The Chicago Bears didn’t get the news they were hoping for when the NFL handed out compensatory selections for the 2026 NFL Draft. When assistant general manager Ian Cunningham left to join the Atlanta Falcons, many around the league expected Chicago to receive a compensatory pick in return. But when the league made the official announcement on Monday, the Bears’ name was nowhere on the list. The decision quietly closed the door on what could have been a small but meaningful boost for Chicago’s draft capital. As the news spread online, quarterback Caleb Williams did not stay silent and quickly reacted on social media.

“🤠,” Williams wrote on X, sharing a clip of Falcons President Matt Ryan discussing Cunningham’s new responsibilities with the Falcons.

In that video, Ryan repeatedly explained that Cunningham will be the one handling the roster decisions in Atlanta. When Ian Cunningham accepted the general manager job with the Falcons, many believed the Bears would benefit under the Rooney Rule. The expectation was that Chicago would receive two third-round compensatory picks across the next two drafts. But the situation quickly became complicated.

Much of the debate centered on the team’s leadership structure, since Matt Ryan technically holds the title of head of football operations. In fact, the league considers Falcons president of football Matt Ryan to be the organization’s “primary football executive,” not Cunningham. Still, Ryan had repeatedly made it clear that Cunningham handled the roster decisions.

“I’m not doing the scouting,” Matt Ryan said. “I’m not running the meetings. Our GENERAL MANAGER will do that. The general manager role is going to be exactly the same.”

Therefore, the Rooney Rule suggests viewing this move as a promotion. That rule allows teams to receive two third-round picks when a minority executive leaves for a top personnel job or when a coordinator becomes a head coach. Bears general manager Ryan Poles even revealed during the NFL Scouting Combine that the team formally appealed to the league. Both Poles and Cunningham believed Chicago had earned those draft picks.

In the end, however, the NFL saw it differently, and the compensatory selections never came. The league determined that the rule does not apply in this situation. Cunningham joined the Falcons at the same time the organization introduced another title called president of football operations and handed it to former quarterback Matt Ryan.

Still, Ryan’s role appears mostly symbolic since he does not control the draft or free agency and only offers opinions from time to time. Atlanta also had Cunningham represent the organization at the NFL Combine during the annual press conferences, where top personnel leaders speak with reporters. Ryan did not attend those sessions.

That detail only fueled the reaction from Caleb Williams, whose post made it obvious that Chicago got the short end of the deal. However, the Bears have been pushing the league for clearer answers in recent months.

The Bears wanted more clarification from the league

The Chicago Bears believe the league should reward them for developing Ian Cunningham before he landed the Atlanta Falcons’ general manager job. Because of that, the franchise has pushed the NFL for clarification about why the compensation rule did not apply.

Back in 2020, league owners approved a policy that grants teams two third-round picks in back-to-back drafts when minority coaches or front office leaders earn promotions elsewhere as head coaches or general managers.

Since Cunningham’s promotion appeared to fulfill the rule’s requirements, Chicago’s leadership did not stay quiet about the issue. General manager Ryan Poles made it clear that the franchise believed the rule should still apply in this case.

“There’s a set of rules that has been put in place that I think can be applied to this situation,” GM Ryan Poles said last month. “So we have communicated through the right channels. We’ll see what happens going forward.”

Cunningham himself shared a similar belief about the rule.

“It was always my interpretation that if a general manager gets hired, that team would receive two third-round picks,” Cunningham said last month. “I’m the general manager. I was hired. I would think that they would get two third-round picks. 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.”

However, despite the public push from both sides, the league ultimately viewed the situation differently. As a result, the Bears did not receive the draft compensation they believed the rule promised.

For three seasons, Ian Cunningham played a key role in the front office of the Bears, serving as assistant general manager alongside GM Ryan Poles starting in 2022. His influence quietly grew during that stretch, helping shape many of the roster decisions behind the scenes. Now that Cunningham has accepted the general manager position with the Falcons, Chicago, in response, moved quickly to fill the vacancy, promoting Jeff King to take over the assistant GM role and keep the front office moving forward.