Long snapper Patrick Scales, the Bears’ longest-tenured player, will return for another season. His agent wrote on social media Friday night that Scales will rejoin the team on a one-year deal.
Scales first played for the Bears in 2015 and has logged 120 games for them, though he missed 2017 because of a torn ACL.
With Scales snapping, the Bears made 92.1% of their field goals last year, the ninth-best mark in the NFL.
Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower has credited Scales and punter/holder Trenton Gill for being a part of kicker Cairo Santos’ success.
“I also think it speaks to our operation and our unit and how closely knit those three guys are,” he said in October. “They’re like best friends and Scales is probably like the energy. They all got energy, but he’s probably like the leader — the charisma to get everybody going type of guy in that room. I think Cairo feeds off of that.”
