NEWSLETTER
The nightmare that was the 2024 Chicago Bears season is over. Before the transactional period starts and the roster changes begin, we will recap the seasons of most of the 53-man roster. Today, we’re looking at the 2024 season of kicker Cairo Santos.
Cairo Santos’ 2024 Snapshot
What a roller coaster ride this season was for Cairo Santos. He experienced the highs of drilling a game-winning kick against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field and the lows of having his would-be game-winning kick blocked by the Packers at Soldier Field in November.
Santos said after the former that he prayed on receiving the opportunity to redeem his blocked kick against the Packers. As fate would have it, his prayers were answered, and he did not miss his shot at redemption. But was it enough to earn the confidence of the Bears front office moving forward?
Santos’ leg strength and distance were topics of conversation for much of the season. This was amplified when the Packers publicly admitted they felt they could block his kick at a specific range because of the trajectory Santos needed to get it off from that distance.
“On film, on his past games, we seen him how he was kicking it low, so we knew we had a good chance [of blocking].” Packers rookie linebacker Edgerrin Cooper said after the November 17 game at Soldier Field (via Kalyn Kahler). “We’ve been emphasizing it so much this week. Coach Rich, he even said he’ll be upset if we ain’t get one.”
Early in Santos’ career, he struggled mightily with converting field goal attempts over 50 yards. After a three-year run in Kansas City, where he served as the team’s starting kicker, his distance woes left him bouncing around the league for the next three years, making stops in Chicago, Los Angeles, Tampa Bay, and Tennessee before returning to Chicago as the Bears contingency plan for Eddie Piñeiro, who they had lost confidence in.
Since taking over for Piñeiro full-time in 2020, he’s been much better, making 21 of 27 from 50+ yards and 39 of 48 in the 40-49 yard range. Santos hasn’t missed a field goal from under 40 yards in his five seasons as the Bears full-time kicker, making his last 73 kicks from less than 40 yards.
By the Numbers
- Field Goals: 21-25
- Field Goal %: 84.0
- Field Goal 20-29: 4-4 (100%)
- Field Goal 30-39: 4-4 (100%)
- Field Goal 40-49: 5-8 (62.5%)
- Field Goal 50+: 8-9 (88.8%)
- Field Goal Long: 54
- Extra Points: 25-26
Contract Status
Santos signed a four-year, $15.6 million contract extension with the Bears in December 2023. In 2025, he is scheduled to make $3.1 million in base salary, $1.06 million in signing bonuses, and $100 thousand in workout bonuses. His total cap number for 2025 is $4.26 million.
If the Bears decided to move on from Santos as a pre-June 1 cut designation, they would incur $2.18 million in dead cap money and save $2.64 million. If the Bears wanted to give Santos one more bite at the apple, it would be cheaper to cut him next offseason; at this point, they would incur a $1.12 million dead cap hit and receive $2.64 million in cap savings.
One Big Question for 2025
Is Cairo Santos’ leg strong enough?
Santos’ percentage on kicks north of 50 yards was good in 2024, but the Bears know his limitations. His long was 54 yards, and his career-long is 55 yards. The Bears didn’t send him out for kicks that would have been outside that range multiple times, whereas kicks from 55+ yards have become commonplace around the NFL.
Dallas’ Brandon Aubrey nailed a 65-yard field goal this season and was 2-4 on kicks longer than 60 yards. Joey Slye and Tyler Bass have makes from north of 60 this season, and 21 other kickers have season-long field goals of 56 yards or longer.
Santos was blocked three times this season, the most in the league. This is another sign that his trajectory when attempting deep kicks is too low in an attempt to compensate for having a lesser leg than most NFL kickers.
Is Santos’ limitations from distance a significant concern for the Bears this offseason? It’s probably not at the top of the list for Ryan Poles and this front office. Hiring a head coach, an entire staff of assistants, and multiple starting roles on the offensive and defensive lines are bigger priorities to fill in the next few months. Taking a kicker in the draft is probably not happening after they spent a fourth-rounder on a punter last April. It would come via free agency or the undrafted free agent route if they were to replace Santos.
But my hunch is they’ll run it back with Santos and make a move following the 2025 season when it’s more financially prudent for them to do so. But if they don’t, here is a list of potential options:
