The Chicago Bears may be considering a change at kicker after working out Cairo Santos.
Ryan Pace may finally have woken up from his special teams’ slumber. For weeks, actually, let’s be honest, for months, check that, for over a year, it’s been clear the Chicago Bears have needed a change at kicker. They sacrificed Robbie Gould, who had been struggling, to fortify the offensive line with Josh Sitton, but after a few weeks, it was clear that Connor Barth wasn’t going to cut it.
After bizarrely releasing Utah K Andy Phillips before giving him an actual shot, the Bears have been complacent with Barth, until this week.
#Bears brought in former #Chiefs kicker Cairo Santos for a visit today. Here are the details: https://t.co/E7Os1ZLvbJ
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) November 16, 2017
Santos was originally placed on IR by the Kansas City Chiefs in late September. The Chiefs signed rookie Harrison Butker off the Carolina Panthers practice squad and once they liked what they saw, decided to release Santos being he was an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2017 season.
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Santos is a fantastic kicker who is one of the most accurate in the history of the NFL. He suffered a groin injury that was severe enough to be placed on IR so there has been little interest in his services until now. The Bears wanted to see where Santos is in his recovery and if he was ready to take the field. They also gave him a physical.
If Santos is indeed close, the Bears shouldn’t wait, they should sign Santos now. Multiple teams are interested, and while Barth actually had a good game against Green Bay, it won’t be long until he costs the Bears critical points soon. If Santos is a couple of weeks away, sign him now, keep him inactive the first couple games and release Barth when Santos is ready. Heck, you could release Mark Sanchez who I’m sure will be more than available in a couple of weeks for you to re-sign him to his useless role as QB3.
The Bears have an opportunity to upgrade a position of need. The time is now. Make the move.