As fans of the team have come to grow painfully accustomed, the Chicago Bears lost a game in heartbreaking fashion, falling to the Minnesota Vikings in their season opener on September 8.
After jumping out to a 17-6 lead, bit by bit, the Bears lost momentum — and Cairo Santos’ right leg was a big problem in the second half. For a fan base that has endured the double doink, an infamously huge kicker tryout and a devastating field goal miss to the rival Green Bay Packers in 2024, there are no shortage of painful memories courtesy of kickers. Santos added to that Monday night.
Up 17–6 at the top of the fourth quarter, the Bears had a chance to stretch it to 20–6. From 50 yards out, Santos promptly yanked the kick wide right. Not long after that came another crushing miscue. After cutting the deficit to 3 points with just over two minutes left, the Bears needed Santos to blast the kickoff deep enough to erase any return and keep every second possible on the clock. Instead, the ball landed in the middle of the end zone.
Bears head coach Ben Johnson took accountability for his own mistakes, but also admitted he wanted Santos to boot it out of the end zone. Considering his limited leg, though, fans immediately called for Santos’ dismissal on social media.
Bears Fans Call for Team to Cut Kicker Cairo Santos After Week 1 Loss to Vikings
Cairo Santos‘ inability to put the ball out of the back of the end zone there is highly problematic,” Johnathan Wood of Windy City Gridiron noted on X. Cost the Bears an extra time out at the 2 minute warning.
“What the (expletive) are we doing with a kicker in 2025 who can’t kick it out of the back of the end zone,” one fan wrote on Reddit. I love him and will always appreciate us beating the packers with his game winner. But man’s leg is TOO WEAK it’s a joke.”
“My goodness he is embarrassingly weak,” one fan replied.
“I’m not even joking when I say this. He should be cut tomorrow,” another chimed in.
He’s the only kicker in the NFL and prob the CFL that can’t kick 50 yards,” added another.
We gotta cut Cairo Santos. He’s simply not good enough,” another fan wrote on X.
“Worst kicker in all of football,” yet another fan wrote on X.
Santos’ Limited Range Has Been a Problem Before
GettyCairo Santos had a rough outing against the Vikings Week 1.
Santos has always been both reliable and accurate, no doubt about it. Since returning to Chicago in 2020, he’s been one of the league’s most consistent short-to-mid-range options. But from distance? That’s where things get sketchy.
His career long is 55 yards, which, in today’s NFL where 60-yarders are becoming increasingly more commonplace, is far from impressive. From 50–59 yards out, he’s 29-for-45 over his career. Last year was his best stretch—8-of-9 from that range—but even then, he went just 5-for-8 from 40–49 and missed a potential game-winner against Green Bay.
It’s not as if the Bears don’t value him. Just two years ago, they gave him a four-year, $16 million extension that runs through 2027. He’s not a disaster, but he doesn’t have the kind of big leg that could swing a ton of games in Chicago’s favor, either.
Santos was named a team captain heading into the season, and there’s no doubt he’s a well-respected veteran. But Bears fans understandably don’t want to go another season watching a kicker with a questionable leg. They’ve seen that movie too many times already.
Bears Fans Call for ‘Embarrassingly Weak’ $16 Million Player to Be Cut