Chicago Bears: How free agency affects the NFL Draft

4. Kicker still needs to be addressed

The one question that’s been on everyone’s mind is who will be the Bears kicker in 2019. Cody Parkey is gone and the Bears added Chris Blewitt and Redford Jones this offseason. Yet still, Bears fans do not seem confident that either Blewitt or Jones are the guys who can get the Bears kicking back to relevancy.

Although the free agent market still features names like Nick Rose, Kai Forbath, Matt Bryant, and Mike Nugent, it’s clear the Bears won’t be bringing in any of them as the team would’ve signed one of them in free agency.

This year in the NFL Draft, there are two main kickers that could be worth drafting in the seventh round. Cole Tracy (LSU) and Matt Gay (Utah). This offseason, the Bears met with Tracy at the Reese’s Senior Bowl in January. He’s one name that the Bears need to strongly consider in the seventh-round as he hit 87.9 percent of his field goals in 2018.

The other kicker, Matt Gay, was successful at Utah also. In two years, he hit 86.2 percent of his field goals. He’d be better suited for the Bears as he’d got experience kicking in a cold weather atmosphere.

However, if the Bears decide not to spend draft capital on a kicker, then one area where they could turn to is the undrafted free agent pool. Over the last few years, names like Will Lutz (New Orleans Saints) and Aldrick Rosas (New York Giants) have been found via the NFL’s undrafted free agent pool.

It’s fair to argue that the judgment of how Ryan Pace handles the kicker position this offseason is what could shape the entire 2019 offseason in general. The Bears are at a point where they want to get better, not worse, and addressing the kicker is a critical need for this team.