The Bears have executed a kicker trade with a team from the Bay Area, but it’s not the one you were hoping for:
Bears traded a 2021 7th-round pick for kicker Eddy Piniero based on these conditions: he has to be on Chicago’s active roster for five games, per source. https://t.co/NifsJbRxP7
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 6, 2019
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports the Chicago Bears have acquired place-kicker Eddy Pineiro in a trade from the Oakland Raiders.
The Bears are sending a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft to the Raiders, which can be cashed in if Pineiro is on the active roster for five games. So unlike the Khalil Mack trade when Oakland was actively rooting for Chicago losses in order to land a better first-round pick, the Raiders will be pulling for Pineiro to kick well enough to last five games with the Bears so they can snag a late-round draft choice in two years. My, how the tables have turned!
Pineiro was once verbally committed to Alabama, but doesn’t have much of a prospect pedigree on the gridiron. He was a four-time All-Dade County soccer star and signed with Florida Atlantic on a soccer scholarship before moving onto football. Pineiro would go on to play his college ball at Florida, where he would become the school’s all-time leader in field goal accuracy (88.4 percent) and connect on the sixth most attempts (38) in school history. And for good measure, Pineiro saved his best for last, nailing 94.4 percent of his kicks as he went 17-for-18 as a junior before declaring for the 2018 NFL Draft, only to go undrafted.
Pineiro signed with the Raiders as an undrafted free agent in May 2018, then went 3-for-3 in the preseason before being placed on injured reserve last September.
Even after trimming their choices from eight to two after the weekend’s mini-camp, it’s evident the Bears weren’t totally satisfied with the kickers in camp. Frankly, I respect the front office’s hustle to leave no stone un-turned in their search for a new kicker. We figured that the competition was far from over. And with Pineiro joining the group, it’s safe to say it’s just getting started.