Bears Giving Roberto Aguayo The Chance To Find Himself

By Chris Emma—

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. (CBS) – There's a beach house in North Carolina that Bears kicker Connor Barth will call home when the time comes. He can spend those days surfing and enjoying life.

Comforts to come ease the mind of Barth, who knows well the realities of his profession. Barth has worked for five teams and is entering a 10th year in the league with no assurances once again. It's just life for an NFL kicker and something his new competitor now realizes, too.

The Bears on Sunday signed 23-year-old Roberto Aguayo, the Buccaneers' second-round pick in 2016 who sent Barth packing to New Orleans and ultimately Chicago. Aguayo was released from Tampa Bay last Friday – which can be seen on Hard Knocks this week – after hitting just 71 percent of his kicks in 2016 and struggling again this preseason.

Perhaps a change of scenery can benefit Aguayo, whom the Bears had high grades on coming into the league. He'll get a chance to regain confidence with a new team.

"Roberto's a great talent," Barth said of his new competitor. "He was one of the best if not the best to come out of college football. You never know what can happen. That's part of football. We're in a very competitive job. It is what it is and you've just got to take it with a grain of salt. I can just focus on what I can do and just make kicks. And if I make kicks, whether it's here or somewhere else it'll be good. "

Barth went 12-of-12 with his field goals at practice Monday, while Aguayo didn't kick in his first practice with the team.

Aguayo arrived at Bears camp for the team's final day of work in Bourbonnais, calling his arrival "a fresh start." The Buccaneers made the surprising selection of Aguayo in the second round of the 2016 draft with the hopes of stabilizing their kicking game for more than a decade. Typically, specialists aren't drafted and certainly not that high if they are.

A three-time All-American at Florida State, Aguayo struggled mightily during his rookie season. He finished 22-of-31 on field goals and missed two extra points. In college, he was perfect on all 198 PAT attempts. The Buccaneers worked to instill confidence in their young kicker but finally decided to part ways after he missed two kicks in Thursday's preseason opener.

Now, Aguayo is a waiver claim to his team and not a second-round selection.

"What we both wanted, it just never flourished," Aguayo said of the Buccaneers. "I'm excited to be here with the Bears, and I'm excited for this fresh opportunity and a new start.

"They picked me wherever they picked me. At the end of the day, I want to go out there and do my job. Right now, I just focus on being in the present and I just focus on what I've got to do here."

The Bears claimed Aguayo a week after they released undrafted rookie kicker Andy Phillips, which at the time appeared to indicate Barth would be clear to win the job. Barth came to the Bears one week before the season opener in 2016 after the decision to release Robbie Gould, the franchise's leading scorer and kicker of more than a decade.

Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht said in an interview with MMQB that his mistake was anointing Aguayo as the team's kicker rather than creating competition. Barth was ultimately made expendable by that decision. Aguayo became lost.

"There were highs, there were lows," he said. "At the end of the day, I know the type of man I am. I know the integrity and what I have inside me. That doesn't define me as a man. I'm defined by how I keep my head up and keep pushing. That's in the past now. Yeah, at the time, it hurt. But there's new opportunities and I'm here now. So, this is my next opportunity and I'm looking forward to making the most of it."

Competition is playing itself out all across the Bears' roster. Coach John Fox said that it has defined the early portion of this preseason. The difference for kickers is that there are just 32 jobs available in the NFL, and even just a single slump can get you fired. A nine-year veteran and second-round pick face the same standard.

Ultimately, the better man will win.

"My parents always say, control what you can control," Barth said. "At the end of the day, it's all you can do."

Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago's sports scene and more for CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670 and like his Facebook page.