Chicago Bears trade for kicker Eddy Pineiro
Chicago Bears trade for kicker Eddy Pineiro
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida's specialist duo of punter
Johnny Townsend and kicker
Eddy Pineirohad hoped to make NFL history in the 2018 NFL Draft, becoming the first duo in modern draft history to be selected in the same draft from the same team.
They didn't quite do it, with Townsend securing a fifth-round selection but Pineiro falling to the undrafted ranks.
But in a way they could still potentially make the claim that both were good enough for an NFL team to spend a draft pick on them. On Monday, the Chicago Bears wagered a potential future draft pick that Pineiro could turn into their kicker of the future after the team was plagued by kicking woes during the 2018 season.
The Bears traded a conditional seventh-round draft pick in the 2021 draft to the Raiders in exchange for Pineiro. They'll only lose the 2021 seventh-rounder if Pineiro is on the active roster next season for five games.
For Pineiro, it's a fresh start after a groin injury sent him to the injured reserve for the Raiders during his rookie year.
Pineiro was 3-for-3 on his field goal attempts in the preseason before being inactivated. He was lights out during his two seasons at Florida, making 38 of his 43 field goal attempts.
The Bears are looking for some stability at kicker after a missed field goal cost them a playoff win.
Cody Parkey was just 23-of-30 on field goal attempts last season, and Chicago parted ways with him in the offseason.
Chicago brought in eight kickers during rookie minicamp but kept only two:
Chris Blewitt and
Elliott Fry. Pineiro will compete with them for the job in training camp in July.
The move does mean a split with Townsend, who held down the starting punting job for the Raiders in 2018 and averaged 43.2 yards per boot while Pineiro was on the mend.
4COMMENTS
So while the two came up short of their goal of being the first two players selected from the same school in the same draft in the modern era -- a feat Utah actually accomplished in the 2019 draft -- both still have potentially bright NFL futures.
And now a healthy Pineiro will get a fresh start in Chicago.
