The Chicago Bears won’t receive compensatory picks for the hiring of former assistant general manager Ian Cunningham. The NFL announced the final decision Friday.

Bears leadership had made an appeal over the past few weeks to change the NFL’s mind. But the NFL said there won’t be any change.

“The matter is now closed following the club’s appeal,” the league’s statement said. “The NFL informed the Bears today they will not receive compensatory picks. The policy is designed to provide picks for the Primary Football Executive position. The League determined Mr. Cunningham did not fill that role with the Falcons as it is defined in League rules.”

Chicago’s leadership believed they should’ve received two draft picks after the Atlanta Falcons hired Cunningham to be their general manager in January as part of the NFL’s Rooney Rule. Teams usually receive two third-round compensatory picks, one each in the next two drafts, for developing a minority executive who received a promotion.

But the NFL originally told the Bears that they wouldn’t receive the picks since the NFL views new Falcons president Matt Ryan as the franchise’s leader. The league awarded its compensatory picks last month, but didn’t award any to the Bears.

Bears’ leadership, including team owner and chairman George McCaskey, president and CEO Kevin Warren and Bears general manager Ryan Poles all recently flew to New York to meet with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss the matter. Even after hearing the NFL’s decision, the team hoped to receive the picks in the coming weeks before this year’s draft, set to start April 23 in Pittsburgh.

Chicago made an appeal earlier this week when they met with reporters at the end of the NFL’s annual meeting in Phoenix. The Bears wanted the NFL to not only think about how the decision would impact the Bears, but also other hirings in the future.

“The league has to think big picture,” McCaskey said earlier in the week. “What are the consequences of us 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 their the scope of their inquiry.”