Some Chicago Bears fans probably weren’t overly impressed when their team decided to trade a future 7th round pick for Eddy Pineiro. Khalil Mack notwithstanding, most players coming from the Oakland Raiders of late haven’t been huge hits elsewhere. So how could this kid be expected to go against that trend? Well, he does have history on his side.
See this actually isn’t the first time the Bears solved their kicking issues with a player from the Raiders. By the end of 1995, the team was ready to move on from longtime stalwart Kevin Butler after 11 seasons. They wanted experience rather than seeking a young alternative. Their choice became veteran Jeff Jaeger, fresh off his own long stint in Los Angeles.
It proved to be a wise decision. In the previous three years with Butler, the Bears kicking game made just 74% of its field goal attempts. With Jaeger over the next three seasons from 1996 to 1998, that jumped to 81.3%. This was actually far better than his career percentage of 74.5 he’d had during his extended run in L.A.
Jeff Jaeger is a reminder not to dismiss Eddy Pineiro for the Bears
Expectations weren’t high for Jaeger back then. It had been several years since his lone Pro Bowl appearance. He was actually around the same age as Butler at the time of his signing. It was felt that he gave them a greater advantage from long range. Butler had gone 2-of-6 from 50 or more in 1994 and 1995. Jaeger had gone 6-of-10 from 1993 to ’95.
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It ended up working out. He never missed a field goal from beyond 50 during his time in Chicago.
All this being said, it should be a reminder not to dismiss Eddy Pineiro because of where he came from. The Raiders may be a bad team, but even bad teams make good decisions on personnel from time to time. Pineiro looked like a quality find before an unfortunate groin injury ended his season last year.
The Bears clearly think he has something to offer that the kickers they currently employ don’t. Just like they did with Jaeger two decades ago.
