The NFL world is in an outrage over something the Atlanta Falcons didn't even intend to do. After the Falcons hired Ian Cunningham as their GM, the belief was that Cuningham's former team, the Chicago Bears, were supposed to receive two third-round comp picks from the league in lieu of his promotion.
A new provision in the Rooney Rule would have granted the Bears two third-round compensatory picks due to the promotion of Cunningham, a minority candidate. But instead, the league ruled they won't get their picks, as new president of football Matt Ryan is listed as the primary football executive.
It's an already wild scenario, but Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio pitched something even wilder: what if Cunningham eventually leaves Atlanta to become the general manager of a team where he is the primary decision-maker? Would the Dirty Birds get those comp picks? Since that would go over well.
Mike Florio thinks the NFL's ruling on Ian Cunningham could spell trouble in Atlanra
This is incredibly unlikely, so take his words with a grain of salt, but given all of the talk surrounding loopholes in recent days, Florio makes an interesting point. If he were to leave, he would be the primary football executive for another team, but leaving doesn't make any logical sense.
Even though Ryan is listed as Atlanta's primary football executive, Cunningham still has all the responsibilities of any normal GM, even if he isn't officially running the show. Ryan was hired to be a football czar to help the first-year GM adjust to his new role rather than take power away from him.
Even though the 40-year-old has been collecting draft capital like infinity stones during his time with the Falcons, this is now the way you want to hoard picks. Atlanta is finally in a stable position with his new regime, so having to replace Cunningham to find Kevin Stefanski a new running mate is not ideal.
Stefanski and Cunningham (and Ryan for that matter) are united in their vision for this team, and that has shown throughout the offseason. Losing an executive who has actually done a fantastic job laying the groundwork for the future in Atlanta is worth more than any two third-round picks would be.
Bears fans are valid in their anger at the NFL for not giving them their picks they rightfully earned all because of an unintended consequence of Arthur Blank's decision to revamp the front office. But if Cunningham were to leave and the Falcons got picks for his departure, they would be even angrier.
There is no world in which two wrongs make a right, so Florio can talk all he wants about this blasphemous hypothetical, but regardless of what the NFL says, we know who's calling the shots in Atlanta.