Should the Chicago Bears keep their free agent punter Pat O’Donnell or let him walk via free agency?
As the Chicago Bears head into free agency they do not have too many tough decisions to make. After re-signing Bobby Massie their big decision comes down Adrian Amos and Bryce Callahan. Of course, there are secondary players that the Chicago Bears have to make decisions on, none bigger than punt Pat O’Donnell.
Should the Chicago Bears bring him back or should they let him walk and find a new team via free agency?
Keep
Pat O’Donnell has been with the Chicago Bears his entire career and has performed well for the past five seasons. The Chicago Bears do not have elite special teams, but it is clear they already have a need at kicker.
The Bears special teams were not so bad that they need to go out of their way to replace both, and with putting so many resources into replacing Parkey, they may as well maintain continuity in O’Donnell.
On top of that, there are no true upgrades on the market. Of every free agent punter available O’Donnell graded out as the top available option. Unless the Bears know a punter off of the street, there is no upgrade. O’Donnell has lived in Chicago for five years, his market is not going to be robust, it would make sense for him to stick around on a team friendly deal.
Pass
Despite being the highest graded punter of all of the free agents he is coming off of the worst year in his career. In his first four seasons, he had always graded out as a 63 overall by Pro Football Focus. This year he was graded a 56. If the Bears are going to upgrade at kicker, it is not like O’Donnell is unable to upgrade as well.
O’Donnell is the best punter on the market but that does not mean the Bears need to overpay him. While they would likely have to dig deeper than free agents to replace him, there are cheap punters who would only see a small difference in production. If O’Donnell wants anything resembling serious money they need to walk.