The Bears had been holding out hope that the NFL would see things their way and that they would still be awarded comp picks for their assistant general manager, Ian Cunningham, being hired by the Atlanta Falcons as their general manager. The issue, of course, was that Matt Ryan was the Falcons’ President of Football, which means he’s technically in charge of football operations, not Ian Cunningham.
Primary Football Executive has been a term that Bears fans have heard a lot of the last couple of months.
Today, the NFL officially ruled on the Bears’ appeal and denied them compensatory picks for the Cunningham hire.
The league released a statement that reads, “The matter is now closed following the club’s appeal. The NFL informed the Bears today that they will not receive compensatory picks. The policy is designed to provide picks for the Primary Football Executive position. The League determined Mr. Cunningham did not fill that role with the Falcons as it is defined in League rules.”
In short, common sense lost.
If you haven’t followed the details on this, each team in the league gives them one name, their Primary Football Executive. It’s the top person in football operations. Matt Ryan was named that person to the league, and therefore, Cunningham, theoretically, is the number 2 in football operations, like he was in Chicago, even if we all know, by job description, Cunningham’s role is far larger in Atlanta than it was in Chicago.
The NFL has made a rule that is cut and dry, and therefore, it leaves zero gray area for issues to arise. For example, some teams’ top football executive is a President of Football Operations, others it’s General Manager, and some teams use Director of Player Personnel. The idea of this rule is to cut through the problems of varying titles and just say, “A team receives two third-round picks if a person of color from their organization is hired away as another team’s primary football executive.” That’s it. Matt Ryan is the primary, so therefore Cunningham’s hire doesn’t help the Bears.
Here’s the problem. There is still gray area. Who runs football operations for the Kansas City Chiefs? On paper, it’s GM Brett Veach. Who runs football operations for the Denver Broncos? On paper, it’s George Paton. The entire world knows that Andy Reid and Sean Payton run those football operations. So if George Paton left the Broncos (which has been rumored), and they hire a person of color as their general manager, the team would almost certainly get two comp picks due to the Broncos’ hire, when, in actuality, Cunningham would have more control over football operations in Atlanta than this person would in Denver.
By the letter of the rule, the Bears should not receive compensatory picks. But common sense paints a very different picture, and every Bears fan should be frustrated that the NFL decided to slap the spirit of the rule in the face.
The NFL has a diversity problem. This rule was created to encourage organizations to promote people of color and put them in positions to earn these opportunities. The Bears did exactly that, and they weren’t rewarded for it. If the NFL wants to genuinely encourage diversity among its head coaches and general managers, it would change how they operate. They would get serious about the Rooney Rule and not just allow teams to give head coach interviews to former players just to check a box. They would figure out how to create a pipeline of people of color into the offensive coordinator roles in the NFL, where far more OCs are hired as head coaches than defensive coordinators. And they would certainly look at the Primary Football Executive rule on a case-by-case basis and award the Bears for prioritizing diversity within their organization and, in doing so, helping the league.
The Bears didn’t get comp picks, and for most Bears fans, that’s all that really matters. But when you zoom out, this is just a microcosm of a much bigger problem that the NFL has and simply just doesn’t want to address.
