Current Bears kicker Cairo Santos has some serious competition. Andre Szmyt is one of the 14 undrafted free agents the Chicago Bears signed. To the casual fan, this is not a big deal, but this acquisition could signal impending change to the many die-hard fans like myself.
Almost all Bears fans remember Cody Parkey’s infamous “double-doink.” The Bears were eliminated from the playoffs, and former head coach Matt Nagy spent the following training camp looking for a new placekicker.
Cairo Santos has been the Bears’ main placekicker since 2020. He is 31 years old, carries a cap hit of $4.5 million and will be a free agent after this season. In three seasons with the Bears, Santos is 90 for 97 on extra point attempts and 77 for 85 on field goal attempts. Throughout his eleven-year career, Santos has made 95.1% of his extra points and 84.5% of his field goals. The main concern with Santos is his leg strength. In his career, he has only made 51.8 % of field goals that were 50 yards or longer. Last year, Santos missed five extra points and two field goals, raising the question, should the Bears look to replace him?
Andre Szymt was a five-year starter at Syracuse University. In 2018, he was a consensus All-American and won the Lou Groza Award for the nation’s best kicker. That’s two very impressive accomplishments for a freshman. In his collegiate career, Szymt made 98% of his extra point attempts and 81% of his field goals. For reference, former Bears kicker Robbie Gould made 63.9% of his field goals in college. Szymt has the leg to make long field goals. At Syracuse, he went six for ten on field goals 50 yards or longer.
The main concern regarding Szymt is a big one. The Syracuse Orange plays home games at JMA Wireless Dome, an indoor stadium. While the ACC features many outdoor stadiums with raucous crowds, none have weather conditions similar to Soldier Field. Szymt could struggle to kick Chicago’s harsh winter conditions, especially since he is an inexperienced rookie.
While I don’t think Szymt supplants Santos as the new kicker of the Chicago Bears, this competition will still be an intriguing storyline that should last through training camp. Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus will do anything to improve their football team, including challenging their veteran kicker.
