Ian Cunningham’s long-awaited shot at running an NFL franchise came with a dream twist-he landed the general manager job for the Atlanta Falcons, the team he grew up rooting for. After several close calls during his time as assistant GM in Chicago, Cunningham finally got the nod.
It was a feel-good moment, the kind that makes the grind worth it. But just days into his tenure, reality came crashing in-fast and hard.
The Falcons were hit with a serious off-field controversy involving one of their most important young players. James Pears Jr., Atlanta’s first-round pick from last year, was arrested on charges of domestic violence, including aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated stalking. These are not minor allegations-they’re the kind that cast a long shadow over a player’s career and a franchise’s future.
For Atlanta, the situation is especially painful because of how much they invested in Pears. The Falcons didn’t just draft him-they traded up to get him, giving away their 2026 first-round pick in the process.
That’s the kind of move you make for a foundational piece, a player you believe will anchor your defense for years. Now, that foundation is showing cracks before it even had a chance to settle.
And the fallout didn’t stop there.
Earlier in the day, the Falcons parted ways with Ryan Pace, their director of player personnel and a former GM in Chicago. Pace had been with the team since 2022, brought in by former Falcons GM Terry Fontenot. Once Fontenot was shown the door, it was only a matter of time before Pace followed.
But this wasn’t just a routine front office shake-up. The Pears pick?
It had Ryan Pace’s fingerprints all over it. Throughout his GM run with the Bears, Pace had a well-documented love for trading up in the first round.
He did it for Leonard Floyd in 2016, Mitch Trubisky in 2017, and Justin Fields in 2021. Each move came with a hefty price tag, and the results were a mixed bag at best.
Now, in Atlanta, we’re seeing a familiar pattern. In the last two years alone, the Falcons reached for a quarterback in Michael Penix Jr., and then made a bold trade-up for Pears. And now, with Pears’ legal troubles front and center, it’s Cunningham who’s left to clean up the mess-just as Ryan Poles had to do when he took over for Pace in Chicago.
It’s a tough position for any first-time GM. Cunningham has to stabilize a roster that’s already taken a major hit, navigate a quarterback situation in a draft class that doesn’t have a clear top-tier option, and restore confidence in a fanbase that’s seen its share of false starts. It’s not the kind of honeymoon phase most new GMs envision.
Meanwhile, back in Chicago, there’s another wrinkle to this story. The Bears are waiting to hear whether they’ll receive compensatory picks for Cunningham’s departure.
Initially, it looked like they wouldn’t. The Falcons named former quarterback Matt Ryan as their new president of football operations-a title that, on paper, made Cunningham’s move look like a lateral one rather than a promotion.
But here’s the twist: Ryan has gone on record saying he won’t be involved in roster decisions. That responsibility falls entirely to Cunningham, which strongly suggests he’s the one calling the shots in Atlanta. If the NFL agrees with that interpretation, the Bears could still land those comp picks.
A decision is expected by March, just before the new league year begins. If the Bears do get those picks, it would give them eight selections in each of the next two drafts-an ideal setup for a team that’s already building a strong young core. And for Cunningham, it would be a small but meaningful silver lining in what’s been a rough start to his GM career.
This isn’t the way he-or anyone-wanted the story to begin. But the NFL doesn’t wait for anyone to get comfortable. For Ian Cunningham, the job just got real, real fast.