Bears release Robbie Gould

Veteran kicker Robbie Gould spent his entire 11-year career with the Bears, and was the only player remaining from their 2006 NFC Championship team.

With now less than a week to go before the NFL regular season kicks off, one kicker has found himself on the unemployment line. Adam Schefter reported on Sunday night that the Chicago Bears have released veteran kicker Robbie Gould.

After a disastrous 2015 season, it was almost certain for the two sides to part ways. Gould missed several big field goal attempts that would cost the Bears a number of wins last year. As if things weren’t sour enough, the 34-year old kicker missed two extra points in the team’s final preseason game. It was all head coach John Fox and GM Ryan Pace could handle.

He finished last season with an 84.6% accuracy rating. But he was having problems outside of game action as well. During practices this years, he was having problems connecting on what should have been routine kicks. So now two questions have risen from this news. First, who will the Bears find to replace the guy that spent his entire career with the team, and what is next for Gould?

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For the Bears, there are a few options. Former Pro Bowl kicker Josh Scobee is available, as is veteran Shayne Graham. Scobee signed a one-year deal with the Saints back in March, but they would release him in May. Graham has played for 15 different NFL teams, including two different stints for the Seahawks, Saints, and Ravens. Either would be a worthy pickup to add an extra point or three for Chicago. Currently, they don’t have another kicker on the roster. So they’ll need to get somebody in line, as they gear up for the season opener next Sunday against the Texans.

As for Gould, he was the Bears kicker for the past 11 seasons and is the most accurate kicker in franchise history, hitting 85.4 percent of his field goals. He is also the Bears’ All-Time leader in points scored with 1,207 and field goals made with 276. Gould was named to one Pro Bowl in his career back in 2006, when the Bears made the NFC Championship.

Any number of teams could use the services of Gould. The Houston Texans have been through a small revolving door of kickers through the years. Currently Nick Novak is the team’s specialist, but having a veteran like Gould could hold down their special teams rotation. The Colts could be another landing spot, putting him next in line behind another veteran in Adam Vinatieri. It’s not believed that Gould will not have too much of a problem finding another team to play for, it’s just a matter of when he will find that team.