There are three ways to tell whether a new GM might end up being pretty good at his job for an organization. His first head coaching hire, his first draft pick, and his first acquisition for the new front office. Back in 2015, Ryan Pace set the tone for his tenure when he elected to bring in Joey Laine from New Orleans as his right-hand man. A move that was largely greeted with shrugs. Laine didn’t have much buzz around the NFL. Just Pace hiring his buddy. The same cannot be said for Ian Cunningham.
Ryan Poles wasn’t going to just lean on his close friends in Kansas City. He had somebody else in mind. Cunningham was the director of player personnel in Philadelphia. A big part of a front office that pulled off an impressive retooling to help the Eagles make the playoffs after their ugly 4-12 finish in 2020. Before that, he helped them win the Super Bowl. He did the same as a scout with the Baltimore Ravens back in 2012. The man comes from two proven organizations when it comes to player evaluation. Based on the reactions of people in and around the NFL, it sounds like the Bears might’ve stolen a good one.
Ian Cunningham is one of the best in the business. I know the thought is to evaluate F.O. guys by who gets drafted, but that’s generally stupid. The evaluation process is the key. Ian’s write ups are as detailed and rarely involve cons, but more “where we can help.”
— Honest NFL (@TheHonestNFL) January 29, 2022
Big time hire. https://t.co/okqI4LPbli
— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) January 29, 2022
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
A significant loss in the #Eagles’ scouting dept. Ian Cunningham was one of VP of Player Personnel Andy Weidl’s top lieutenants. https://t.co/m1cLGJTXNv
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) January 29, 2022
Huge loss for the personnel department. Ian Cunningham was a pivotal player in scouting for the #Eagles https://t.co/NGL2kaWpZS
— Gino Cammilleri (@GC24_Football) January 29, 2022
Right after Pace got fired, an NFL exec told me the Bears should interview Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Ian Cunningham. (Not one of my jokes, this actually happened.) https://t.co/UJ38FzpquV
— jon greenberg (@jon_greenberg) January 28, 2022
The fact they made him their first-ever assistant GM says a lot.
It meant the Bears were willing to restructure their front office just to acquire him. If they’d tried to just bring him in as a director of player personnel, the Eagles likely would’ve blocked it. So Poles created assistant GM to basically give the man a “promotion.” A perfect loophole other teams have exploited several times over the years. Now it may work in Chicago’s favor. Especially if Cunningham lives up to his reputation. Based on his background, it is pretty clear how the Bears will approach team-building moving forward.
For Ian Cunningham is all starts up front
Coming from Baltimore and Philadelphia, two franchises that place great emphasis on play in the trenches, that shouldn’t be a surprise. Then again Cunningham played offensive line in college. As did Poles. So it feels like this is going to be the new identity of the Bears moving forward. A team that sets the tone in the trenches. Something they just haven’t done often enough in recent years. Particularly on offense.
Knowing this, it is a fair assumption that changes could be coming on both sides of the ball. Akiem Hicks, Bilal Nichols, James Daniels, and Germain Ifedi are all free agents. Sam Mustipher was a liability at center last season. Cody Whitehair had probably his worst season in a long time. Rookies Teven Jenkins and Larry Borom flashed potential but they were picked by a different regime. It is possible that none of those guys are returning or immune from being traded by Poles and Ian Cunningham.
The next three months figure to be enlightening.
It won’t be easy. Ryan Pace left this new regime with few resources to work with. No 1st round pick. Five picks in total. A limited amount of cap space. The two men will have to get creative if they want this team to compete sooner than later.
