Former Chicago Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham went from wearing his usual collared shirt, with the top unbuttoned, under a sports blazer, to an Atlanta Falcons red tie and a full suit.
That’s what happens when you go from assistant general manager of the Chicago Bears to the general manager in Atlanta. Five days after the move was made official, Cunningham spoke in front of the media with president of football, Matt Ryan, by his side. Cunningham, who was a Falcons fan growing up, thanked all his previous teams for helping him get to where he is today.
He joined the Baltimore Ravens in 2008 as a personnel assistant and was later promoted to area scout. He then joined the Philadelphia Eagles, moving up from director of college scouting to director of player personnel in 2021.
Then, of course, Cunningham served as the right-hand to Bears general manager Ryan Poles for the last four seasons. The new Falcons’ general manager spoke about his time in Chicago.
“Thank you to George McCaskey, Kevin Warren, Ted Phillips, Ryan Poles, and the Bears’ organization,” Cunningham said. “It’s been a long four years. They have wrapped their arms around me, gave me an opportunity when they never gave an opportunity to an assistant GM in that storied franchise’s history. Forever appreciative of that and thankful for them and especially Ryan. Obviously, Matt has a longer relationship with him, but we went through the fire together and we started off a little rocky, and to be able to come out the other end this past season with the NFC North title, the journey, that was fun. That was fun to be a part of, so thank you there.”
Ian Cunningham appreciative of Ryan Poles, Bears for his time in Chicago
When Cunningham and Poles started in Chicago, the Bears finished the 2022 season 3-14. Then improved to 7-10 and 5-12 in 2024. The first three seasons featured last-place finishes in the NFC North, but 2025 was a breakthrough for the Bears.
The team won 11 games on the way to an NFC North title and defeated the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round. But that season doesn’t happen without the roster construction that took years of building.
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While Cunningham focuses on building his Atlanta Falcons, the Bears need to name their next assistant general manager. Current Bears senior director of player personnel Jeff King should be a likely candidate for that promotion if the Bears decide to hire someone internally.