30 Most Important Bears of 2022: No. 29 Cairo Santos

The Chicago Bears are gearing up for the 2022 NFL season, which features plenty of new and returning faces within the organization. There are a number of players, coaches and front office members that are crucial to the team’s success this season.

Every day from now until the start of training camp, we’re counting down our 30 most important Bears for the 2022 season. We’ll recap their 2021 season, look ahead to 2022 and tackle the biggest question facing them this year.

Up next is Cairo Santos, who finally provided some stability at the kicker position over the last couple of seasons.

Background

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Position: Kicker

Age: 30

Experience: 9th season

2022 cap hit: $3.175 million

2021 recap

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For the first time since the Robbie Gould era, the Chicago Bears had the same kicker for two full seasons in a row. After signing an extension last offseason following an impressive 2020 campaign, Santos picked up right where he left off. The Brazilian kicker did not miss a field goal attempt until midway through the season when a desperate 65-yard field goal to try and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in week nine literally fell short. Prior to that miss, Santos had converted 40 consecutive field goals dating back to 2020, a team record and tied for third-best in NFL history.

Santos hit a bit of a rough patch in the middle of the season, missing field goal attempts in his next two games following the Steelers loss, but rebounded to end the year. He finished the season with an 86.7 field goal percentage, converting 26 of 30 attempts. Santos also missed just one extra point.

2022 outlook

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Unless their name is Justin Tucker, trying to predict a kicker’s upcoming season feels like a fruitless exercise. It’s one of the streakiest positions in all of sports, where a player could be on the money for one season, then become a liability the next. Santos likely won’t hit a field goal percentage over 90 like he did in 2020, but it’s fair to expect another similar output that he had in 2021. He’ll have his share of challenges though.

The Bears play an extra home game at Soldier Field, which is always tough on kickers given the unpredictable conditions, especially later in the season. They’ll also only play four of their road games indoors, which usually benefit kickers. But arguably the biggest hurdle Santos will have to clear is working with a new teammate.

The 30-year old won’t have his familiar holder since punter Pat O’Donnell signed with the Green Bay Packers this offseason. Someone new will be making sure the laces face out, which could take some time to get the timing down. Fortunately for Santos, he still has long snapper Patrick Scales in the fold.

Big question: How will the new Bears staff handle Santos if he struggles?

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Ever since Gould was released, it’s been difficult for the Bears to count on kickers for more than a few games, let alone multiple seasons. But Santos proved he was the exception and was rewarded with a contract extension from the previous regime. But what happens if he struggles under the new one?

Santos ran into some bumps midway through last season when he missed three kicks in three games and while he’s proven to be very accurate, he doesn’t have the strongest leg to cut through the piercing winds at Soldier Field. He even called his home stadium “our biggest opponent” after a rough day against the San Francisco 49ers. Fortunately, he seems to know how to navigate it well to have success.

It’s a fickle world for NFL kickers, however, and it will be interesting to see how the Bears coaching staff handles Santos if he struggles during the season. The team has enough issues to worry about and the last thing anyone needs is another kicking problem.

30 Most Important Bears of 2022

We’re counting down our 30 Most Important Bears of 2022. Check back every day leading up to the start of training camp.

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