The Chicago Bears were set to open the offseason with the three most important pieces of their place-kicking mechanism on the cusp of free agency. But before the festivities could kick off, Chicago retained Cairo Santos on a multi-year extension and brought back punter Pat O’Donnell for another year.
And now, the third leg of the tripod is coming back, too:
#Bears have reached agreement on a 1-year contract to bring back long snapper Patrick Scales. So, the entire specialist crew is back.
Scales receives a base salary of $990K with a $137,500 signing bonus. Nearly all of the $1,127,500 is fully guaranteed.
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) March 18, 2021
The Tribune’s Brad Biggs reports Patrick Scales is back on a one-year contract. Scales, 33, is entering his sixth season with the Bears. Chicago scooped Scales off the waiver wire in 2015. And save for a 2017 season that never got off the ground due to a preseason injury, Scales has been a solid find for this special teams crew.
As Biggs reports, it’s a $1,127,500 salary that is almost fully guaranteed for Scales. This represents a modest pay bump for Scales. Last year, Scales’ deal paid him $1,047,500 with $887,500 in full guarantees. All things considered, it’s reassuring to have a reliable long-snapper in the fold for another season. Sure, it’s a thankless job. But Scales does it well.
And while it’s nice to have the kicking crew back together, there’s still someone out there whose return could complete the set:
There’s one specialist who remains unsigned… pic.twitter.com/UCQnTySrtG
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) March 18, 2021