Chicago Bears kicker Eddy Pineiro is the last man standing from an offseason and training camp kicking competition that’s made headlines throughout the NFL.
It’s understandable why the Bears’ kicker situation would be a big talking point. The double-doink heard around the world ended Chicago’s otherwise promising 2018 season. Cody Parkey was released soon thereafter, and GM Ryan Pace took the unconventional route of auditioning inexperienced and unproven players for the job.
But dig a little deeper and the answer to the Bears’ kicking mystery was right under our nose the whole time. Pace traded for Pineiro in early May; he identified him as a player with enough upside to warrant giving away a draft pick (albeit on a conditional basis).
Pace had his guy the whole time.
For Pineiro, the trade came as a surprise. He thought he’d be a Raider for life; at least, that’s what was told to him.
“They were like: ‘Hey, we’re going to stash you. We’re going to get you ready for next season,” Pineiro said via the Chicago Sun-Times. “You’re going to be here for the next 10 years.
“I was happy because they believed in me. And then they traded me.”
Thus is life in the NFL. And Pineiro knows it.
‘‘I think that’s just part of kicking,’’ he said. ‘‘Everybody’s a journeyman.’’
Pineiro has a chance — a good chance — to be a 10-year kicker in Chicago if he proves to be consistent, reliable and clutch. Sure, those are traits every team hopes to find in that position, but those are also the skills required to stick with one team for as long as the Raiders suggested Pineiro would be around.
The best thing he can do at this point is to prove that the Bears were right, and boot a lot of field goals at Soldier Field for many years to come.
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