Chicago Bears Get Final Ruling From NFL on Compensatory Pick Controversy

After a lengthy battle with the NFL over a pair of compensatory picks the team believed it should have received, the Chicago Bears got their final answer on whether or not they'll those selections on Friday.

According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the league has ruled that the Bears will not get the comp picks for former assistant general manager Ian Cunningham getting hired by the Atlanta Falcons as their new general manager.

And that decision is now final, the league says.

“The matter is now closed following the club’s appeal. The NFL informed the Bears today they will not receive compensatory picks," the NFL said. "The policy is designed to provide picks for the Primary Football Executive position. The League determined Mr. Cunningham did not fill that role with the Falcons as it is defined in League rules.”

The reasoning from the NFL is the exact same one it gave the Bears initially, so the league didn't budge one bit.

Of course, because of The Rooney Rule, the Bears were expecting to get two comp picks, which we've seen teams get before when a minority coach or executive leaves for a promotion with another team.

However, the league ruled that Cunningham wasn't actually the "primary football executive" for the Falcons and instead the team's president of football, Matt Ryan, was, which led to the denial.

Why NFL's ruling is wrong

What makes this ruling outlandish is the fact that even the Falcons agreed with the Bears that Cunningham is the primary decision-maker in Atlanta, thus Chicago qualifies for the picks.

“I’m the general manager, I was hired, I would think they would get two third-round picks,” Cunningham said when asked about the controversy.

“I don’t know the wording of it, that’s just my perspective. Again, I wouldn’t be sitting here if it weren’t for them giving me that job and helping me grow to get this job right now," he added.

“Im not doing the scouting. I’m not running the meetings," Ryan said of his role. "Our general manager will do that. The general manager role is going to be exactly the same.”

Despite how wrong this ruling it, and despite the fact that the official list of comp picks had already been announced, the Bears continued their fight through the NFL owners meetings this week.

But if was all for naught and the Bears won't be getting the two picks we believe they definitely deserved as part of Cunningham's departure to Atlanta.