The Bears special teams is having another standout season, and Smith highlighted the importance of key players on that unit Wednesday.
"They know --- and I'm talking about our core special teams players --- that they've led the charge for us to win a lot of games around here and that we're going to call on them again," Smith said.
Kicker Robbie Gould, who signed a six-year extension in 2008, said he hopes long snapper Patrick Mannelly and punter Brad Maynard get new deals, too.
Mannelly, 35, and Maynard, 36, both have contracts that expire after this season. Maynard also serves as holder for Gould on field goals and extra points.
In talking about his solid season, Gould said, "The biggest thing is just having the drive and knowing you're confident enough to go out there with the great guys you have around you making your job that much easier.
"Brad and Pat both deserve deals," Gould said. "They're up at the end of the year and I'm hoping they take care of them, because they're deserving of a new deal. They've been around and we've had a lot of success around here and hopefully that doesn't go undone.
"Because my success is based on what everybody else does."
Maynard hasn't had a banner year. Although he has landed 17 punts inside the 20, the Bears are ranked 31st in gross punting average and 27th in net punting average.
Great...one employee thinks other employees should be paid more. What else is new?
I would say hands down, Mannelly has been the most consistent long snapper in the league for years, and Maynard was among that elite group of punters who could be counted on year in, year out. But Maynard has been having trouble with his legs the last 2 years, nagging injuries and consistency issues. I would be reluctant to bring him back without some stiff competition.
Mannelly is a special teams assistant coach in waiting for when he decides to hang it up. I think he gets to play as long as he can get the job done, as we have seen all over the league what the lack of a good long snapper does to a team. Besides, if we have to replace Kreutz AND Mannelly this offseason, that is never a good thing. You want consistency with your snappers, and changing all of them is not a good idea.
I would like to see us get one of those Australian Rules Football-style punters, especially with the winds at Soldier Field. A guy like Darren Bennett, who can boom the ball 60 yards on a regular basis, even if we do suffer a bit on the touch Maynard had to place the ball inside the 20. There are some decent punters in college football, and likely some options out there.
Of course, this is assuming both of them want to continue playing. Mannelly had some shoulder issues earlier this year, and not too many guys want to suffer through the grind of the NFL season after the age of 35. By my last check, the Bears have 18 or 19 expiring contracts at the end of this season, and with an uncertain CBA, it will not be an easy offseason. That is more than 1/3 of our roster with expiring contracts. The rebuilding will be significant over the next 2-3 years, so a "cheaper" alternative for punter and long snapper might be on the menu.
Maynard?! Seriously? Cmon robbie stop trying to get your buddies signed, maynard has been border line for 2 seasons now. I like the idea of a big aussie punter, look at matt mcbriar and ben graham. This article tells me the bears aren't to active on getting either guy a new contract so gould is starting the campaign.
The games we are losing aren't being lost because of bad punts and the points we are giving up aren't because Special Teams is giving the other team bad field positioning. At Maynard's worst, he's average (of which he's been a lot of that recently). But he's also an integral part of the team in the fact that he's the holder for field goals and one of the Special Teams staples over the past few years. Getting rid of Maynard and Mannely would be the equivalent of the Cubs letting go of DeRosa and Wood: you say you can replace them, but between their skillset and the intangibles they carry with them, you just can't replace them without grooming a guy to do it.