(670 The Score) The Bears almost certainly won't be bringing their all-time leading scorer back after all. The 49ers have placed the franchise tag on kicker Robbie Gould, the team officially announced Tuesday.
The 49ers didn't specify which franchise tag was used, though reports indicated it was the non-exclusive variety. That would mean Gould is allowed to negotiate with other teams with the 49ers holding matching rights. The risk for interested teams is that should the 49ers decline to match an offer sheet, they would receive two first-round draft picks as compensation from the signing team -- a cost so high that it effectively takes Gould off the market.
Gould could play on a 2019 contract with the 49ers or reach a longer deal. In an interview on 670 The Score earlier in February, Gould expressed his hope to land a contract of at least three years this offseason.
Gould played his first 11 seasons in Chicago before being released by the Bears in September 2016. He has since hit 82 of his last 85 field goals. The Bears are expected to release kicker Cody Parkey at the start of the league new year, NFL Media reported last week. He struggled mightily in 2018, going 23-of-30 on field-goal attempts.
Parkey missed a game-winning 52-yard field-goal attempt in overtime of Chicago's 31-28 loss at Miami on Oct. 14. The Bears would eventually fall one victory shy of a first-round bye in the playoffs, which was a key reason that they ended up in the wild-card round.
In that game, the Bears trailed 16-15 with 10 seconds remaining when Parkey missed a 43-yard field goal attempt off the left upright and the bottom crossbar. The Bears' season ended on that note.
Parkey then complicated matters five days later by choosing to appear on the "Today Show" in a move that was scrutinized by the Bears, including coach Matt Nagy.
"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."
Parkey also missed four kicks -- two field-goal attempts and two extra-point attempts -- off the uprights during the Bears' 34-22 win over the Lions on Nov. 11. The team stood by him despite the inconsistencies, but general manager Ryan Pace vowed after the season that there would be competition and left open the possibility for Parkey to be released.
The Bears signed kicker Redford Jones to a reserve/future contract in January. With Parkey's release expected in March, the team is likely to pursue another kicker, either in free agency or the NFL Draft.
