Kevin Butler said two years ago that he warned Robbie Gould about staying away from Chicago if he was considering a Bears reunion. He’d already built a great legacy there. Why mess with it by willingly going back into Soldier Field? Butler knew from experience that the stadium was one of the worst places in the NFL to kick. So it must’ve been a mild surprise to him when Cairo Santos signed an extension to remain in Chicago this offseason.
Not only that but likely taking a discount in the process. Santos’ deal will cost $9 million over three seasons. An average of $3 million per year. That is likely lower than what he could’ve gotten had he entered the free agent market. Especially after the outstanding season he had in 2020, going 30-of-32 on field goal attempts. The 29-year old kicker spoke to the media on Tuesday about it. His goal was to stay in Chicago. Both because of his desire for a long-term home, but also because of a unique taste.
He loves kicking at Soldier Field.
#Bears kicker Cairo Santos on enjoying kicking at Soldier Field: "It's crazy to say, but it's fair to say."
Thinks it turned into an advantage for him because kicking on the road became easier.
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) March 23, 2021
That is certainly an interesting perspective. One can think of it as a video game player who sets the difficulty setting to hard. By playing at that level all the time, imagine what it must be like to suddenly start playing on easy again. Santos seems to think that is what happened with him. By dealing with the constant challenge of that stadium, kicking everywhere else was a breeze by comparison.
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If only previous kickers took up a similar mentality. Cody Parkey couldn’t even be bothered to travel downtown to kick at Soldier Field. We all remember how that worked out. If you’re not going to embrace the stadium, then you aren’t going to last long here. Santos gets that.
Cairo Santos remains a fascinating story
It’s easy to forget where he came from. Things were looking great back in 2016. He had a career year in Kansas City while helping the Chiefs make the playoffs. Then a groin injury sidelined him. For the next three seasons, nothing seemed to go right. He was cut by the team and bounced to four different locations. His 2019 season was a career low point, missing five of nine field goal attempts with the Tennessee Titans.
When the Bears signed him last season, there were zero plans for him to be the starter. He was an emergency option until Eddy Pineiro could get healthy. Then he started the season. Before anybody realized it, Cairo Santos wasn’t going away. Every week there he was. Trot out, kick, make it, and trot back to the sideline. Even after Pineiro finally healed up the writing was on the wall. It wasn’t his job anymore.
Santos had taken it from him.
That is what happens in the NFL and why players fear getting hurt. They know the risk is always there that somebody else can jump in to steal their job. Santos should know. It happened to him back in 2017 when Harrison Butker took over and never gave the job back. It must feel odds being on the other side of that fence this time.