One day after reaching an agreement with kicker Cairo Santos on a new three-year contract, the Bears on Friday agreed to terms with punter Pat O'Donnell on a one-year extension.
One of the longest tenured players on the roster, O'Donnell returns for an eighth season with the Bears. Since arriving in 2014 as a sixth-round draft choice from Miami, he has appeared in 111 of a possible 112 games, missing one contest in 2015. O'Donnell holds all-time franchise records with a 45.0-yard gross average and a 39.7-yard net average, and his 181 punts inside-the-20 rank second in team history.
Last season his 45.7-yard gross average was the second highest of his career and he matched a career high with 28 punts inside-the-20, tying for the third most in the NFL.
O'Donnell is one of three Bears players under contract for the 2021 season who originally joined the club before Ryan Pace was hired as general manager in 2015. The other two were also part of the team's 2014 draft class: first-round cornerback Kyle Fuller and seventh-round tackle Charles Leno Jr.
