Both Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace stated today at the NFL Combine that Cody Parkey will not return.
Chicago Bears fans can rejoice. The Bears have made it official, Cody Parkey is no longer a member of the team.
The NFL Combine is underway and both Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace spoke with the media.
There had been some news recently that the Bears planned to part ways with Cody Parkey via Ian Rapoport but the team had not made any official statement about Parkey’s future.
That changed today.
Cody Parkey will be designated as a post June 1 cut after the start of the league year in March 13 says #Bears GM Ryan Pace
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) February 27, 2019
The post June 1 cut will save the Bears roughly $1 million in cap space, so that is the reason for that designation rather than just letting him go the first day of the new league year, but Mr. Double-Doink is gone, Bears’ fans can relax.
Unfortunately for the Bears’ kicking situation, Robbie Gould will not be an option as the San Francisco 49ers will reportedly put the franchise tag on him.
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What the Bears’ plan is at kicker is still a mystery. The team could potentially try to land a veteran like Matt Bryant or Stephen Gostkowski or they could draft a picker or try a few different UDFAs. Obviously those statements aren’t anything Earth-shattering, but clearly the Bears are making a change at a position that’s important for a Super Bowl contender.
The Bears proved in 2018 that they are a playoff caliber team and now that they’ve reached this point, they need to focus on what they need to do to make the team a Super Bowl contender.
You can’t win a Super Bowl with a mess at kicker. At some point in a critical game, a kick will need to be made and you need to have a reliable kicker. The Bears know this and know that Parkey would never be considered reliable at this point.
The one position that Pace hasn’t figured out in his tenure in kicker. It’s time to put that in the rear-view mirror. The Bears need a kicker, it’s time for Pace to get it right.