When Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles opened his pre-draft remarks at a news conference Tuesday, the first thing he did was give a shoutout to assistant GM Ian Cunningham for his help in the team’s rebuild.
One day later, the Bears signed Cunningham to a contract extension. Cunningham, who was hired by Poles in January 2022, has been a GM candidate the last two hiring cycles and interviewed with the Los Angeles Chargers and Washington Commanders in January.
“I am blessed out of my socks to have him by my side through this process,” Poles said with Cunningham sitting next to him at the news conference. “Just especially when you reflect back to the first two years getting this thing off the ground. To have a guy like him that’s not a ‘yes’ man, that keeps me in line when I start getting off track, to keep our staff together when I get pulled in different directions. We wouldn’t be where we are today if it wasn’t for Ian as well being there and being an unbelievable partner.”
Cunningham joined the Bears with 14 years of front office experience. He worked for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2017-21, finishing as the director of player personnel. He opened his career as a personnel assistant and area scout with the Baltimore Ravens from 2008-2016.
Like Poles, Cunningham is a former offensive lineman. He signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2008 as an undrafted free agent after playing at Virginia.
Despite not finding a match with a GM job in the last couple of years, Cunningham said he has been “extremely grateful for the opportunity” with the Bears to remake their roster.
“Not many people in any walk in life get to work with arguably one of their best friends,” Cunningham said. “So for me to be able to work alongside him, for him to trust me, we all knew that this was his goal. I have a similar goal. But it means everything for me just to be able to work with him every single day. I know my opportunity will come. It’s been a fun ride. Looking forward to this week and kind of seeing things through.”
