Top NFL kicker wants to play for Bears, but Chicago doesn’t seem interested: Why cowboys should pounce instead

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By Webdesk



When NFL Free Agency opened in March, most of the top free agents were snapped up pretty quickly, but that’s not the case with Kicker. After just over a month of free agency, there are still several good kickers on the market, including Robbie Gould, who is currently the eighth most accurate kicker in NFL history.

One reason why Gould is still available is because he is picky about his next team. After spending the past six seasons in San Francisco, Gould let the 49ers know he went to test free agency this year. One team that Gould would definitely like to play for is the Chicago Bears.

The 40-year-old spent the first 11 seasons of his career in Chicago before being unceremoniously dumped after the 2015 season. Gould still lives in Chicago and if the Bears are interested in reuniting with him, the kicker said he would return to the team in a “heartbeat”.

“If they called and said, ‘Hey, we want you to play for us,’ I would do it in a heartbeat,” Gould said during an interview with NFL.com this week.

While Gould has made it pretty clear that he would love to sign with the Bears, the feeling doesn’t seem to be mutual. If the Bears haven’t called him yet – and it looks like they haven’t – it’s probably because they’re happy with their current kicking situation.

For the past three seasons, Cairo Santos has held the Bears’ kicking lane, making 90.6% of his field goals (77 of 85) in that span. In 2022, Santos went 21 out of 23 and it’s hard to blame him for either of those two misses: one was blocked and the other came from 56 yards out.

Chicago had one of the worst situations in the NFL from 2016 through 2019, but with Santos on the roster, the Bears finally have someone they can rely on again and it seems they don’t want to take any chances in moving away from him. to go. .

With Chicago likely out of the picture, Gould said he will look for two things in a potential team for 2023: He wants to play near his home in Chicago and he wants to play for a winner.

“Of course I want to play closer to home, that’s one of the big things that meant a lot to me, and we’re filtering through those opportunities and waiting for the right time to do that,” said Gould. “I’d like to win if it’s possible, so I’m a bit picky about that, but at 40 years old and playing 18 years in the league, I think I’ve deserved the opportunity to do that.”

Gould has also earned the right to be picky as he is one of the best postseason kickers in NFL history. From an accuracy point of view, there is no one better. Gould has attempted 29 postseason field goals in his career and has made all 29, which is the NFL record for most playoff field goals without a miss. To put that in perspective, only four kickers in NFL history, including Gould, have even made 15 playoff field goals without a miss (Evan McPherson, Chris Boswell, and Jake Elliott being the others).

Chances are Gould could add to that streak in 2023 and it’s because he wants to play for a contender.

“Well, first I want to win a Super Bowl, of course that means a lot to me,” Gould said of why he still wants to keep playing after 18 seasons. “And second, the bottom line is you want to score 2,000 points, maybe make 500 field goals, and ultimately just win.”

There are several teams likely to add kicker in the coming month, including the Cowboys, Rams, Packers, Titans, and Buccaneers. If Gould wants to play for a contender, the Cowboys probably make the most sense and that’s the team that should be banging on Gould’s door to sign him. Recall that the last time we saw the Cowboys on the field, their kicker (Brett Maher) was going through one of the worst post-season meltdowns in NFL history. He went just 1-for-6 on extra points in the playoffs, including a streak where he missed four consecutive points in the wild card round.

While the Cowboys and several other teams will still need a kicker, they’ll likely see what they can do during the draft before signing Gould, meaning the eighth most accurate kicker in NFL history will probably get a free kicker through May. agent will stay. .





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