Would Robbie Gould Be a Bears Option?

The former Bears kicker is choosing to enter free agency rather than sign back with San Francisco but at 40 years old it wouldn't be easy handling Chicago's kicking conditions.

Robbie Gould is 40 now and if he kicks in the NFL this year he'll join an elite club.

There have been 61 players who played after the age of 40 and 18 of them have been kickers.

Who Gould kicks for is the mystery.

Gould has chosen to enter free agency after six seasons as 49ers kicker, following one with the Giants and his first 11 in Chicago.

At the same time, it's possible the Bears could be thinking about whether Cairo Santos is their guy going forward following some issues in 2022. Would bringing Gould back as Bears kicker to finish his career be a good decision?

Santos had a poor year but only in one regard. He missed five extra points. Two of those came in the swamp and monsoon at Soldier Field in the season opener.

Santos had only two field goal misses and one was blocked while the other was from 56 yards. He made 91.3% of his field goals last year, made 93.6% in his first year, 2020, and 86.7% in 2021.

Meanwhile, Gould has not been as accurate on field goals as he approached 40. He made 82.6% in 2020, 87% in 2021 and 84.4% last year.

Gould still has never missed a field goal in postseason at 29-for-29 and it's difficult to argue his precision there.

What isn't difficult to argue is that a 40-year-old kicker who is used to booting in warmer conditions out west would find it a bit different kicking in Chicago again.

Sure, Gould did it before, but he was a younger kicker then. Would he have the leg to handle the weather and field conditions again at Soldier Field in his 40s?

Meanwhile, there is no reason to expect Santos will have continued extra-point problems because he hasn't really endured this in the past. He had no issues with missed field goals and broke Gould's consecutive field goal and percentage franchise records for Chicago.

The idea of bringing Gould back only appeals to people who live in the past, or if the Bears thought they wanted to bring Gould in to compete at camp against Santos.

A kicker of Gould's stature in the league would be unlikely to have interest in this. Considering Santos' success at elevating the Bears kicking game out of the cesspool left after Cody Parkey, neither should Santos.

The idea of Gould coming back centers around the fact he lives in Chicago and would like to finish here, or at least near it.

There are other teams in the area in need of a kicker.

Green Bay's Mason Crosby is slated to become a free agent. Detroit has been using Bears backup Michael Badgley as kicker. Vikings kicker Greg Joseph missed five more field goals and one more extra point than Santos. And he was kicking indoors.

The Colts burned through Chase McLaughlin and Rodrigo Blankenship with seven total field goal misses.

Gould could easily find work in the midwest somewhere, but Chicago seems the most unlikely location.

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