PHOENIX — The Chicago Bears have still not given up hope that they will receive a compensatory third-round pick in this month’s draft — plus another in 2027 — for Ian Cunningham’s jump to become Atlanta Falcons general manager after four seasons at Halas Hall. The team is still awaiting the NFL’s final ruling on its appeal.

In the sixth year since the league enacted Resolution JC-2A, a diversity-driven provision to distribute draft picks to franchises that develop minority personnel into head coaches and GMs, the Bears still believe firmly that they are entitled to the compensation under the spirit and intent of the policy.

As of now, though, even after a purposeful recent visit to the league offices in New York by Chairman George McCaskey, general manager Ryan Poles and President/CEO Kevin Warren, the waiting game continues.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has heard the Bears’ pleas. Now what?

“I think we made a pretty compelling case,” McCaskey said Wednesday morning at the NFL’s annual league meeting at the Arizona Biltmore. “We’ll just have to see what the decision is.”

Added Warren: “We’re simply trying to follow up with them, just normal protocol within the NFL to send in a response saying we feel we deserve the compensatory picks. We understand all the different issues going on with the league. So I’m sure ultimately we’ll hear something back here sooner rather than later.”

To this point, the league has remained married to specific details within the policy and has chosen not to reward the Bears with the comp picks because Cunningham is not considered Atlanta’s primary football executive, status the league attaches to Matt Ryan, who was hired by the Falcons earlier this offseason to their newly created position of president of football.

But Cunningham, at the spring meetings, was handling all of his team’s GM duties similar to so many of his counterparts and will continue to do so with a traditional GM job description. Plus, as Bears fans adamantly point out, Cunningham was the Falcons’ representative in the annual GM photo taken here at the meetings. Ryan, his supervisor, was not.

The Bears feel Goodell was receptive to their arguments while also understanding the legalese woven into a situation like this one and the potential precedent that could be set if the league bends in this case.

“The league has to think big picture,” McCaskey said. “What are the consequences of them ruling in a particular way in this particular case? And how would that be applied to the other 30 teams in the future? So it’s a big question. It’s not a narrow inquiry. They have to broaden the scope of their inquiry.”

For almost every other franchise, Cunningham’s departure and hiring for the role he holds in Atlanta would have triggered the mechanism to give the Bears draft compensation for their development.

Poles, for one, has taken great satisfaction and pride in the time investment he and the Bears organization put into helping Cunningham grow and prepare for a GM opportunity. The Bears have said all along that their development of Cunningham was an organizational priority.

“The Bears’ philosophy is we’re committed to diversity and we will continue our efforts,” McCaskey said. “We’re very proud of what we did with Ian, and we’re very much looking forward to the next opportunity to do something similar.”

As things stand, the Bears own seven draft selections in this month’s draft, including four in the top 90. Adding another pick at the end of Round 3 would certainly be beneficial, and the organization is adamant that a small adjustment to the draft board should be possible all the way up until the draft begins on April 23.