Recently, the Bears and kicker Cairo Santos agreed to an extension to keep the Brazil native in Chicago, inking him to a four-year contract worth $16 million.
The contract is a $1 million annual raise from his previous contract with the Bears (three years, $9 million) plus $9.5 million guaranteed. But that contract doesn't compete in the top-10 kicking contracts in the NFL.
There are 12 NFL kickers who make more than $4 million annually and 10 kickers who have more than $9.5 million guaranteed in their contracts. Santos' agent, Paul Sheehy, warned Santos he could make more money in free agency.
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But Santos compromised on dollars because of his fondness for the Bears.
“I trust Paul,” Santos told Brad Biggs. “He knows me as a person, kind of what my motives are. It’s not, ‘This is my number and this is where I rank.’ We want to have a partnership with the team. The team feels like it’s a great value that I add to the team so there was no ego in that. It’s a lot of money. That’s kind of the conversation we’ve had since Wednesday (Santos signed on Friday).
“We’ve gotten to this point and Paul said, ‘It’s your decision what you want to do. Your numbers are very good. There could be more.’ I didn’t feel like I needed it. It’s a deal that made me really happy and hopefully, the team felt the same. I am thankful. Year 10 and I’ve got four more years.”
In 66 games with the Bears, Santos has buried 107-of-118 field goals and 119-of-128 extra points for a total of 425 points in Chicago. His agent was right. Santos' numbers are good. And after Cody Parkey did a disservice to the Bears' kicking numbers through 2018, the Bears don't want to go through a carousel of unreliable boots.
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But Santos is fond of Chicago. He rejuvenated his career with the Bears and holds immense gratitude for the opportunity they've given him to right the ship of his career.
For that, he's not overly concerned about money.
“It’s the place that saved my career,” Santos said a week ago. “It’s a place that will mean a lot to me no matter how many years I keep playing here ... Just being able to put your family in a house and not hotel rooms, have your kids born here, all of that, it adds to this place being special, no matter how long I stay here.”