The Chicago Bears gave up too soon on Robbie Gould
At the time, it made sense to not bring Robbie Gould back in 2016. He had a horrible year in 2014 and despite bouncing back in 2015, Robbie Gould was 33 and becoming an off-the-field distraction. In reality, Ryan Pace's ego got in the way and Robbie Gould left Chicago to play for the Giants. The Chicago Bears would struggle at the kicker position for years. Some might say it still hasn't been fully solved, but Cairo Santos has at least been accurate despite not being able to hit the long ball.
Things became so bad for the Chicago Bears at the kicker position that Ryan Pace had to hold a kicking competition. It might have been the weirdest kicking competition to ever take place in the NFL. After releasing Cody Parkey due to his double-doink vs the Eagles, the Chicago Bears brought nine kickers in for the competition. That number of kickers is unheard of. Not to mention, the team still ended up sending a conditional seventh-round pick to the Raiders for Eddy Pineiro who eventually won the competition.
Needless to say, Robbie Gould enjoyed the rest of his career and remained good as Gould for most of it. He spent two seasons with the Giants, making 100% and 95.1% of his attempts. He then finished out his career with the 49ers. He played six more seasons and is currently out of the league at the age of 40. Gould has not officially retired though and who knows if a team comes calling at some point. He is an 86.5% career field goal kicker and still the all-time points leader for the Chicago Bears.