Chicago Bears: Grading every free agency move by Ryan Pace

One of the team’s biggest issues was solved after Pace brought in a young, proven kicker.

Cody Parkey

After having to deal with the likes of Connor Barth for a couple seasons, Bears fans were ready for Pace to solidify the kicker position. Barth was rather awful over the time he spent with the Bears, and thankfully, his time is done.

Signing Parkey was one of the more underrated moves by Pace in March. Everybody wanted to talk about the big names that have been previously mentioned, but Parkey may have been the X-factor.

How many times have fans witnessed game-tying or game-winning kicks go horribly wrong in the past three or four years? It started with Robbie Gould in his final season as a Bear — and don’t get me wrong, I love the guy.

Parkey hit three game-winning kicks a year ago, and hopefully he can continue his success in Chicago.

Grade: A

Pat O’Donnell

As I’m writing this, I am hoping the Bears take a shot on recently-released punter Marquette King. While the Bears aren’t among the rumored names at the moment, it sure would be nice to have a Pro Bowler at the position.

I digress.

O’Donnell has been serviceable, and has actually gotten better over his first few years, but I still believe Chicago could do better. The problem is, they’re not going to draft a punter — at least they shouldn’t — and O’Donnell was at the right price where it made sense to bring him back.

Grade: B-

Patrick Scales

Scales was affordable and, once again, is familiar with the locker room. It was somewhat of a no-brainer to bring him back. The only question mark is his health. Scales tore his ACL in preseason action last year and missed the rest of the year. He appeared in 21 straight games prior to that and played well enough for the Bears to keep him around.

Grade: B

Must Read: 5 draft day trades for the Bears

Overall, I believe Pace had his best offseason with the Bears, and it’s not close. With the free agency additions and coaching decisions made, the Bears are set up for a much more promising outlook than they were in 2017. The hope is, now, that it translates to the field.