The Chicago Bears are currently looking for ways to continue to improve after their successful 2025 season, which resulted in an appearance in the divisional round of the playoffs. The Bears recently lost assistant general manager Ian Cunningham, who left to take the GM position with the Atlanta Falcons.
Now, Bears general manager Ryan Poles has taken a step to fill that void.
“The #Bears are promoting Jeff King to be their new assistant GM, filling the spot vacated by now-#Falcons GM Ian Cunningham. The former NFL TE, King started as an intern in Chicago’s personnel department. Now, a key lieutenant for Ryan Poles,” reported NFL insider Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network on X, formerly Twitter.
King spent the majority of his NFL career with the Carolina Panthers in the mid-2000s, and will now join a Bears front office that is regarded as one of the best in the league currently.
Tight end was a major strength for the Bears this past year, with Colston Loveland establishing himself as one of the best young players in the game at his position, and Cole Kmet continuing to provide steady production in his own right, including catching Caleb Williams' miracle throw against the Los Angeles Rams to send that playoff game into overtime.
Still, this Bears roster is far from perfect, and the team could still use some reinforcements on defense, particularly in the backfield, where they were not exactly stellar throughout this past season.
A large part of the Bears' possible continued ascent will come down to whether or not Williams will be able to build off his impressive second season in Chicago, which saw him team up with head coach Ben Johnson.
In any case, King, Poles, and the Bears' next order of business is the NFL Draft, which is slated for late April.
