Lake Forest, IL (AP) – The Chicago Bears promoted longtime scout and front office executive Jeff King to assistant general manager under Ryan Poles on Thursday.

King’s promotion comes after Ian Cunningham left late last month to become Atlanta’s general manager. The Bears hired King in 2015 as a scouting intern and he worked his way up to senior director of player personnel last season. A tight end, King played in the NFL from 2006 to 2012 for Carolina and Arizona. He caught 156 passes for 1,323 and 12 touchdowns.

Chicago went 11-6 and won its first NFC North title since 2018 after finishing last the previous season. The Bears advanced in the playoffs for the first time in 15 years, rallying to beat Green Bay in a wild-card thriller before losing to the Los Angeles Rams in overtime in the divisional round.

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