Interview date: Friday, Jan. 23
Current role: Cunningham has been the Chicago Bears’ assistant general manager since 2022.
- Cunningham has 18 years of NFL experience, the last four coming with the Bears. He was the first-ever assistant general manager in Chicago, joining the franchise with general manager Ryan Poles. The Bears won the NFC North in 2025, their first division title since 2018.
- Prior to his time with the Bears, Cunningham spent five years with the Philadelphia Eagles, holding the role of director of college scouting (2017-18), assistant director of player personnel (2019-20) and director of player personnel (2021). The Eagles made the playoffs four times during Cunningham’s tenure, including a Super Bowl victory in his first season.
- Cunningham’s start in the league came with the Baltimore Ravens, with whom he spent nine seasons as player personnel assistant (2008-12) and area scout (2013-16). The Ravens went to the playoffs in each of those years, winning the Super Bowl in his last season.
- Cunningham was an offensive lineman for the University of Virginia, so he understands what it’s like to be a collegiate athlete.
Local connection: The Falcons’ former quarterback and new president of football, Matt Ryan, was college teammates with Poles, which could bode well for Cunningham. Poles blocked for Ryan as an offensive lineman at Boston College.
Cunningham was also one of the five candidates the Falcons interviewed for the new president of football position that ultimately went to Ryan.
Why he’s a candidate: Cunningham has worked his way through the team ranks, accumulating experience essentially at each level in a front office apart from the very top. He has done so with teams that were successful, too, so he knows how a well-oiled machine operates. That perspective would be beneficial to the Falcons, considering they have not made the playoffs since 2017.
Better yet, Cunningham helped the Bears reach rather quick success with a new head coach in Ben Johnson and a young quarterback in Caleb Williams this season, which will be a similar situation for the Falcons in 2026. Chicago went 5-12 during Williams’ rookie year before improving to 11-6 in his second season. Cunningham, in theory, could help build a roster around Penix, or whoever the quarterback is, and turn the productivity around. He watched — helped — Poles do it.
