Getty Kai Forbath just got poached off the Bears' practice squad
The Eddy Piñeiro situation just got a bit more interesting — or dire, depending on your perspective. The Bears have now added kicker Kai Forbath to their practice squad, which strongly suggests kicker Cairo Santos will be the team’s starting kicker for the foreseeable future.
In other roster moves, Chicago also placed linebacker Devante Bond on practice squad injured reserve. Bond, a former member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was moved up to the team’s 53-man roster Thursday to provide special teams depth against his old team, but he suffered a quad injury early in the game and did not return.
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Cairo Santos is No. 1 Until Eddy Piñeiro is Healthy…
GettyCairo Santos of the Chicago Bears kicks a field goal in the fourth quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Soldier Field on October 08, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. Santos also hit the game-winner. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
After hitting the game-winning kick against the Bucs Thursday night, Santos cemented his status as the team’s starter, at least until Piñeiro returns. Nagy has been mum and non-committal every time he has been asked about Piñeiro’s condition and timetable to return, including this week just before Korbath’s signing.
Santos has gone 7-9 on his field goals this season, but he has struggled early with kicks over 40 yards. That has been a recurring theme over his career, but he has been serviceable for Chicago in Piñeiro’s absence.
Piñeiro has a huge leg and established himself as the team’s kicker of the future after a solid rookie campaign last year. A groin injury this preseason has kept him off the field and has resulted in him not kicking when the media observed the team’s practices a few months ago He hasn’t kicked since.
Kai Forbath Will Fill Santos’ Old Practice Squad Role
Forbath, an eight-year vet, has played for six different teams over that span. Most recently, he played for both the Patriots and the Cowboys in 2019, when he went 11-11 on his field goals and 11-12 on his extra-point attempts.
Over his career, Forbath has made 86.8 percent of his field goal attempts and 93.8 percent of his extra points. He’ll be a solid backup in case injury-related should overcome Santos, who is likely still on high from hitting the game-winning 38 yarder against Tampa Bay.
“It’s amazing,” Santos said after kicking the game-winner. “Sometimes it just shocks me the way careers and stories happen. I got released last year [by Tennessee] the fifth game of the season on a bad game and here we are.”
The Bears’ current kicker says he plans on making the most of the chance he has been given. “I wanted the opportunity. I felt like I was due to have something like that. I just wanted to have a streak of games and of makes to get it going, and I knew I couldn’t kind of take off from there.”
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