At long last, the Atlanta Falcons have their general manager. And after years of near misses, Ian Cunningham has his GM job.
The Falcons are naming Cunningham as their next general manager, multiple sources tell CBS Sports. Cunningham arrives in Atlanta after four years as the assistant GM in Chicago, and he combines with new president of football Matt Ryan and head coach Kevin Stefanski to make up the new football braintrust for the team.
The Falcons offered Cunningham the job Thursday after weeks of interviews. He first interviewed on Jan. 9 for the president of football job that went to Ryan. Once Ryan was installed in his post, Cunningham interviewed virtually for the GM job on Jan. 23. And he again interviewed in person with the Falcons on Thursday morning.
Cunningham was one of six candidates to interview virtually for the job, and he was joined in the final round by Texans assistant GM James Liipfert, who impressed the Falcons in his first-ever GM interview.
He was a finalist last year for the Jaguars GM job that went to James Gladstone, as well as a finalist a year earlier in Washington that went to Adam Peters. Cunningham turned down an offer in 2023 to be the Arizona Cardinals general manager in hopes of landing an opportunity better suited for him.
The son of a longtime sports agent and cousin of tennis legend Arthur Ashe, Cunningham played football at the University of Virginia before getting into the NFL. He started with the Ravens as a personnel assistant for GM Ozzie Newsome before eventually leaving for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017 as the director of scouting. By the time he joined Ryan Poles in Chicago in 2022, he had won two Super Bowls with two different franchises.
In Chicago, he took part in a coaching search that resulted in Ben Johnson, drafted young star Caleb Williams and helped engineer a trade of the No. 1 overall pick. The Bears won the division this year for the first time since 2018 and got its first playoff victory in 15 years.
The general manager role in Atlanta is like most other GM gigs across the league with one exception: this job is not what the league office considers the “primary football executive” position. Cunningham is considered a secondary football executive who reports to Ryan, the PFE as designated by the team and league office.
It is due to this structure that the Bears will not receive compensatory picks for losing Cunningham, a Black man. Beginning in 2021, the league began awarding two third-round picks to teams who developed minority talent that ultimately took head coach or GM roles. But multiple sources have confirmed to CBS Sports that the Bears will not get those picks, and the team has known that for some amount of time.
In truth, the Bears could have blocked Cunningham from ever interviewing for the job as it would be, under league rules, a lateral position. But in reality it is a promotion for Cunningham, and the Bears allowing him to seek out the position speaks to his standing within the Chicago organization.
Cunningham replaces Terry Fontenot at the GM position. Falcons owner Arthur Blank fired Fontenot after five years in the role. Atlanta has one of the more talented rosters in the NFC South but failed to win the division during Fontenot’s tenure, and the GM may not have figured out the quarterback position despite a $180 million contract to Kirk Cousins and a top-10 pick used on Michael Penix Jr.
Some of Cunningham’s immediate business will be to lay out a plan for free agency. Wide receiver Drake London is due for a contract extension. Tight end Kyle Pitts is coming off a career year heading into free agency. He’ll also have to decide whether to re-sign players like LB Kaden Elliss, edge Leonard Floyd, defensive lineman David Onyemata, running back Tyler Allgeier and cornerback Dee Alford.
Before the Falcons hired Cunningham, the team adjusted Cousins’s contract to make it easier to part ways with the quarterback at the start of free agency. Penix said this week he is hopeful to return from his ACL injury in time for Week 1 next season.
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