Bears bringing back punter Pat O’Donnell

One day after bringing back kicker Cairo Santos, the Bears are doing the same for punter Pat O’Donnell.

SHARE Bears bringing back punter Pat O’Donnell
New Orleans Saints v Chicago Bears

Pat O’Donnell punts against the Saints in November.

Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

One day after agreeing to bring back kicker Cairo Santos, the Bears are doing the same with punter Pat O’Donnell.

He will return to the team on a one-year deal, a source confirmed to the Sun-Times on Friday afternoon.

O’Donnell — whom the Bears drafted in 2014 — was one of three key members of the Bears’ special teams operation staring at free agency this offseason. After O’Donnell agreed to a deal, the Bears are down to one specialist in limbo with the start of the league year looming March 17: long snapper Patrick Scales.

In late December, special teams coordinator Chris Tabor seemed pleased with his 2020 performance, which included holding on field goals and extra points.

“Obviously, I think he’s handled field position real well for us, with regard to inside the 20s and 10s and those type of things,” he said. “I think just him holding for field goals. The little things of manipulating the football, with regards to, ‘It’s a left-to-right wind, right-to-left, how I’m going to work the laces,’ and those type of things.

“I mean, those are really important things that he’s really good at. So I’m glad he’s here, and I think he’s playing at a high level.”

The Latest
The Bears have spent months studying the draft. They’ll spend the next one plotting what could happen.
Woman is getting anxious about how often she has to host her husband’s hunting buddy and his wife, who don’t contribute at all to mealtimes.
He launched a campaign against a proposed neo-Nazis march at a time the suburb was home to many Holocaust survivors. His rabbi at Skokie Central Congregation urged Jews to ignore the Nazis. “I jumped up and said, ‘No, Rabbi. We will not stay home and close the windows.’ ”
That the Bears can just diesel their way in, Bronko Nagurski-style, and attempt to set a sweeping agenda for the future of one of the world’s most iconic water frontages is more than a bit troubling.