The Chicago Bears have gotten to where they are today with bold trades. Moving up in the draft secured them Leonard Floyd, Mitch Trubisky, Eddie Jackson, Anthony Miller, and now David Montgomery. Dealing for Khalil Mack altered the entire landscape of their defense last season. Suddenly this team looks poised for big things in 2019. Yet they continue to sport one glaring weakness.
That, of course, is the kicker.
Cody Parkey was supposed to be the savior last season after signing that big contract. He proceeded to miss 11 kicks on the year including two that would have won his team critical games. None bigger than the playoff loss to Philadelphia. Parkey then went on the Today Show, angered the team even more, and was finally cut. He hasn’t sniffed a practice field since.
Meanwhile, the Bears have set about trying to find solutions to a problem that has haunted them for years now. The Robbie Gould dream is dead as the veteran signed an extension in San Francisco. Free agency is filled with some notable but mostly old veterans. Thus they’ve stuck close to their kicking competition which has narrowed down to two survivors. One is former AAF standout Elliott Fry and the other is trade acquisition Eddy Pineiro.
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While both have talent, neither have NFL experience. That makes going with one of them a dangerous gamble. One expert believes if the Bears are feeling that bold, they should just go for the home run instead.
Chicago Bears should not be opposed to Justin Tucker trade
Dan Hanzus of NFL.com was posed a question in his recent mailbag. Put simply, would it be completely insane for the Bears to offer up their 1st round pick in 2021 to the Baltimore Ravens for All-Pro kicker Justin Tucker? It sounds crazy to think about, but Hanzus didn’t even flinch at the idea. In fact, he feels Chicago should embrace it.
“I imagine most would find such a trade offer laughable, but I don’t. Justin Tucker is without a doubt one of the greatest kickers in the history of the sport, if not the greatest. At 29 years old, he should have another 6 to 8 years of excellence in that supremely gifted right leg.
If you’re Bears GM Ryan Pace, and you believe your team has enough talent to win the Super Bowl right now, and you know Robbie Gould is no longer an option, Tucker makes a lot of sense. Again, most people don’t believe any kicker is worth a late-first-round pick. But people need to stop sleeping on how important a kicker really is.”
There is no question that kicker is vital to a team that seeks playoff success. The Bears know this all too well. Some of their more prominent playoff appearances were ruined by missed kicks. Parkey last year. Kevin Butler in 1987 against Washington. Bob Thomas in 1979 against Philadelphia.
Reliable kicking in January is difficult to find.
However, spending a top 32 pick to get one has rarely ended well. Since the draft was born in 1936, a total of five kickers were selected with one. To date, only one of them managed to have a career that spanned beyond 60 games. That was Sebastian Janikowski of the Oakland Raiders. Trading for Tucker would be a fun story, but also incredibly dangerous. That would mark the third-straight 1st round pick the Bears had spent outside the draft.
That’s not a good way to build a football team.
