Bears kicker derby shrinks: Team cuts Redford Jones, John Baron II

SHARE Bears kicker derby shrinks: Team cuts Redford Jones, John Baron II
ap_106831243372_e1557101163923.jpg

Tulsa place kicker Redford Jones kicks in 2016. | Sue Ogrocki/AP photo

The Bears’ eight-man kicker derby is down to two rostered players.

The team cut kickers Redford Jones and John Baron II on Sunday afternoon, hours after finishing the final day of their rookie minicamp. Jones was the first player the Bears signed after Cody Parkey’s double-doink kick, and Baron was the last. He was an undrafted free agent the Bears signed out of San Diego State on Thursday.

Jones missed a kick on the final play of the Bears’ practice Sunday. The team’s offensive players had to do up-downs as a result.

That leaves the Bears with two kickers, at least for now: Chris Blewitt and Elliott Fry.

Casey Bednarski, the Minnesota State-Mankato rookie whose strong leg and shoulder-length blonde hair made him a standout tryout player at the Bears’ rookie minicamp, doesn’t seem to have earned a contract offer. He tweeted late Sunday that he still a free agent.

The Latest
White Sox fans from all over will flock to Guaranteed Rate Field on Thursday for the team’s home opener against the Tigers.
Archer Courts, 2242 S. Princeton Ave., will soon get a new hot water system, ventilation system and rooftop solar panels through a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Leasure will make his major league debut on Thursday.
The funds will help target a big problem for a city opening its doors to President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Convention in August. Just 17.94% of registered voters in suburban Cook County and 25.7% of registered voters in Chicago voted in the March 19 primary.
Playing time has dwindled for Tinordi, a physical defensive defenseman who was a pleasant surprise for the Hawks last season but hasn’t found nearly as much success without Connor Murphy.