Bears name Jeff King assistant GM

The Bears promoted Jeff King from senior player personnel director to assistant general manager on Thursday, giving GM Ryan Poles a new deputy.

King replaces Ian Cunningham, who earlier this month was named the GM of the Falcons. When Poles took the Bears job four years ago, he created the position of assistant GM and picked Cunningham for the job.

King has been part of some of the Bears’ biggest decisions in recent years — and was on the search committee that picked head coach Ben Johnson one year ago.

As a tight end, King was a fifth-round pick of the Panthers, where he caught 60 passes for 802 yards over four years. He was hired as a Bears scouting intern in 2015 and climbed the ranks, being promoted a pro scout, then assistant pro scouting director, then pro scouting director. He and Trey Koziol shared the title of co-player personnel director before King was named senior player personnel director in June 2024.