The Chicago Bears’ kicking competition is finally starting to take shape.
Following the conclusion of rookie minicamp, the team released kickers Redford Jones and John Baron II. They also chose not to sign any of the undrafted free agents they brought in for tryouts.
With these moves, the Bears are now down to two kickers on their roster — Chris Blewitt and Elliott Fry.
Matt Nagy tried to turn up the heat throughout the weekend on all eight kickers in minicamp.
After Friday’s disappointing competition that saw six of the eight kickers fail “the Cody Parkey test”, the group rebounded on Saturday on the same test.
Sunday’s highlight included Jones and Casey Bednarski competing in a final kick-off, with each kicker representing either the offense or the defense. The losing kicker had to watch his team do 25 “up-downs” as punishment.
The transaction comes as somewhat of a surprise, considering Bednarski turned some heads during camp.
It’s possible neither Fry nor Blewitt are the starting kicker come Week 1, especially with veterans still available in free agency.
But after the eight-man carousel this weekend, Nagy and special teams coordinator Chris Tabor have a clearer picture of who can handle the pressure that comes with kicking in the NFL.
