For the past several weeks, the Chicago Bears have lived with the possibility that they could land an additional draft pick in each of the next two years as a result of NFL rules and the annual hiring cycle for general managers.
That dream, however, is now dead and buried.
On Friday, the Jacksonville Jaguars announced their decision to hire former Los Angeles Rams Director of Scouting James Gladstone as their next general manager. He will replace Trent Baalke, whom the team fired amid their search for a new head coach.
“We have agreed to terms with James Gladstone to become our General Manager,” the team wrote on its official X account on February 21.
What makes Gladstone’s hiring relevant to the Bears is the Jaguars conducted multiple interviews with Ian Cunningham — Chicago’s assistant general manager under Ryan Poles — and counted him as a finalist for the job before making their final decisions.
Under NFL rules, the Bears would have received a compensatory third-round pick in 2025 and 2026 if the Jaguars had hired Cunningham away from their front-office staff. Chicago would have owned five picks in the first three rounds of the 2025 NFL draft if they had lost Cunningham, including double picks in each the second and third rounds.
That certainly would have contributed to the Bears’ rebuilding efforts for 2025.
At least now they get to keep an essential member of their front office.
Ian Cunningham Finished as Finalist for 2 GM Jobs
Cunningham has been a popular candidate over the past three NFL hiring cycles.
While Poles brought him along as his right-hand man when he took the Bears’ GM job in 2022, Cunningham has interviewed for at least one position in each offseason since. He was a finalist for the Tennessee Titans general manager in 2023 and interviewed for the position again in 2025, missing out when the team hired Mike Borgonzi in January.
He also interviewed for the Washington Commanders’ head of football operations job last offseason and turned down an offer to become the Arizona Cardinals’ new general manager in 2023, according to Fox Sports insider Jay Glazer’s reporting at the time.
At this rate, it seems like it is only a matter of time before the Bears lose Cunningham to another front office, but they won’t have to worry about it until 2026 at the earliest now.
Bears Can Still Add More Picks in the 2025 NFL Draft
The Bears stood a realistic chance of adding another Day 2 pick to their collection with Cunningham interviewing for two general manager jobs over the past several weeks.
Just because Cunningham is staying put, though, does not mean the Bears cannot still add more draft picks — if they feel motivated to secure more resources for April’s event.
The Bears could still acquire more picks on the trade market, either by moving one of their current players or sliding back from one particular spot to add more selections. They do not have any obvious trade candidates on their roster, but that’s all perspective with a new coaching staff in place that might not feel as strongly about returning guys.
If new head coach Ben Johnson has a different plan for the Bears’ backfield than what D’Andre Swift brings to the table, he could ask the front office to trade him elsewhere — as the Detroit Lions did with him back in 2023 after drafting Jahmyr Gibbs.
The Bears could also explore shaking up their linebacker corps if their new defensive architect, Dennis Allen, wants a change in personnel. Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards and Jack Sanborn could all potentially draw interest, if the Bears shopped them around.
Even if they don’t acquire more picks, owning three of the first 41 selections is not a bad place to start for the Bears.
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