The Chicago Bears have officially brought in a new rookie placekicker who could potentially challenge veteran Cairo Santos for his job during the 2025 season.
The Bears formally signed former Michigan State kicker Jonathan Kim to an undrafted rookie free agent contract on Thursday in a series of roster moves that included nine other UDFA signings and five of their draft picks putting pen to paper on their deals.
Michigan State had previously announced that “J Kim is on his way to Chicago” in the immediate aftermath of the 2025 NFL draft, but the Bears only just made it official.
Kim is currently the only other kicker on the Bears’ roster aside from Santos and will have an opportunity to push him for the starting job if he makes it to training camp. Santos has spent the past five seasons as the team’s starter, though, meaning Kim will have a long history of reliability to overcome if he wants to beat out the 33-year-old.
The Bears also signed nine other undrafted free agents to their 90-man offseason roster: defensive backs Major Burns and Tysheem Johnson, defensive linemen Xavier Carlton and Jereme Robinson, linebacker Power Echols, long snapper Luke Elkin, running back Deion Hankins and wide receivers JP Richardson and Jahdae Walker.
Jonathan Kim Holds Spartans’ Career Field Goal Record
Typically, when NFL teams sign rookie kickers to their roster as the No. 2 option, they are looking for someone who can handle some reps in training camp and, maybe, earn a spot on their practice squad. In Kim’s case, though, he had enough success in college that he could legitimately make a case for the No. 1 job if Santos isn’t on his game.
Kim led the Spartans in scoring in each of his two seasons with the team and declared for the NFL as the program’s all-time leader in field-goal percentage (82.1%), hitting 32 of his 39 field-goal attempts. In 2024, he was the second-most accurate kicker in the Big Ten (90.5%) and had the fifth most field-goal makes (19), earning second-team conference honors and finishing as a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award (best kicker).
Kim isn’t lacking for leg strength, either. He went 7-of-11 on field goals from 50 or more yards away during his two seasons, knocking through a career-long 58-yarder.
Now, Kim’s steady improvement over two seasons does not mean he is ready to jump into the NFL as a Day 1 starter. It is hard enough to make the transition from college to the pros as a placekicker, but Kim would also have to acclimate to the grueling winter weather that comes with kicking in Chicago — which is daunting for some kickers.
With Chicago entering a new era in 2025, though, don’t discount Kim’s ability to make an impression and ingratiate himself with the new staff if he brings his A-game.
Cairo Santos Remains Under Contract Through 2027
Kim could make things interesting if he plays beyond his years in training camp and takes advantage of every opportunity that comes his way. Beating out Santos is easier said than done, considering how reliable he has been and his contract with the Bears.
Santos has gone 134-of-150 (89.3%) on field goals for the Bears and never missed a single field goal from fewer than 40 yards away on 74 attempts over his five seasons. While he struggled in the 40-to-49-yard range in 2024 (5-of-9), he also made a career-high eight field goals from 50 or more yards away and finished just shy of perfect on extra-point kicks (24-of-25), proving his veteran leg still has plenty of power left.
That’s not reliability that the Bears can afford to just cast aside without a good reason.
Chicago also has Santos under contract for the next three seasons after signing him to a four-year, $15.9 million contract extension toward the end of the 2023 season. While it would only cost them roughly $2.1 million in dead cap to move on from him if they felt it was absolutely necessary, it seems unlikely unless he kicks truly poorly in camp.
Maybe Santos’ starting job would be in more jeopardy if the Bears had a new special teams coordinator looking to put his own stamp on things, but Richard Hightower is coming back for his fourth season in 2025 and may prefer to keep the continuity.
