The Chicago Bears waived kicker Ramiz Ahmed, ending the prospect of a training camp kicking competition before full practices begin this week.
Incumbent Eddy Pineiro had an inside track on retaining his job. Tuesday’s roster move strengthens Pineiro’s grip and ends the possibility of an abbreviated sequel to last summer’s kicking competition.
The Bears signed Ahmed in April, presumably to push Pineiro.
“We knew we wanted to add competition,” general manager Ryan Pace said shortly after the signing. “Competition is good for everyone.”
Ahmed kicked for two years at Nevada and made 15 of 20 field-goal attempts as a senior in 2018.
Special teams coordinator Chris Tabor had been keeping tabs on Ahmed since the 2019 offseason, when the Bears searched far and wide to find a replacement for Cody Parkey. While Ahmed never was invited to the Bears’ extensive 2019 kicking competition, Tabor made note to follow his development and was impressed by his growth while evaluating him at Gary Zauner’s kicking camp early this offseason.
Tabor noted Ahmed’s leg strength and impressive ball flight.
“You could tell he cleaned some things up technically from the last spring,” Tabor said in June. “So I actually saw some growth and just thought this is a guy who deserves an opportunity.”
Just last week, Tabor expressed his eagerness to evaluate Ahmed in the training camp environment.
“You want to watch guys compete,” Tabor said. “They’ve got to make kicks. How are they going to handle things? This will be the first time in regards to watching him live since I saw him way back when in the spring.”
The Bears are transitioning this week from the strength and conditioning segment of training camp to actual practices. But Ahmed won’t get the opportunity to push Pineiro for his job.
Pineiro had an up-and-down year in 2019. His peak came in Week 2, when he hit a 53-yard field goal as time expired to beat the Broncos 16-14 in Denver.
But six weeks later, Pineiro missed a game-deciding 41-yard kick at home against the Los Angeles Chargers. That was part of a midseason skid in which he missed four of seven field goals, including attempts of 48 and 47 yards in a November loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Pineiro finished the season by making his final 11 field goals, but only four of those came from beyond 30 yards. His final kick of 2019 was a 22-yard game-winner to beat the Minnesota Vikings in the regular-season finale.
The Bears coaching staff asked Pineiro to gain weight this offseason, and he responded, he said, by putting on eight pounds.
“You can tell he is much stronger,” Tabor said last week. “When we went out and kicked, the ball is jumping off his foot really well.”
Tabor is confident Pineiro can take the next step in his development in 2020.
“We’re going to put pressure on him,” Tabor said. “And he puts pressure on himself. And that’s what I love about the kid. We have not arrived at that kicking spot. We are always a work in progress. And we still have things to prove.”
In the uncertain world of 2020, in which COVID-19 is still around and contingency plans are a must, the Bears must keep a Plan B handy at kicker. It remains to be seen whether Ahmed will be kept on speed dial in case of an emergency.
The Bears are expected to sign veteran defensive back and special teams standout Marqui Christian to their 80-man roster. The addition of Christian will help make up for the loss of safety Jordan Lucas, who opted out of the 2020 season last week because of concerns over COVID-19.
