The Bears made a string of questionable decisions between 2010 (the last year the team won a playoff game) and now. Among those were the disrespectful $2 million deal offered to Brian Urlacher, nearly pushing the Hall of Famer to play for the Vikings, the hiring of Marc Trestman, nearly pushing me to give up hope, and the cutting of legendary kicker Robert Gould III.
Now 40 years old, Robbie Gould is nearing the end of his NFL career, if he isn’t there already. As a free agent in 2023, some believe the Bears should reverse time and make up for past transgressions (maybe that’s what really caused the double doink).
At $92 million under the cap it’s not necessarily out of the question for the Bears to make an offer, but starting kicker Cairo Santos is under contract until 2025. Last year, Santos went 21 for 23 on field goals and 27 for 32 on extra points.
Santos carries an unusually high cap hit for a kicker next year at $4.5 million. Afterward, most of his contract will be in the rear-view mirror, as he will only cost the team $1 million in 2024 and half that in 2025.
If the Bears were to cut Santos, the team would take a dead cap hit of $1.5 million this year and $1 million in 2024.
Regarding statistics, Gould hit 27 of 32 field goals and 50 of 51 extra points this past season.
If the Bears gave Gould a contract worth his average salary ($3.6 million), Chicago would be dropping $5 million on a specialist, more than the average salary of an extra wide receiver or offensive lineman.
As nice as it would be to hear, “Good as Gould!” echo through Soldier Field once again, there’s little chance or logic in bringing Robbie home.
Image courtesy of Chicago Tribune.
