With the Chicago Bears deep into the planning phase for the offseason, they have promoted Jeff King to assistant general manager.
The team announced the move Thursday morning. King was the natural and expected replacement for Ian Cunningham, who left to become general manager of the Atlanta Falcons.
Timing of the announcement made it a big day for King, who is celebrating his 43rd birthday on Thursday. He is entering his 12th season with the franchise, so he’s seen the good, the bad and everything in between since the beginning of the Ryan Pace-John Fox era in 2015.
A fifth-round draft pick out of Virginia Tech in 2006, King played tight end for five seasons for the Carolina Panthers when Fox was their coach. That relationship helped launch his second career when the Bears hired him as a scouting intern in 2015.
He became a pro scout the next year, assistant director of pro scouting in 2019 and director of pro scouting in 2021. When Ryan Poles took over as GM in 2022, King was named co-director of player personnel and then became senior director of player personnel.
Behind the scenes, King was a trusted voice for Ben Johnson when the Bears were courting the coach last January. Johnson’s agent, Chicago-based Rick Smith, represented King during his playing career, which also included three seasons with the Arizona Cardinals.
Now King has an elevated role under Poles as the NFC North champion Bears look to fortify the roster coming off an 11-6 season. If the team continues to be successful, King should be in the mix for future GM openings. He already was in the cycle once, interviewing for the Los Angeles Chargers GM vacancy in 2024.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/19/chicago-bears-jeff-king-assistant-general-manager/



