Who Should I Start? Cairo Santos or Rodrigo Blankenship

Saturday, December 23, 12:39 PM

Chicago Bears kicker Cairo Santos signed a four-year, $16 million extension with the team on Saturday morning, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. The deal includes $9.5 million guaranteed and keeps Santos in Chicago through 2027. The veteran has been quite reliable with the Bears, missing just four field goals over his last 30 games. As the Bears' offense looks to build on flashes of success next season, Santos' accuracy in the kicking department will be key.

Monday, August 21, 6:14 PM

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers waived kicker Rodrigo Blankenship on Monday. Blankenship lost the kicking battle to Chase McLaughlin in training camp this summer and will now look to latch on with another team before the start of the 2023 regular season. The 26-year-old spent last year with the Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals, going 4-for-5 on his field-goal tries and 4-for-5 on extra points in just three total games. As long as Tampa doesn't bring in more competition for McLaughlin to close out the preseason, he should enter Week 1 as the team's starting kicker. McLaughlin, 27, made 83.3 percent of his 36 field-goal attempts and made all 21 of his extra-point tries in 16 games with the Indianapolis Colts in 2022. The kicking position in Tampa won't be as exciting in fantasy now that Tom Brady isn't running the offense in 2023.