The decision to part ways with Parkey came after he had a turbulent 2018 season, his first in a four-year, $15-million deal. Parkey hit only 23 of 30 field goals and had some costly misses, none more disappointing than the 43-yard field goal in the waning seconds of a 16-15 loss to the Eagles in the wild-card game that caromed off the left upright, the bottom crossbar and out. The Bears saw their season end on that note.
Parkey will designated officially as a post-June 1 release, be paid the remaining $3.5 million of the $9 million guaranteed as part of the deal, then become a free agent once it's official. Pace and coach Matt Nagy recently informed him of their plan, as they wanted to be up front before scouting kickers at the NFL Combine.
"It's really performance-based at the end of the day," Pace said. "Matt and I wanted to call him before the combine and be honest with him. We had a good conversation with him, an honest conversation with him. But at the end of the day, it's performance-based."
The Bears are open to addressing the kicker position in any manner, Pace said. The Bears own one pick in the third, fourth and fifth rounds and two in the seventh round.
The Bears signed kicker Redford Jones to a reserve/future contract in January, part of Pace's goal to add competition at the kicking position.
"Explore every avenue," Pace said. "We've already done it with reserve/futures. (There's) free agency, the draft. I promise we will explore every avenue to better that.
"Whatever's best for the Bears, we'll consider it."
That includes drafting a kicker, with Pace adding, "If there's a kicker or a punter or any specialist in the draft we feel is worthy, we'll definitely consider it."
"Leg strength is important, especially in Chicago," Pace said. "You got to knife through the wind, so that's something I would say is a high priority for us."
The Bears will be unable to sign kicker Robbie Gould on the open market after the 49ers tendered Gould the franchise tag Tuesday. The all-time leading scorer in Bears history, Gould was released by the team in September 2016. He has hit 82 of 85 field goals since leaving Chicago. The Bears have used four kickers in regular-season games since Gould's release.
The Bears stood by Parkey during his 2018 struggles and even remained by his side after the miss in the playoff loss. But he fell under scrutiny after choosing to appear on the "Today Show" five days after that game.
"We always talk about a 'we' and not a 'me' thing," Nagy said at the team's season-ending press conference. "And we always talk as a team, we win as a team, we lose as a team. I didn't necessarily think that was too much of a 'we' thing."