Everyone is still left in so much confusion over the NFL's ruling that the Chicago Bears are not getting any compensatory picks for the Atlanta Falcons' hiring of former Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham as their new general manager.
As part of the Rooney Rule, if a minority candidate gets hired and promoted to be a leading football operations role, the team that candidate left gets two third-round compensatory picks in the next draft. The league has stated that, since Matt Ryan is the president of football operations for the Falcons, considered the top football operations role, the Bears do not receive any picks.
Of course, that became a hot topic at the NFL Combine, with Bears general manager Ryan Poles saying the team reached out to the league for clarity but has not received a response. Cunningham was also asked about the situation and echoed what everyone has been saying.
“I haven’t had much time to really dive into the wording of it,” Cunningham said via ProFootballTalk. “It was always my interpretation that if a general manager gets hired, that team would receive two third-round picks. I’m the General Manager. I was hired. I would think that they would get two third-round picks. I don’t know the wording of it. That’s just my perspective. I wouldn’t be sitting here if it weren’t for them giving me that job and helping me grow to get this job right now.”
Ian Cunningham believes the Bears should get picks too
This has been a wildly frustrating situation for Bears fans, who want to be happy for Cunningham getting a great promotion, but it has been overshadowed by the fact that the Bears aren't getting the picks they deserve under the rules. Ryan himself has publicly said that Cunningham is "running the boat," as he put it.
It just seems odd that everyone agrees except the NFL. The Rooney Rule's heart is in the right place, ensuring everyone has equal and fair opportunities to work in the league, but these types of situations leave a lot to be desired with the rule, and really need to be reexamined by the NFL.
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There are still two months for the NFL to make things right and give the Bears what they deserve. Instead, they have created a massive headache by ignoring the wrong that needs to be corrected.