Falcons GM Cunningham brings winning experience to front office that needs it

Only the Jets have a longer NFL playoff drought than Arthur Blank’s Falcons.

Blank decided the best way to fix things was to give final decision-making authority to Matt Ryan, who had never worked in a front office. Ryan hired head coach Kevin Stefanski, who lost more games than he won in Cleveland.

So, it’s a good thing that the Falcons hired Ian Cunningham as general manager on Thursday night. Now, they have a senior football person with both relevant experience and a winning resume.

Cunningham (no relation) was a front-office executive for two longtime winning organizations, the Eagles and the Ravens. Most recently, Cunningham helped make the Bears winners again. He’s never called the shots, but he’s worked side by side with top executives who’ve done so successfully.

Ryan is counting on Cunningham helping the Falcons become like the Eagles and Ravens. First, Cunningham will need to help them turn things around like he and GM Ryan Poles did with the Bears.

Chicago earned three playoff appearances in the 12 years before Cunningham arrived as assistant GM in 2022. The Bears won the NFC North this season for their first playoff berth since 2020. They went on to win their first playoff game since 2010.

The expectation for Cunningham is to make moves that get the Falcons to the playoffs much faster than three years.

The Falcons play in the NFL’s weakest division, the NFC South. Blank touted his team’s roster after firing GM Terry Fontenot, but he said the operation needs better leadership and accountability. Cunningham will be tasked with providing those elements as the No. 2 executive behind Ryan.

Cunningham cut his teeth with a model NFL organization, the Ravens. He was a player personnel assistant for five years before getting promoted to scouting jobs from 2013-16. In Baltimore, Cunningham worked under Ozzie Newsome, who won two Super Bowls as the organization’s top football executive.

Cunningham’s work in Baltimore led to a job as Philadelphia’s director of college scouting in 2017. After two years in that position, Cunningham was promoted to director of player personnel and director of personnel. The Eagles won a Super Bowl and made the playoffs three other times over those five years, when Cunningham worked for Howie Roseman.

One thing to note about Cunningham: he has more broad-based experience than the GM he replaces, Terry Fontenot.

When Blank hired Fontenot in 2021, Fontenot had worked for 18 seasons with one organization, the Saints. He worked solely on the pro personnel side of the football operation before becoming a top executive. Cunningham has worked for three different organizations with early jobs on the college and pro side before becoming a senior executive.