Cairo

Santos

There will be happy holidays for Santos, who gets $9 million guaranteed in his new deal. Santos, the most accurate kicker in Bears history, has made 93 percent of his field goal tries this season, up from his career rate of 85 percent. Chicago’s kicker since 2020, it appears Santos will keep the job for the foreseeable future. He’s a viable option in Week 16 against the Cardinals.

Santos missed Week 4 against the Giants while tending to a personal matter, but is “back and full-steam ahead” according to Bears beat writer Dan Wiederer. Santos will resume his role as the team’s starting kicker and should be good to go for Week 5 against the Vikings.

Santos was absent from practice on Thursday and Friday. Free agent kicker Michael Badgley was added to Chicago’s practice squad and then elevate to the active roster over the weekend. He will get the start but can be ignored as far as fantasy managers are concerned.

At this point, it is safe to assume he will not be playing against the Giants. The Bears elevated Michael Badgley from the practice squad after he won a tryout on Friday. He should operate a Chicago’s kicker on Sunday, but he is not a recommended fantasy option.

The team hasn’t said why Santos has been away from the team for the past two days. The Bears don’t have a kicker on the practice squad but have scheduled a tryout for specialists today. Expect a kicker to join the practice squad on Saturday and be elevated to the active roster by Sunday.

As Over The Cap pointed out on Twitter, 29-year-old Santos has been cut five times since 2018. To say it’s an aggressive move would be putting it mildly. The Bears were simply overjoyed by Santos’ competent 2020 after years in the kicker wilderness. Santos converted 93.8 percent of his 2020 field goal tries, boosting his career mark to 83.1. Santos is not called on very often from 50-plus yards, making him an extra unlikely recipient of this kind of contract. There’s a chance this deal could quickly become an albatross.

Santos will be the Bears’ kicker for at least the next three weeks with incumbent Eddy Pineiro (groin) on injured reserve. It’s worth noting that Santos lost the job in training camp, but kickers are mostly all the same aside from Justin Tucker. Starting a Bears kicker in fantasy is certainly a gamble, but at least he opens in a dome against the Lions.

He’ll miss at least the first three weeks of the season. Pineiro won the Bears’ kicking gig out of camp, beating out Cairo Santos, but Santos was kept on the practice squad and is expected to be elevated to the 53-man roster. He’s not a strong fantasy option.

Eddy Pineiro won the camp battle for kicking duties over Santos. Pineiro was dealing with a groin injury but appears to be healthy. Santos could be brought back once the Bears make some final adjustments to their roster after cutting down to 53.

The move will become official after Santos clears the COVID testing protocol on Sunday. Santos was most recently with the Titans. He was released in the middle of the season after missing four field goals versus the Bills. Eddy Pineiro is slotted in as the starting kicker for Chicago but is currently dealing with a groin injury.