Predicting the Chicago Bears 53-man roster: special teams
The Chicago Bears will have 26 offensive players and 24 defensive players if my projections are accurate. This leaves three players left for the special teams roster.
Cairo Santos made everyone forget about Eddy Pineiro. Pineiro seemed decent when he played in 2019, but a consistent groin injury kept him on the sidelines. Cairo Santos stepped in and stole the job with his consistency. Santos set two franchise records last season. He hit 25 consecutive field goals, which was a single-season record. He then tied Robbie Gould and broke Gould’s franchise record with 27 consecutive field goals. Gould had 26 over a two-year span.
Patrick Scales returns again as the Chicago Bears long snapper and Pat O’Donnell returned this offseason with a one-year contract extension. The Chicago Bears have a solid group here and it is nice not to have to worry about either position — especially the kicker position which turned into a circus two years ago.
The Chicago Bears will be keeping three specialists on the roster.
- Cairo Santos, K
- Pat O’Donnell, P
- Patrick Scales, LS
There are honestly not many surprises in my opinion as I went through this list to determine who is likely to stay. If the Chicago Bears are able to trade Nick Foles, that could shake things up a bit. I’ll look to predict who is added to the practice squad next.