Cody blew it. Hence, Chris Blewitt.
The Bears signed Blewitt, the former Pitt kicker who has yet to find traction in the NFL, on Wednesday evening. He’ll become the second kicker, alongside another unproven choice, Redford Jones, to fight for Cody Parkey’s old job. The Bears plan to cut Parkey next week at the start of the league year.
Blewitt starred for the Pitt Panthers from 2013-16. When he left the school, he was its all-time leader with 363 points scored by a kicker, as well as 55 field goals and 198 PATs. He kicked two game-winning field goals his senior season — to beat No. 2 Clemson by one point and Georgia Tech by three.
Bears general manager Ryan Pace has said he wanted to breed competition at the position after Parkey missed 11 kicks — eight field goals and three extra points — in his only season with the team. The two kickers he’s signed this offseason represent outside-the-box choices: both are more than a year removed from college and have never even kicked in an NFL preseason game. They’ve both been working with private coaches since graduation.
Speaking last week at the NFL Scouting Combine, Pace wouldn’t rule out drafting a kicker or signing a veteran once free agency begins next week. He said he’d be open to a three-man competition, which seems likely, given the inexperience of both Blewitt and Jones.
Blewitt won special teams guru Jamie Kohl’s field goal contest in Phoenix last month. He participated in the Steelers’ rookie minicamp in 2017.
