UPDATE — He’s back!
https://twitter.com/ChicagoBears/status/1504124407278616584
The rest of our original post is below.
The Chicago Bears’ special teams unit has quietly grown into a strength in the years since the 2018 debacle.
And, to be more specific, the kicking game has been awesome the last two seasons.
Perhaps, in an attempt to keep the good vibes rolling, the Bears appear to be keeping some continuity by retaining long-time long-snapper Patrick Scales.
The #Bears are re-signing veteran long snapper Patrick Scales to a one-year, $1,272,500 deal veteran benefit deal with the maximum $152,500 signing bonus and $1,047,500 total guaranteed, per source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 15, 2022
NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero reports Scales will be back on a one-year. And at $1,272,500, it is a nice little pay bump from last year.
Scales, 34, has been with the Bears since 2015. Assuming remakes the Week 1 roster, Matt Eberflus will be the third different coach he will play for as a member of the Bears. You’ve gotta be doing something right to survive that many different regimes.
Locking in the long-snapper probably isn’t a high priority for some. However, Bears fans know better than to look past the importance of special teams. Because even the slightest slip-up in this phase can be the difference between points on the board and the alternative (of which we will not speak of for obvious reasons).
Cairo Santos has certainly done his part as a place-kicker. But let’s not overlook the contributions of the kicking mechanism with the punter/holder (Pat O’Donnell) and long-snapper (Scales). In order for Santos to shine, the others need to do their part. But when the Bears brought in some fresh faces to the roster earlier in the offseason, it was fair to wonder if this would be the end of this triumvirate. However, bringing two-thirds of that threesome back is a nice touch.
And then there was one…