One day after agreeing to bring back kicker Cairo Santos, the Bears are doing the same with punter Pat O’Donnell.
He will return to the team on a one-year deal, a source confirmed to the Sun-Times on Friday afternoon.
O’Donnell — whom the Bears drafted in 2014 — was one of three key members of the Bears’ special teams operation staring at free agency this offseason. After O’Donnell agreed to a deal, the Bears are down to one specialist in limbo with the start of the league year looming March 17: long snapper Patrick Scales.
In late December, special teams coordinator Chris Tabor seemed pleased with his 2020 performance, which included holding on field goals and extra points.
“Obviously, I think he’s handled field position real well for us, with regard to inside the 20s and 10s and those type of things,” he said. “I think just him holding for field goals. The little things of manipulating the football, with regards to, ‘It’s a left-to-right wind, right-to-left, how I’m going to work the laces,’ and those type of things.
“I mean, those are really important things that he’s really good at. So I’m glad he’s here, and I think he’s playing at a high level.”
