Chicago Bears: Robbie Gould trade should be in focus

The Chicago Bears are leaving no stone unturned as it pertains to finding a kicker, but a Robbie Gould trade would solve their problems.

It was the kicking game that ultimately cost Chicago Bears a potential run in the playoffs. Cody Parkey hit the upright one too many times, leading to an untimely exit at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles. How Parkey handled the situation in addition to his woes of hitting uprights led to his departure. And since then, the Bears have been leaving no stone unturned in regards to kickers.

Throughout the offseason, the Bears have brought in a litany of players, some free agents, some from the now-defunct AAF, to see who can best address their need for stability at kicker. However, the answer for them may actually now be available via trade in the form of a familiar face, Robbie Gould.

The San Francisco 49ers slapped the franchise tag on the 36-year old Gould earlier this offseason in hopes of locking up the former Bears kicker to a longer-term deal. However, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Tuesday that Gould is now done negotiating and has requested a trade.

Based off of need and familiarity alone, the Bears potentially trading for Gould would make a ton of sense. No kicker has been more reliable than the veteran over the past three seasons as he’s hit on 96.5 percent of his attempts over that span, the best mark in the league (Justin Tucker is second at 93 percent).

However, getting Gould to Chicago makes even more sense when you consider one of Gould’s primary reasons for wanting to be dealt away from San Francisco. Per Schefter’s report, Gould wants to be closer to his wife and kids who, incidentally, stayed in Chicago when he was acquired by the 49ers.

Really, this would be the best situation for the player and team if the Bears could work out a deal for Gould. He would get his personal wishes in regards to his family and Chicago could rest easy every time he stepped up to try and put it through the uprights.

Of course, San Francisco isn’t going to let Gould go without putting up some sort of a fight, either by trying to continue negotiating with the kicker or by demanding a steep price for one of the best players at the position in the NFL. Even still, the Bears should be throwing at least some of their eggs in the basket of trying to land Gould. This is a team close to being Super Bowl contenders and solidifying the kicker position would get them a step closer to that goal.