Chicago Bears: 3 Under-the-radar players who must return in 2021

1. Kicker Cairo Santos

For the past three years, draft time and free agency have had fans all in a frenzy over the kicker position. We’ve seen how horrid it became after the Robbie Gould days — so bad that Pace and his coaching staff, under Nagy, had what ended up being a circus of kickers in and out of the building for an offseason. It went into double digits at one point; the number of kickers on the team, that is.

Last year, we thought the Bears may have had something in the youngster, Eddy Pineiro. After acquiring him from the Raiders via trade, and for a late-round pick, he had some bright moments in 2019.

But, going into 2020, Pineiro started the season on injured reserve. So, it was back to Cairo Santos in Chicago — Round 2. Santos appeared in a couple of games for the Bears back in 2017, but the injury bug bit and that was that.

https://twitter.com/nflmx/status/1317894213728600064

Now, in his second stint with the team, he’s having a stellar year. Unfortunately, no one is talking about it because the Bears have so many other issues at hand. But, we have to give credit where credit is due.

Santos has made 19 of 21 kicks (90.5%) and even knocked through a career-long of 55 this year. On a one-year deal, he’s on his way to earning a multi-year extension with the Bears at this rate. Contrary to much doubt around whether or not he could stay healthy or make the long kick, Santos has become as solid as any kicker in the league. The Bears have to bring him back, without question.