Chicago Bears Kicker Problems

Chicago Bears kicker problems continue to grow. What does this mean for the Chicago Bears kicking this season?

The Chicago Bears have been in the market for a kicker since Cody Parkey’s missed kicks cost them in the playoffs last season. Even though they have two kickers on the team, it doesn’t look like they are happy with what they have seen so far because general manager Ryan Pace told reporters that the team would be keeping an eye on the kicking competitions that will take place around the league.

“We’re watching all the teams, all the competitive situations around the league — one of them will be kicker,” Pace said. “We’re just watching that progress as we go forward. We know right now where we stand, where some of those battles are occurring. We’re watching those. And I’m sure there will be ones that will pop up that might surprise us.”

After parting ways with Parkey, the Bears had a massive tryout with eight different players. They eventually cut the number of kickers down to three, but each of the kickers they kept struggled to convert kicks from 43 yards or more, which was the problem they had with Parkey.

Chicago Bears Kicking An Issue

At one point, Bears’ fans were hoping the team would bring back former kicker Robbie Gould, who spent the last two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers after he was let go by the Bears. Gould and the 49ers were at a contract impasse, which made a move back to Chicago seem likely. However, both sides were able to come to an agreement last week, which ended any hopes the Bears’ fans had.

After a poor performance during mini-camp, the Bears released Chris Blewitt, leaving Elliott Fry and Eddy Pineiro as the only kickers on the team. With training camp starting this week, the Bears are hoping either Fry or Pineiro will step up and establish themselves as the team’s opening-day kicker.

“We need to figure out this position, right? We need to understand it’s a crucial spot first we’ve got to get right,” Nagy said. “I think the more opportunities that you have for these guys to prove who they are and what they could do, we’ll take ’em.

“So there may be some questionable play-calls in the preseason. I’ll just leave it at that and we’ll go from there.”