Gould Gets Gobs of Green

By Benjy Lipsman in News on May 13, 2008 4:13PM

The Bears don't get themselves into field goal range nearly enough, but when they do they'll have the richest kicker in the game to try and put some points on the board. The Bears signed kicker Robbie Gould to a long-term contract extension that makes him the highest paid kicker in NFL history. And the guy hasn't even hit a 50-yarder yet.

The five-year, $15.5 million extension with $4.25 million up front keeps him kicking for the Bears through 2013. Unless, of course, he goes cold at some point down the road.

Kickers seem to have the least job security of any position in the league. Afterall, the Bears first signed Gould to replace Doug Brien -- at the time, the NFL's alltime most accurate kicker -- just a month into the 2005 season. The biggest paycheck is sure to mean he'll have a very short leash going forward. Why pay top dollar when there are always top college kickers looking for jobs or one of the Andersons ready to come out of retirement for the umpteenth time?

UPDATE: For those who want to ask Robbie how he plans to spend his newfound millions, he'll be signing autographs at the Walgreen's at Golf & Washington in Glenview this evening from 6-8pm.

AP Photo/Nam Y. Hu