ATLANTA (AP) 鈥� The Atlanta Falcons added the final piece to their new leadership team on Thursday night by hiring as general manager.
The decision came after president of football led the team’s second interviews with Cunningham and James Liipfert.
Cunningham previously interviewed for the president of football position before Ryan, the longtime Falcons quarterback, was hired. Ryan then led the search for new coach , who will report to Ryan along with Cunningham.
鈥淚t was evident through our rigorous interview process Ian was the right choice for our general manager position,鈥� Ryan said in a statement. 鈥淗is vision for our team and organization aligned exactly with the type of leader we were seeking to help take the Falcons to the next level.鈥�
Falcons owner Arthur Blank and coach Raheem Morris after an 8-9 season. Fontenot served as GM from 2021-25.
Cunningham has served as the Chicago Bears鈥� assistant general manager for the past four years. He previously spent five seasons in various scouting and player personnel roles with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Cunningham’s family lived in Roswell near Atlanta before moving to Carrollton, Texas, where he attended high school.
鈥淎s a Falcons fan growing up in Roswell when the Dirty Birds were rolling, the Braves were on fire and the city was hosting the Summer Olympics, I lived the passion of Atlanta sports fans and I can鈥檛 wait to be part of bringing that fire and energy back to the city,鈥� Cunningham said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been incredible to build a relationship with Matt over the last several weeks and to have an immediate connection with Kevin. I can鈥檛 wait to work with both of these great football minds to put a team on the field everyone will be very excited about. We all share the same vision for what the Atlanta Falcons should and will be and it鈥檚 time to work.鈥�
Ryan said Cunningham 鈥渉as demonstrated the drive and focus it takes to build championship contenders and put them in the position to win games. We love his broad and deep experience across every aspect of talent evaluation and know he鈥檚 learned from some of the best in the league. Pairing him with coach Stefanski is exciting for us, and we can鈥檛 wait to see them bring our shared vision to life in everything we do starting right now.鈥�
Cunningham’s first NFL front-office role was in Baltimore, where he was a player personnel assistant for five seasons.
The Falcons also interviewed Andy Weidl, Josh Williams, Mike Bradway and Joe Douglas for the job. Williams was also considered for president of football.
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AP Sports Writer Maura Carey in Atlanta contributed to this report.
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