Bears Lock Up Punter Pat O'Donnell for 2021
The Bears locked up their second specialist in two days when they got punter Pat O'Donnell signed to a one-year contract.
The signing comes on the heels of what was O'Donnell's best overall season since coming to the team in 2016.
Now 30, O'Donnell averaged 45.7 per punt last year, 16th in the league. It was his second-longest average.
However it was solid considering he's punting in severe winds on the lakefront at Soldier Field much of the time. He finished tied for third in the NFL at getting punts downed inside the 20 with 28, and had only five touchbacks.
O'Donnell went without a blocked punt for the first time since 2017.
He now averages 44.9 yards a punt for his career with a net average of 39.3 yards.
Terms of the deal were not yet known but O'Donnell had a deal last year for $1.85 million.
The Bears do have to sign long snapper Patrick Scales as he is also an unrestricted free agent.
The Bears had signed kicker Cairo Santos to a five-year, $16 million deal on Thursday.
The two biggest remaining special teams free agency issues involve return man Cordarrelle Patterson and also veteran coverage ace Sherrick McManis.
McManis led the Bears in special teams tackles five of the last six seasons but is 33 years old. He has been with the team longer than any other player.
Patterson is second in league history in punt return average (29.8 yards) and is coming off his fourth Pro Bowl season, but took up a huge salary cap chunk last year at $5.25 million.
The Bears have plenty of cutting ahead in terms of cap space before Wednesday's start to the 2021 NFL calendar and free agency.
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