Cairo Santos

Cairo Santos

32-Year-Old KickerK
Chicago Bears
2023 Fantasy Outlook
Santos converted at least 86.7 percent of field-goal attempts for Chicago each of the last three seasons, but he's never been one of the busier kickers in the league and was especially lacking in volume last season with the Bears having the league's worst record yet finishing 14th in red-zone TD rate. Tennessee's Randy Bullock was the only starting kicker who scored fewer points per game, with Santos getting just 11 tries inside 40 yards in 16 appearances. The Bears look better on paper this year, especially on offense after trading for WR DJ Moore, but Chicago is still a tough place to kick and the team hasn't fielded an above-average offense in recent memory. Improvement is likely, just not to an extent that makes Santos worth drafting outside of the deepest fantasy formats. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
$Signed a four-year, $16 million contract with the Bears in December of 2023.
Finishes season strong
KChicago Bears
January 7, 2024
Santos converted each of his three field-goal attempts in the Bears' 17-9 loss to the Packers on Sunday.
ANALYSIS
After not making multiple field goals in six if his first nine games, Santos went on a tear the rest of the way. During his last seven games, the veteran connected on 20 field goals and was a clear starting fantasy option during that time. Santos continued to be one of the more accurate kickers in the league, as he connected on 35 of 38 field-goal attempts. The veteran kicker has three years remaining on his contract with Chicago.
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
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2014
Santos has attempted just 10 kicks from 50-plus yards since 2016, making up for it with a huge number of tries between 40-49 yards. Despite being weighed down by a Matt Nagy offense, the 30-year-old still managed 30-plus field-goal attempts for a second consecutive season last year. The Bears made small moves to improve the offense around QB Justin Fields, but it probably won't be enough to make Santos consistent.
Santos was an unlikely source of stability for the Bears' troubled kicking game in 2020, taking advantage of his second stint with the team after detours to Tampa Bay, Tennessee and Los Angeles. His overall track record is less than stellar, including only 10 of 20 from 50-plus yards, but the five-year, $16 million extension he signed in March puts Santos toward the upper end of kickers in terms of job security.
Santos didn't take long to bounce back after he lost a preseason kicking battle to Matt Gay in Tampa Bay, signing with the Titans after Ryan Succop landed on IR. The 27-year-old now takes over in Tennessee, where Succop averaged just 26.8 field-goal attempts and 32.5 PATs over the past five seasons, despite playing 16 games each year. Apart from 2016, the Titans offense has been league-average or worse for the past decade.
Santos lost the job in Kansas City last season when a groin injury opened the door for Harrison Butker, who converted 38 field goals in 13 games. After briefly catching on in Chicago, the 26-year-old Brazilian finds himself in New York, where he needs to fend off competition from Taylor Bertolet. The Jets are unlikely to provide their kicker with a wealth of opportunities, regardless of which player wins the job.
Santos tied a career high with 129 points last season thanks to an 88.6 field-goal percentage, also a career high. He has finished as the No. 6 scoring kicker in back-to-back seasons, and given his 7.5 percentage point increase in accuracy, the starting job is firmly his for 2017. With the Chiefs' offense expected to be a solid unit again, there's little reason to think Santos will take a major step back in the scoring column, though there's also little reason to believe he'll take a big step forward.
Santos wasn't a highly-accurate kicker during his rookie 2014 season, and he got even worse last year, with only two kickers who played at least 12 games finishing with a worse conversion rate. That being said, four of his seven misses came from beyond 50 yards (and two more from beyond 40), so at least he's hitting the higher percentage ones. The Chiefs have shown no interest in bringing in competition, so Santos' job is safe for now. If the Kansas City offense can maintain its level from last season, or at least not fall off a cliff, Santos should be a decent fantasy option, though one has to wonder if the team will start considering an alternative if he doesn't improve his accuracy.
Santos' cumulative stats from his 2014 rookie season were better than his week-to-week production, as he attempted more than two field goals just once before Week 15, but then had three, four and five attempts in the last three weeks, the last of which many leagues ignore. Additionally, even when he was given opportunities, they weren't deep enough to benefit fantasy owners with bonus points. Santos only had two opportunities from 50-plus yards, and missed 30 percent of his chances between 40 and 49 yards (7-of-10). Ultimately, the Chiefs didn't provide enough scoring opportunities as he finished 17th in PAT attempts and 18th in field-goal attempts. He could possibly see more opportunities this season, as the Chiefs added wideout Jeremy Maclin and will rely on the continued development of tight end Travis Kelce and perhaps the league's best running back in Jamaal Charles, but it's tough to see Santos leaping into a top-tier fantasy option.
Santos beat out Ryan Succop for the Chiefs' kicking job. As an unproven kicker attached to a seemingly mediocre offense, a wait-and see approach is in order for prospective fantasy owners.
More Fantasy News
Records 13 points in victory
KChicago Bears
December 31, 2023
Santos converted three of four field-goal attempt in the Bears' 37-17 win over the Falcons on Sunday.
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Solid performance
KChicago Bears
December 25, 2023
Santos converted both of his field-goal attempts while scoring nine points in the Bears' 27-16 win over the Cardinals on Sunday.
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Sticking in Chicago
KChicago Bears
December 23, 2023
Santos signed a four-year, $16 million extension with the Bears on Saturday, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune reports.
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Hot streak ends
KChicago Bears
December 17, 2023
Santos converted his lone field-goal attempt in the Bears' 20-17 loss to the Browns on Sunday.
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Hot streak continues
KChicago Bears
December 10, 2023
Santos converted all three of his field-goal attempts in the Bears' 28-13 win over the Lions on Sunday.
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