Bears give Robbie Gould a 5-year extension

[SportsWorld]

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com ... 0141.story

Robbie Gould figured his big payday was coming. It was just a matter of when.

The Bears made Gould the highest-paid kicker in the NFL Monday by signing him to a five-year extension through 2013. Terms were not immediately disclosed.

"It's pretty awesome. I'm excited," Gould said while dining Monday afternoon with his agent, Brian Mackler. "Today is a good day."

Gould's absence during voluntary workouts stirred talk that he was upset with his contract situation. True, he might not have totally pleased, but Gould's frustration wasn't going to escalate into an ugly battle. Gould will be with the team when organized team activities begin May 19.

[WEFFPIM]

The highest paid kicker in the NFL?

The Bears sure do have their priorities straight.

[NoSkyy]

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com ... 0141.story
(now with figures!)

15.5 over 5 with 4.5 signing bonus and incentives isn't TOO bad...I guess. Now let's get Tommie Harris signed and I will be very happy.

[chibearsfan]

Are you ******* kidding me? They cheap out on Berrian but pay the kicker 15 million plus 4 million dollar signing bonus. This team is seriously (Please Use More Appropriate Word).

[SportsWorld]

Why did we offer him so much money? Gould isn't the best kicker in the league.

[NoSkyy]

I don't think it's that bad when you consider the three years of service we got was at the price of an UDFA which means we paid very very little for his first couple years of service and decided to reward him. (I didn't look over the numbers but that's how management thinks)

[Chewie]

Ugh. I'll grant you that the Bears need a good FG kicker given their inability to score TDs but I just see kickers and punters as interchangeable pieces. When the one you have starts asking for too much, cast him aside and find a cheaper guy that can do the same job nearly as well and put your savings elsewhere.

I was hoping to see what Longest could do if Gould pulled a power play. Shouldn't we be paying Harris and Hester first ?

[Howling Mad]

He's a locker room favorite, has phenomenal work ethic, coaches love him, under payed for his past success.

Not too bad.

Its not like he's Vanderjackass, where he hit a few lucky kicks, the team hates him, and then he gets payed.

I'm not thrilled, but I'll live with it. Seems like the bonus was compensating for his success, and then we can obviously cut him with little effect on our cap.

[emperorjones]

The highest paid kicker in the NFL?

The Bears sure do have their priorities straight.

Don't worry. In four years he'll only be ONE of the highest paid. Geez.

[Cliff Levingston]

Nice to see we've got Gould locked in long-term, but that does seem pricey for a kicker. Cliff Levingston gets the reward for playing well these last 3 years, but still. Tommie Harris and Devin Hester are a lot more important than Gould is to this team; let's get our priorities straight.

[Chewie]

Consider his career long FG is from 49 yds and his kickoffs routinely land around the 10yd line, I'm going to go out on a limb and say we overpaid.

Urlacher's gotta love this.

[TylerB]

idiots

[SWIFTSLICK]

So, let me get this straight. Instead of actually locking down 2 players that solidify the Defense, the Bears make signing the kicker their priority? WHAT? True, Gould is usually the only scoring option we have. But he's a kicker for gods sake. You either make it or you don't. Not exactly a hard position to gauge.

[dougthonus]

I doubt signing the kicker was a priority.

It was probably just easiest. I'm not sure if 3 million per year is really all that different from what typical kickers make who don't suck balls, still I don't see the need to lock up any kicker at the high end of the league's payscale for 5 seasons.

[Ruben Douglas]

It's not a big deal, only to Gould. The signing bonus is fine because what else are the Bears going to realistically use it for? They can always cut him because the contract is not guaranteed. The bonus was pretty much for the years he provided. I also think it showed that by him coming into a voluntary camp he ended up getting his money. I think it was more of a slap in the face in regards to their Urlacher negotiations.

[Icness]

It's not a big deal, only to Gould. The signing bonus is fine because what else are the Bears going to realistically use it for? They can always cut him because the contract is not guaranteed. The bonus was pretty much for the years he provided. I also think it showed that by him coming into a voluntary camp he ended up getting his money. I think it was more of a slap in the face in regards to their Urlacher negotiations.

Nice post, very true. It looks like they gave him pretty much all the $$ this year for the cap, kind of like how the Browns made Ryan Pontbriand the highest-paid OL in the league last year. He signed a 4-year/$10.5M deal and it counted $8.68M vs. the cap in 2007--and he's a freaking long snapper.

In regards to the part I bolded, I think it is indeed a reward to Gould for showing up and a message to others that the Bears value that. I wouldn't call it a slap to Urlacher; I see it more as the Bears taking advantage of the situation and getting both more leverage and better fan reaction in their battle with #54.

[Towel Manager]

I remember a couple years ago we were in desperate need of a kicker and we signed like 3 or 4 kickers and they all sucked.

I like this move. Some of you act like he's getting paid as much as a top defensive end.