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Following missed kicks and ‘me’ appearance on ‘TODAY,’ Cody Parkey’s days with Bears appear numbered
JJ STANKEVITZ,NBC Sports Chicago 19 hours ago
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Following missed kicks and me appearance on TODAY, Cody Parkeys days with Bears appear numbered originally appeared on nbcsportschicago.com
While Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace didn't explicitly say it on Monday, Cody Parkey's days with the Bears are numbered, and it would come as a massive shock if the kicker were to still be with the team in eight months.
Nagy, who rarely levels criticism against his own players in press conference settings, was clearly not happy with Parkey's appearance on "TODAY" last Friday, only five days after his infamous double-doink missed kick that knocked the Bears out of their first playoff appearance in eight years. "For me, you understand that we always talk about a ‘we and not a me' thing, and we always talk as a team, we win as a team, we lose as a team," Nagy said. "You know, I just - I didn't necessarily think that that was too much of a we thing." Nagy, as recently as Week 17, defended Parkey publicly. But the combination of too many missed kicks and being lobbed redemption-tour softballs on a morning show appears to have made Parkey's return to the Bears untenable. Nagy said Parkey did not tell him during his exit interview of his plans to go on "TODAY." General manager Ryan Pace stopped short of saying he'd release Parkey, but did acknowledge the Bears' need to improve the kicking woes that've dogged this franchise for the last few years. "That position is an emphasis for us," Pace said. "We understand we need to get better, get more production out of that position. Matt talks about it all the time: There's so much parity in our league, so many close games, the kicker position is critical. We know we need to get better there and it'll be an area of focus." So the question all but becomes not if but when the Bears will part ways with Parkey, who signed a four-year, $15 million contract with $9 million guaranteed just 10 months ago. Parkey's contract makes the timing of the Bears releasing him somewhat tricky. According to Spotrac, if Parkey is cut before June 1, the Bears will lose $1.125 million in cap space; if he's cut after June 1, the Bears won't lose any cap space but also won't net any savings. The issue is the Bears enter the offseason with about $20 million in cap space and need to address the impending free agencies of right tackle Bobby Massie, slot corner Bryce Callahan and safety Adrian Amos. Still, cutting Parkey before June 1 could send a message about the culture Nagy worked to build over the last year. It's also hard to imagine Parkey showing up for OTAs, which begin in May, after Nagy's comments on Monday. When asked to clarify if he thought Parkey's "TODAY" appearance was appropriate, Nagy reiterated: "I didn't think it was a we thing." Only two kickers have more guaranteed money in their contracts than the $9 million the Bears owe to Parkey - those being Baltimore's Justin Tucker (89.7 percent field goal success rate, 9th) and New England's Stephen Gostkowski (81.5 percent, 22nd). Parkey made 76.7 percent of his field goals, 30th in the league and third-worst among kickers with at least 30 attempts. Tucker and Gostkowski missed one PAT apiece, while Parkey missed three. What Pace's plan for addressing the kicker position will become clear in the coming months, be it through free agency or the draft. But Pace did say there will be competition no matter how he goes about fixing his team's biggest weakness. "He wishes that he would've made that last one," Nagy said. "We had a (exit interview) good talk about it. We understand where I'm at in regards to, ‘Hey, you're here to make those' but at the same time, he didn't want to miss it. He didn't try it but he did. In the end, everyone talks - we're all evaluated and judged on it and it's about production and results."