Chicago Bears sign K Gabriel Plascencia

Gabriel Plascencia's three-year deal at a $1.035M AAV earns a C+ Contract Value Index (CVI), landing in fair-deal territory for a kicker operating near the league minimum in a position group where cost efficiency is table stakes. At just over $1M per year, the Bears are clearly not paying for a proven commodity — Plascencia profiles as a depth-piece or developmental option competing for a roster spot rather than an entrenched starter, and that production tier has to match the price tag for this CVI to hold up. The structure here is what makes this contract genuinely interesting: with only $5,000 in guaranteed money across three years and a total value of $3.105M, Chicago has essentially zero financial exposure if Plascencia doesn't win the job — this is a prove-it framework in the most literal sense. That near-zero guarantee is both the contract's greatest strength from a cap-risk standpoint and its clearest signal about where the front office pegs his current standing on the depth chart. For a Bears team sitting at 11-6 and holding a top-two NFC seed entering the offseason, kicker reliability isn't a luxury — it's a pressure point — which means the low-cost, low-commitment nature of this deal suggests Chicago may still be hunting for its long-term answer at the position. The CVI reflects a signing that's financially sound but competitively neutral: minimal downside, minimal upside, and a front office giving itself an easy out if someone better emerges before the regular season kicks off in September.