The Bears returned to practice Tuesday with an extra kicker.
As expected, they signed Cairo Santos to a one-year deal Tuesday. He’ll compete with Eddy Pineiro, who is nursing a groin injury. Bears coach Matt Nagy said Sunday that the plan all along was to add a second kicker during camp, giving the team cover in case of a coronavirus outbreak.
“It goes back to that contingency plan that we have,” he said. “We need to have another kicker on this roster. Knowing kind of where the COVID testing is right now, we all feel it’s very important that you have somebody that can come in if something was to happen to Eddy.”
Sources said Saturday that Santos would sign after passing coronavirus testing as part of the Bears’ intake process.
Santos, who kicked for the Chiefs when Nagy was an assistant there, was cut by the Titans last year after missing four kicks in a loss to the Bills.
The Bears also signed receiver Alex Wesley. To make room, they cut receiver Trevor Davis and put tight end Darion Clark on injured reserve. Wesley provides fresh legs; Nagy has said the Bears need to make sure they have enough receivers to run multiple quarterback drills consistently.
