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UPDATE: Just hours after reporting that there were two NFC North teams in pursuit of Baltimore kicker Kaare Vedvik, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Ravens are trading him to the Vikings for a 2020 5th round draft pick.
It would appear that the Bears are content to allow their placekicking battle play out, but there are a couple other kicking competitions taking place around the NFL. If Fry or Pineiro don’t pan out, then Chicago GM Ryan Pace could have a fall back plan.
Stay tuned to WCG for further kicking developments...
Aug 11, 2019, 11:00am CT - You guys only need one guess as to which NFC North team Adam Schefter is reporting to have called the Baltimore Ravens about kicker Kaare Vedvik. The Norwegian born 25-year old is obviously on the trade block and the Chicago Bears have an obvious need to upgrade their placekicking situation.
At least four teams have called the Ravens to inquire about trading for kicker Kaare Vedvik, with at least two of those calls coming from NFC North teams, per a league source. Ravens don’t have to do anything in the short term, but will deal the kicker at some point this summer.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 11, 2019
While Schefter isn’t naming the specific teams, it doesn’t take a crystal ball to see that one of those teams is the Bears.
The Detroit Lions are set at kicker with Matt Prater, and while the Green Bay Packers have a mini-competition at kicker right now with veteran Mason Crosby vs. Sam Ficken, I think they’re going to stick with Crosby unless he really takes a turn for the worse in preseason.
So that leaves the Bears and the Vikings as the logical NFC North teams that Schefter is referring to.
Minnesota only has Dan Bailey in camp right now, but he had a worse percentage of field goals made in 2018 than Cody Parkey did. The Vikes have been rumored to be on the market for a kicker all offseason.
Current Chicago kickers Elliott Fry and Eddy Pineiro are both having a decent offseason, but neither has wowed anyone.
With at least four teams inquiring about Vedvik there’s no way the Bears would be able to send a conditional seventh rounder to Baltimore like they did when acquiring Pineiro from the Raiders. I would imagine the Ravens will start negations as high as a fourth round pick then go from there.
Since they have one of the best kickers in the game today in Justin Tucker, the Ravens will trade Vedvik, it’s just a matter of when and to which team.