Bears set to sign veteran kicker Cairo Santos as Eddy Pineiro battles a groin injury

Cairo Santos is signing on for a second tour of duty with the Chicago Bears. The veteran kicker, who spent two games with the organization in 2017, is expected to finalize a contract Monday — as long as he passes through COVID-19 protocols.

The news of the Santos acquisition, originally reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, came as a surprise Saturday. As it turns out, kicker Eddy Pineiro is dealing with a groin issue that the Bears will be keeping a close eye on. During Saturday’s controlled scrimmage in Lake Forest, Pineiro did not attempt a field goal, an extra point or a kickoff. In fact, he hasn’t attempted a kick in front of reporters all week.

That’s in stark contrast to last summer’s training camp, when just about every one of Pineiro’s kicks was closely documented and turned into a mini event as he battled Elliott Fry in the Bears’ high-profile placekicker auditions.

After practice Saturday, Nagy was asked about Pineiro’s limited center-stage work during camp and where the kicker was on his radar at this point in the year. The coach’s answer was meandering and did little to clear things up.

“For him,” Nagy said, “our situations that we have, you can see them. But we’re putting these guys in different positions, and they’re working through things. And for him right now it’s just an idea for all of us tosee where he’s at when we get going here.

“We’re going to start putting these guys through some punting and special-teams and field-goal stuff (soon) and really get them moving. We’re just not there yet.”

Not long after, news of the Santos signing broke.

The Bears still believe in Pineiro and remain hopeful he can return to full strength. At the very least, Santos’ arrival will provide competition over the next two weeks of training camp and a possible backup plan in the event that Pineiro’s groin injury does not resolve quickly.

Santos was 4-for-5 on field-goal attempts with the Bears three years ago, arriving in midseason after the team cut Connor Barth. But he suffered a season-ending groin injury in Week 13 and the Bears moved on, using Mike Nugent to finish that season and then signing Cody Parkey in free agency in 2018.

Santos, 28, has had subsequent stops with the Jets, Rams, Buccanneers and Titans. Last year, he opened the season with the Titans but missed four field goals in a 14-7 loss to the Bills in Week 5.