Cairo Santos Ben Johnson Bears News Bears Kicker
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Bears head coach Ben Johnson.
Cairo Santos’ job as the Chicago Bears’ starting kicker appears to be safe despite some kicking inconsistencies through the first two weeks of the 2025 season.
Following Sunday’s 52-21 loss to the Detroit Lions, Bears head coach Ben Johnson was asked about the team signing former San Francisco 49ers kicker Jake Moody to their practice squad last week and how his presence would impact their kicking situation.
Twice in the exchange, though, Johnson expressed his confidence in Santos, answering “no” when asked if Moody’s signing meant there is an open competition at the position.
“Jake’s a talented player and we’ll see where he’s at, but we have a lot of confidence in Cario,” Johnson said in Sunday’s postgame. “We have a lot of confidence in Cairo.”
Cairo Santos’ Security Could Wane if Struggles Persist
Santos struggled in the Bears’ season opener against the Minnesota Vikings, missing a 50-yard field goal and failing to kick the ball out of the back of the end zone in a crucial late-game situation in which Chicago was trying to conserve time for a comeback effort.
The struggles continued into the second game when Santos booted his opening kickoff out of bounds, allowing the Lions to start their opening possession at the 40-yard line. They needed just five plays from there to go 60 yards and score their first touchdown.
Unfortunately, some of these problems with Santos are familiar.
Santos has been automatic on field goals closer than 40 yards over the past five seasons as the Bears’ kicker, nailing all 73 of his kicks within that range. From longer distances, though, he has had trouble, making just 81.25% of his field goals between 40 and 49 yards (39 of 48) and 77.7% of his field-goal tries from 50 yards or more (21 of 27).
Seven of those 15 missed field goals have come in the past two seasons for the Bears.
While the Bears seem intent on sticking with Santos through the rough times for now, they won’t tolerate his shortcomings forever. If his poor kicking continues to cost them in games, the Bears could cut bait and move in a new direction — even if Moody is not the most convincing replacement for a kicker struggling to make his field goals.
Jake Moody is Hard to Trust After Failing in San Fran
After Santos struggled in Week 1, the Bears signed Moody — the 99th overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft — to their practice squad to provide themselves with additional depth.
Make no mistake, though: Moody is very much still an NFL project after how quickly things fell apart for him in his two seasons (and one game) with the 49ers.
Moody started off strong for the 49ers, making 21 of 25 field-goal attempts and 60 of 61 extra-point tries as a rookie and making the PFWA’s 2023 NFL All-Rookie Team. He then made 13 of his 14 field goals to start the 2024 season before suffering a high-ankle sprain in Week 6 that knocked him off course. While he returned in Week 10, he missed nine of his 20 attempts to close out the year, including five between 40 and 49 yards.
Though the 49ers forgave his sins and kept him as their kicker to start the 2025 season, it did not take long for their patience to run out. In Week 1’s season opener against the Seattle Seahawks, Moody attempted three field goals from fewer than 40 yards away and missed two of them, including a 27-yarder that embarrassingly hooked wide left.
San Francisco waived Moody the next day.
Nobody can fault the Bears, amid their own kicking struggles, for taking a chance on Moody, but the suggestion that he is ready to replace Santos is preposterous at best.