Chicago Bears Free Agency: 5 players worth the money

3. Kicker Greg Zuerlein

If people thought the kicking issue was solved when the Bears committed to Eddy Pineiro, they were sadly mistaken. After seeing Cody Parkey miss a total of 11 kicks a season ago, Pineiro came in and missed five field goals and a pair of extra points.

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Now, I’m not saying Pineiro has to be perfect. He did drill a 53-yarder to beat the Denver Broncos in Week 2 last year, which was and is his biggest moment to date. However, Pineiro missed four field goals between 40-49 yards, which should be near-automatic.

Greg Zuerlein is going to make more than maybe any kicker in the league next year (and he should), but Pace shouldn’t bat an eye if he can bring that leg to Chicago.

Zuerlein had a tougher season in 2019, matching the state of the Los Angeles Rams almost perfectly. He wasn’t terrible, but he did go 24-for-33 — yes, a worse overall percentage than Pineiro.

Since becoming a pro back in 2012, Zuerlein has four full seasons with four or less misses in total. He has made 33 career kicks from beyond 50 yards, and his career-long is a whopping 61 yarder he hit back in 2015.

Out of his 44 career misses, 22 of those have been beyond 50 yards — there’s some perspective for you.