Bears Fans Call for ‘Embarrassingly Weak’ $16 Million Player to Be Cut

As fans of the team have come to grow painfully accustomed, the Chicago Bears lost a game in heartbreaking fashion, falling to the Minnesota Vikings in their season opener on September 8.

After jumping out to a 17-6 lead, bit by bit, the Bears lost momentum — and Cairo Santos’ right leg was a big problem in the second half. For a fan base that has endured the double doink, an infamously huge kicker tryout and a devastating field goal miss to the rival Green Bay Packers in 2024, there are no shortage of painful memories courtesy of kickers. Santos added to that Monday night.

Up 17–6 at the top of the fourth quarter, the Bears had a chance to stretch it to 20–6. From 50 yards out, Santos promptly yanked the kick wide right. Not long after that came another crushing miscue. After cutting the deficit to 3 points with just over two minutes left, the Bears needed Santos to blast the kickoff deep enough to erase any return and keep every second possible on the clock. Instead, the ball landed in the middle of the end zone.

Bears head coach Ben Johnson took accountability for his own mistakes, but also admitted he wanted Santos to boot it out of the end zone. Considering his limited leg, though, fans immediately called for Santos’ dismissal on social media.

Bears Fans Call for Team to Cut Kicker Cairo Santos After Week 1 Loss to Vikings

“Cairo Santos’ inability to put the ball out of the back of the end zone there is highly problematic,” Johnathan Wood of Windy City Gridiron noted on X. “Cost the Bears an extra time out at the 2 minute warning.”

“What the (expletive) are we doing with a kicker in 2025 who can’t kick it out of the back of the end zone,” one fan wrote on Reddit. “I love him and will always appreciate us beating the packers with his game winner. But man’s leg is TOO WEAK it’s a joke.”

“My goodness he is embarrassingly weak,” one fan replied.

“I’m not even joking when I say this. He should be cut tomorrow,” another chimed in.

“He’s the only kicker in the NFL and prob the CFL that can’t kick 50 yards,” added another.

“We gotta cut Cairo Santos. He’s simply not good enough,” another fan wrote on X.

“Worst kicker in all of football,” yet another fan wrote on X.

Santos’ Limited Range Has Been a Problem Before

GettyCairo Santos had a rough outing against the Vikings Week 1.

Santos has always been both reliable and accurate, no doubt about it. Since returning to Chicago in 2020, he’s been one of the league’s most consistent short-to-mid-range options. But from distance? That’s where things get sketchy.

His career long is 55 yards, which, in today’s NFL where 60-yarders are becoming increasingly more commonplace, is far from impressive. From 50–59 yards out, he’s 29-for-45 over his career. Last year was his best stretch—8-of-9 from that range—but even then, he went just 5-for-8 from 40–49 and missed a potential game-winner against Green Bay.

It’s not as if the Bears don’t value him. Just two years ago, they gave him a four-year, $16 million extension that runs through 2027. He’s not a disaster, but he doesn’t have the kind of big leg that could swing a ton of games in Chicago’s favor, either.

Santos was named a team captain heading into the season, and there’s no doubt he’s a well-respected veteran. But Bears fans understandably don’t want to go another season watching a kicker with a questionable leg. They’ve seen that movie too many times already.

Nepo Baby Head Coach Admits ‘Massive Mistake’ in Loss to Broncos

While this probably doesn’t fall under the “You Only Had One Job” moniker, it’s pretty darn close.

Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan admitted he made a massive mistake in a 20-12 Week 1 loss to the Denver Broncos in which he incorrectly decided not to challenge a call that ruled a 23-yard catch made by rookie wide receiver Elic Ayomanor.

Ayomanor managed to make the catch and get his elbow down before going out of bounds.

“An elbow doesn’t equal two feet, so his foot would’ve had to come down as well,” Callahan said after the game on September 7.

That’s not accurate. NFL rules state either 2 feet need to come down inbounds or any body part other than the hand.

“My interpretation of the rule was wrong,” Callahan told ESPN’s Turron Davenport on September 8. “I’ll own it. I didn’t do a good enough job in that moment, and I should have challenged it, and it probably would’ve resulted in a potential explosive play. “I misspoke. I’m well aware of the rule, I understand how it works, and the way that I articulated it afterwards was incorrect. And I understand the rules of this game pretty well.”

In all reality, Callahan does not. His coaching to this point in his career kind of reflects that.

Callahan, 41 years old, is in his second season as Tennessee’s head coach and it very well could be his last — he went 3-14 in his first season in 2024 and a repeat performance could earn him his walking papers.

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Callahan’s Gilded Path To Becoming NFL Head Coach

Nepo Babies aren’t just for Hollywood.

The NFL has plenty of them as well, with Callahan just being the latest example. He’s the son of former NFL head coach and University of Nebraska head coach Bill Callahan, who is currently the Titans offensive line coach.

Interestingly enough, Bill Callahan’s NFL head coaching career only lasted 2 seasons with the Oakland Raiders, where he led the franchise to the Super Bowl in 2002 before he was fired after going 4-12 in 2003.

Bill Callahan got another shot as a head coach at Nebraska from 2004 to 2007, where he was fired after going 27-22 in 4 seasons, including a 15-17 record in Big 12 play.

Brian Callahan made his way up the coaching ranks as an assistant for the Broncos, Detroit Lions and Raiders before spending 5 seasons as the offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals from 2019 to 2023 before he was hired by the Titans.

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Nepo Baby Head Coaches In NFL: Nothing New

Callahan isn’t the first NFL head coach to have gotten a job based solely on his name.

Legendary Miami Dolphins head coach and 2-time Super Bowl champion Don Shula’s son, Dave Shula, went 19-52 as the head coach of the Bengals from 1992 to 1996.

Current San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is the son of 2-time Super Bowl champion head coach Mike Shanahan and was 70-62 headed into his ninth season in 2025.

Rex Ryan, the son of legendary NFL defensive coordinator and former Philadelphia Eagles head coach Buddy Ryan, is perhaps the famous Nepo Baby NFL head coach of all time — he went 61-66 over 8 seasons as the head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills.