For a time, it looked like the storm had passed. Every team with a general manager vacany had filled their jobs. The Chicago Bears wouldn't have to worry about losing assistant GM Ian Cunningham to another team. GM Ryan Poles must've been relieved. He counts on Cunningham to be a key voice in the evaluation process every off-season. Unfortunately, things took an unexpected turn when the Jacksonville Jaguars fired GM Trent Baalke two weeks after it looked like they'd chosen to keep him. They swiftly hired head coach Liam Coen and are now in the process of seeking a general manager to pair with him.
Rumors have persisted for over a week that Cunningham is a favorite to get that job, both from national insiders like Albert Breer and local Jacksonville experts. As it turns out, people inside Halas Hall are bracing for the likelihood this will happen. A source informed SM of this situation. There is a belief that if the interview process doesn't encounter any unexpected hiccups, Cunningham will become GM in Jacksonville.
Ryan Poles likely has a succession plan in place.
The Bears GM admitted years ago that he expected to lose Cunningham to another job at some point. It was only a matter of time. He had to have a plan in place for when that happened. To his credit, Ryan Poles appears to have been grooming a replacement since he arrived in 2022. Jeff King began with the Bears as a scouting intern in 2015. He climbed the ladder until he was director of pro scouting in 2022 when Poles arrived. He was promoted to co-director of player personnel that same year before becoming senior director of player personnel last off-season. The Bears GM has great trust in him, having made King part of the head coach interview process. It is an easy bet that he will take over as assistant GM whenever Cunningham leaves.
