Camp Competition for Bears Punter

Trenton Gill gets competition as the Bears add former Rutgers punter Ryan Anderson.

USA Today

Aside from getting a punt blocked and costing the Bears field position for a field goal try after he brought a towel onto the field, punter/holder Trenton Gill had very few large rookie foul-ups.

The seventh-round draft pick from North Carolina State will still have job competition in his second season as the Bears agreed to terms with another punter.

Former Rutgers punter Ryan Anderson announced via social media that he has signed with the Bears.

Anderson punted 79 times for a school-record 44.4-yard average at Rutgers in 2017 when he was All-Big Ten first team. He had been a record setter prior to that at the Division III level when he was punting for Michigan's Olivet College. He averaged 46.2 yards there in 2017.

Anderson has some pro experience. He signed a contract with the Giants in 2019 after participating on a tryout basis at their rookie minicamp, but then was waived in mid-August of that year. He also was at New England Patriots rookie minicamp in 2018 on a tryout basis but didn't get signed.

Anderson also made the roster for the AAF's Birmingham Iron but was cut.

His first professional gig was in 2019 with the AAF’s Birmingham Iron, and he also spent time with the New York Giants during the 2019 offseason.

The 6-foot-1, 197-pound punter hopes to challenge Gill, who last season averaged 46 yards per punt and had a net of 39.6 per punt. Gill had 20 inside the 20 last year.

Only Pat O'Donnell in 2017 and 2021 had better single-season punting averages than Gill.

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