Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but the Chicago Bears appear to have a kicking competition on their hands.
But don’t worry, this competition shouldn’t look like the circus that happened last season when as many as eight kickers were battling for the starting job.
On Friday, the Bears announced that they’ve signed kicker Ramiz Ahmed to a one-year deal. Ahmed last played as a senior at Nevada, where he connected on 15-of-20 field goals in 2018. Ahmed figures to battle Pineiro for a roster spot.
In his rookie season with the Bears, Pineiro had a solid outing. Pineiro was 23-of-28 on the season (82.1%) on field goals, and he went 27-of-29 on extra points. But he had a rough slump in the middle of the season, where he went 3-of-7 on field goals, including missing some important kicks with game implications. But Pineiro ended the season on a positive note, connecting on his final 11 field goals of the season.
Competition appears to be the theme for the 2020 Bears. Prior to the NFL Scouting Combine, general manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy discussed the importance of competition on this roster heading into 2020.
They proved as much with the addition of quarterback Nick Foles, who will battle it out for the starting job with Mitchell Trubisky. Now, we’re seeing the same thing at kicker.
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