Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2016 22:42:00 GMT -6
After Robbie Gould's odd exit from Bears, Connor Barth takes the stage
Connor Barth
Connor Barth's final field-goal attempt for the Saints came Thursday night, a 40-yarder that split the uprights in the exhibition finale against the Ravens. It was the punctuation, Barth felt, on what had been a pretty solid summer in New Orleans.
"It was one of the better camps I've had since I've been in the league," he said.
So Barth never would have envisioned that when he trekked back to Wilmington, N.C., for the holiday weekend that the Saints would cut him and by Monday morning he would be scrambling to catch a flight to Chicago, suddenly looking to seize a surprising opportunity to replace the leading scorer in Bears history.
"It's the life of a kicker, I guess," Barth said Monday.
That may be, but it hasn't been that way in Chicago for more than a decade. Robbie Gould had opened every season since 2006 as the Bears kicker. Then on Sunday night, with little advance warning, Gould's time at Halas Hall expired.
"We were all shocked," punter and holder Pat O'Donnell said. "Robbie was a leader in the locker room. It's really sad to see him leave."
O'Donnell learned of the news via social media, scanning his phone when media reports alerted him that his close colleague was out the door. That was just another indication of how few people saw this coming.
"I mean, he's Robbie Gould," guard Kyle Long said. "He's somebody that has been in this locker room for a long time. He was the last guy (left) from Lovie (Smith's) Super Bowl team."
The Bears framed the move carefully Monday, insisting it was Barth's availability on the open market that spurred their decision to let Gould go. General manager Ryan Pace asserted that the Bears hadn't felt a need to challenge Gould with in-house competition during training camp or the preseason because the most likely potential replacements were kicking for other teams.
That all changed Saturday, Pace insisted, when the Saints cut Barth, choosing Kai Forbath in their kicking competition.
"It was just (a situation) where if a specific player becomes available, and we know that we're able to acquire that player, then this is something we need to entertain or discuss," Pace said.
The Bears are selling Barth's field-goal accuracy, particularly from 40 yards and in, as a major plus that made letting Gould go easier.
But Barth's career percentage from 40 and in (.952) is only marginally better than Gould's career mark (.942). Barth missed kicks of 43, 46, 54, 47 and 52 yards among his 28 attempts with the Buccaneers last season.
The Bucs let Barth go in May after drafting Florida State's Roberto Aguayo in the second round. After Barth's exit from New Orleans over the weekend, he is now with his sixth team since entering the NFL in 2008.
Pace also sold Barth's familiarity with coach John Fox and special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers as a major plus. Yet Barth was in Denver with Fox and Rodgers for only five regular-season games and one playoff game late in 2014.
So some mystery still surrounds Gould's abrupt exit.
Gould was due $3 million in base salary this season and he missed two extra-point attempts in last week's exhibition finale in Cleveland. He also had costly misses in consecutive weeks in December: a 36-yarder at the end of regulation in an overtime loss to the 49ers and a potential game-tying kick from 50 yards out in the final minutes against the Redskins.
Still, Gould finishes his Bears career as the ninth most accurate kicker in NFL history (85.4 percent) and totaled 23 field goals of 50 yards or longer.
"It's never easy," Fox said. "It's probably the lousiest part of our jobs. At the end of the day, we found an option that we were comfortable with. And everything we do is based on performance."
Now the stage is Barth's, one he'll take over Sunday in Houston.
dwiederer@chicagotribune.com
Connor Barth
Connor Barth's final field-goal attempt for the Saints came Thursday night, a 40-yarder that split the uprights in the exhibition finale against the Ravens. It was the punctuation, Barth felt, on what had been a pretty solid summer in New Orleans.
"It was one of the better camps I've had since I've been in the league," he said.
So Barth never would have envisioned that when he trekked back to Wilmington, N.C., for the holiday weekend that the Saints would cut him and by Monday morning he would be scrambling to catch a flight to Chicago, suddenly looking to seize a surprising opportunity to replace the leading scorer in Bears history.
"It's the life of a kicker, I guess," Barth said Monday.
That may be, but it hasn't been that way in Chicago for more than a decade. Robbie Gould had opened every season since 2006 as the Bears kicker. Then on Sunday night, with little advance warning, Gould's time at Halas Hall expired.
"We were all shocked," punter and holder Pat O'Donnell said. "Robbie was a leader in the locker room. It's really sad to see him leave."
O'Donnell learned of the news via social media, scanning his phone when media reports alerted him that his close colleague was out the door. That was just another indication of how few people saw this coming.
"I mean, he's Robbie Gould," guard Kyle Long said. "He's somebody that has been in this locker room for a long time. He was the last guy (left) from Lovie (Smith's) Super Bowl team."
The Bears framed the move carefully Monday, insisting it was Barth's availability on the open market that spurred their decision to let Gould go. General manager Ryan Pace asserted that the Bears hadn't felt a need to challenge Gould with in-house competition during training camp or the preseason because the most likely potential replacements were kicking for other teams.
That all changed Saturday, Pace insisted, when the Saints cut Barth, choosing Kai Forbath in their kicking competition.
"It was just (a situation) where if a specific player becomes available, and we know that we're able to acquire that player, then this is something we need to entertain or discuss," Pace said.
The Bears are selling Barth's field-goal accuracy, particularly from 40 yards and in, as a major plus that made letting Gould go easier.
But Barth's career percentage from 40 and in (.952) is only marginally better than Gould's career mark (.942). Barth missed kicks of 43, 46, 54, 47 and 52 yards among his 28 attempts with the Buccaneers last season.
The Bucs let Barth go in May after drafting Florida State's Roberto Aguayo in the second round. After Barth's exit from New Orleans over the weekend, he is now with his sixth team since entering the NFL in 2008.
Pace also sold Barth's familiarity with coach John Fox and special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers as a major plus. Yet Barth was in Denver with Fox and Rodgers for only five regular-season games and one playoff game late in 2014.
So some mystery still surrounds Gould's abrupt exit.
Gould was due $3 million in base salary this season and he missed two extra-point attempts in last week's exhibition finale in Cleveland. He also had costly misses in consecutive weeks in December: a 36-yarder at the end of regulation in an overtime loss to the 49ers and a potential game-tying kick from 50 yards out in the final minutes against the Redskins.
Still, Gould finishes his Bears career as the ninth most accurate kicker in NFL history (85.4 percent) and totaled 23 field goals of 50 yards or longer.
"It's never easy," Fox said. "It's probably the lousiest part of our jobs. At the end of the day, we found an option that we were comfortable with. And everything we do is based on performance."
Now the stage is Barth's, one he'll take over Sunday in Houston.
dwiederer@chicagotribune.com
