know that the person outside who's standing on a street corner cares about this. But according to this, there's a good chance they might. I just... I've never seen the same issue be so ultimately agreed upon like this. Like this.
I'm almost scared to read the actual crux of this from Jacob because here's why. If you're mad, it's only going to make you madder. Let's go. And if you're not mad, guess what? It's going to make you mad. Also, guys, keep an eye on Jordan Schultz's post for us because we're kicking over here. All right.
Chapter 8: What are the implications of the survey results for the Bears' future?
So Matt Ryan himself, you know who he is, the president of football operations, is said, quote, the general manager role is going to be exactly the same as what it's been here before, end quote. Now Cunningham reports to the Falcons president, Ryan, his position is identical to that of Terry Fontenot, the GM he is replacing.
Cunningham, of course, nearly two decades of experience in front office jobs with the Ravens, the Eagles, and the Bears. Ryan has a few weeks on the job. Quote, Matt Ryan, I'm not doing the scouting. I'm not running those meetings. I'll be involved in whatever way Ian needs me. He is running the ship. That's the end of that quote. Now, here's the rub, as they say, Layla.
Both Cunningham and the previous guy, Fontenot, are minorities. Hired for the same job by the Falcons. Fontenot was lured from the Saints in 2021, so New Orleans got two third-round picks. At the time, Atlanta's team president and CEO, not president of football, I want to make sure we get that distinction out there, a new position. was its former GM, Rich McKay.
So what changed in 2021 and now in 2026? What changed? Because that is the obvious next question. As recently as 2024, Layla, Fano reported to McKay, again, a former football general manager. With a clear org chart reported to somebody else, they still got the draft picks. In 2021. This rule was created in 2020. That is also notable to point out as well. So within a year, they made the hire.
The picks went to the Saints. And here's the quote from McKay. The day-to-day operation of a football team is run by the head coach when it comes to all the coaching and all the players and everything he does, and by the general manager when it comes to all of the players, player selection, and all that. They both report to me. Here's the question in the article.
That's not a primary football exec, but Ryan is. So precedent was set in practice with the exact same situation they now say is invalid. And New Orleans got the two picks. They rewarded and honored the rule with the exact same example. And you know that they know this. 95% of roughly 17,000 people surveyed. agree that this isn't being applied properly.
That the NFL is not utilizing the spirit of its own law, the intent. Here's why I'm proud of the 95%. Because just when I start believing in the overall dumbing down of America, these people can, with context, read between the proverbial lines. Well, to be fair, they also pay for the athletic subscription and they get a newsletter. They're plugged in.
So they're probably a little more educated than the average person. Yeah, they're not like, no offense, you know, scrolling through Facebook mindlessly and see buzzwords like a bad search engine and connect to those. I earlier had someone tell me... I have an opinion because these words are in front of me. I earlier had a not so smart person tell me that...
the NCAA's opening round, the first four were play-in games. And I said, well, you know, you could just Google it instead of texting me and understand why it's not a play-in. I actually think you two are both correct. No, but it's not. By definition, it is not a play-in. He's like, Google, they could tell you anything. I was like, you go to the actual credible source.
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