Longtime Chicago Bears veteran long snapper Patrick Scales is saying goodbye to the team and the fan base as he prepares to seek new opportunities in 2025.
Last Friday, Scales posted a heartfelt farewell message to the Bears on his Instagram that effectively confirmed the presumption that he will not return to Chicago for 2025.
“Words will never be able to describe our gratitude for the city of Chicago, the Chicago Bears Organization, or the fans who have cheered us on and loved us through the years,” Scales wrote on June 13.
Scales had spent the majority of the past 10 seasons as the Bears’ starting long snapper, playing in 122 games for them going back to 2015 and bringing consistency to the role. He did, however, miss the entire 2024 season with a preseason back injury that forced him to undergo surgery, casting doubt on his future with one year left on his contract.
The Bears then confirmed his fate in March when they re-signed Scott Daly — who had stepped into Scales’ shoes in 2024 — to a one-year deal to return as their long snapper. Scales, who turned 37 in February, remains an unsigned free agent as of June 17.
“Chicago, you were a dream come true, and you’ll always feel like home,” Scales continued. “Our kids know no life without you, Chicago Bears, and raising them with you was the biggest honor of our life. Thank you to the McCaskey family, who truly feel like family to us. We cherish & love you forever. It is truly an honor to play for the NFL & we’re excited and hopeful for what’s next, but we’ll never forget the team who gave us everything & got us here today. Bear Down, baby.”
Patrick Scales Brought Bears Reliability More Than a Decade
Scales’ time with the Bears has come to an end, but he leaves behind a strong legacy of reliability and veteran leadership after spending roughly a decade as their long snapper.
Scales had little trouble with availability over his 10 seasons with the Bears, despite two exceptions for major injuries in 2017 (torn ACL) and 2024. He had even appeared in 99 consecutive regular-season games for the Bears before he injured his back last August, which allowed the Bears to focus more intensively on their kicker and punter positions.
To some extent, Scales also deserves credit for kicker Cairo Santos’ stability in Chicago. The Bears endured a gauntlet of kicking flops throughout Scales’ tenure before finding Santos. And while Santos has earned his keep on his own merits, Scales’ reliability as a snapper helped him find his footing (no pun intended) and land a $16 million contract.
For that, and more, Scales deserves to be remembered as a quality Bears specialist.
Bears Have Specialist Roles Locked Down for 2025
Much has changed for the Bears in the five months since they hired Ben Johnson as their new head coach, but the specialist room is still largely intact from last season.
The Bears will return all three of their starting specialists, including 2024 fourth-round pick and punter Tory Taylor, for the 2025 season. Johnson also decided to keep Richard Hightower on his staff as his special teams coordinator, a move that ensured leadership at the top of the third phase would remain the same for the fourth consecutive season.
As a result, the Bears won’t expectedly have any specialist roles up for grabs in 2025.
The biggest special-teams question heading into 2025 is about the return specialist role. The Bears did not re-sign veteran wide receiver DeAndre Carter after he replaced Velus Jones Jr. as their primary returner early in the 2024 season, but they did sign All-Pro returner Devin Duvernay to a one-year contract during free agency in the spring.
Duvernay will likely emerge as the top return specialist, but the Bears will also welcome back cornerback Josh Blackwell and wide receiver Tyler Scott as additional candidates.
