Bears free agency: Punter Pat O’Donnell returns on 1-year deal

SHARE Bears free agency: Punter Pat O’Donnell returns on 1-year deal
browns_bears_football_55809681.jpg

Bears punter Pat O’Donnell won’t play Sunday. (AP)

Punter Pat O’Donnell is returning to the Bears on a one-year deal worth $1.5 million, a source confirmed Thursday.

Drafted by the Bears in the sixth round in 2014, O’Donnell had a career-best 47 yards per punt and even threw a 38-yard touchdown last year. “Megapunt” played in all but one game during his four-year career.

He’ll have a new boss: special teams coordinator Chris Tabor. Before he left with John Fox’s staff, then-special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers said O’Donnell had improved.

“I think Pat’s still growing,” Rodgers said in December. “I think those guys kind of figure out what they’re good at and they’re trying to — as coaches, we try to put them in position to be successful. Because if we’re asking guys to do things that they’re either incapable of doing or not comfortable doing, in any area, you’re kind of fighting uphill.  …

“He’s got a really strong leg. He’s a tall guy. He’s got long levers. Guys like that, if they drop the ball a little bit low, they can get some distance on it without hang time. If he gets his leg up through it, you know the ball may be in the air over five seconds and really help the coverage.”

The Latest
Ald. Jeanette Taylor, chair of the City Council’s Education Committee chair, said she’s disappointed that Johnson and his allies in the Chicago Teachers Union backed away from the fully-elected, 21-member board he once supported. “This is not going to be as easy a transition as people think,” she said. “We’re used to a top-down system.”
Alex Caruso has been looking for a defensive showing like the one he and his teammates put on display in the win over the Pacers, but Caruso also knows it needs staying power. Could Javonte Green help that process moving forward?
Christian I. Soto, 22, was charged with murder, attempted murder and home invasion, officials announced Thursday. Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd said earlier investigators haven’t determined a motive for the attacks.
Can a message generated by an algorithm ever match hearing from a human?
White Sox fans from all over will flock to Guaranteed Rate Field on Thursday for the team’s home opener against the Tigers.