Bears Exec Details Why Ravens GM is Great

Chicago Bears assistant General Manager Ian Cunningham worked in the Baltimore Ravens organization alongside general manager Eric DeCosta from 2008 to 2016.

Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta speaks during a press conference during the NFL Scouting Combine at Indiana Convention Center. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Few front offices in the NFL are as well respected and lauded as the Baltimore Ravens.

At the head of that is general manager Eric DeCosta. DeCosta first joined the organization as a player personnel assistant in 1996 and eventually worked his way up the ranks in the front office, holding roles as an area scout (1998-2002), director of college scouting (2003-2008), director of player personnel (2009-2011) and assistant general manager (2012-2018) en route to becoming the team's general manager in 2019 after Ozzie Newsome retired.

A hallmark of any good exec is its ability to eye talent and consistently field a good team. Alongside DeCosta for much of his tenure with the Ravens was Chicago Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham. Cunningham spoke highly of DeCosta's impact on him and his ability to break down players.

"Eric is the best report writer I've ever been around," Cunningham said on Ari Meirov's show NFL Spotlight. "You can close your eyes, listen to him read the report, and you can picture the player."

Cunningham was a player personnel assistant from 2008 to 2012 and an area scout from 2013 to 2016 for Baltimore.

Since DeCosta was handed the reins to the organization in 2019, the Ravens have gone 56-27 and have made the playoffs in four of the last five seasons. He's also drafted cornerstones of the franchise in players like safety Kyle Hamilton, center Tyler Linderbaum, defensive tackle Justin Madubuike and receiver Zay Flowers.

"He's awesome," Cunningham. "Really learned a lot from him. His love for his craft and to be able to look outside of just football for inspiration or find correlations within other industries. Still to this day, we exchange books, movies or TV shows just to find little things we can pick up on that we can bring back to our guys and I got that from Eric. He would always pour into me and us so I really appreciate him and the information and the leadership he's provided me as well."

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