Heading into the 2019 season, there was little reason to speculate about the state of the specialists on the Carolina Panthers’ roster. Kicker Graham Gano, punter Michael Palardy, and longsnapper J.J. Jansen were all firmly entrenched veterans who had been productive members of the team for years. Some surprise leg soreness out of the high-priced placekicker, however, has led to the emergence of Joey Slye. The Virginia Tech product has shown some incredible consistency so far this preseason, making all six field goals he’s attempted and both extra points. Perhaps even more impressive has been his leg strength. His 55-yard attempt would have been good from much further back and his extra point attempts almost sailed right over the protective netting behind the uprights. The 23-year-old also has an amazing story, if you didn’t already know. Needless to say, many Panthers fans are rooting for this kid to succeed.

The problem is that most teams only carry one kicker. Panthers general manager Marty Hurney and head coach Ron Rivera have entered the season with Gano and another kicker both on the roster before, when Gano was battling injuries in 2017. That other kicker went on to be an alternate to the Pro Bowl for the Kansas City Chiefs. The hope is that Hurney and, to a lesser extent, Rivera have learned their lesson. Outright cutting Graham Gano would never happen, but what if we could actually get something in return for him (unlike with Harrison Butker)?

Enter the Chicago Bears. Since the infamous Cody Parkey double doink, the Bears have been desperately searching for some semblance of consistency from their kickers. They have paraded a full conga line of potential players to fill that role, but unless they plan on signing U.S. Women’s Soccer star Carli Lloyd, there appears to be no good answer out there for them. What would they be willing to give for a relatively consistent, strong legged kicker who would have no problem dealing with the windy confines in January?

Graham Gano has only missed three field goals in the last two seasons combined and has shown that he has quite a strong leg (which would help propel footballs through the gale force winds in Chicago). The Bears are in dire need of a reliable kicker; they don’t want back-to-back Super Bowl caliber teams left sitting on the couch in February due to kicker ineptitude. If they would be willing to send a draft pick for the services of one of the Panthers’ kickers, I think Marty would have to at least hear them out.

But why not trade the unproven Slye? Well, for one, the Bears might not give as much for him. If the Panthers don’t trade Joey, chances are they try to sneak him on the Practice Squad, from which the Bears can just sign him outright without compensating the Panthers. Also, according to Spotrac, the Panthers would actually save over $2M in cap space by trading Gano. That is money that could be used to shore up depth somewhere, or to possibly add a veteran quarterback in case Cam Newton needs a few weeks to heal. It would definitely be a risk to hitch the team’s wagon to an unproven commodity at kicker, but we all know how big risk takers Ron Rivera and Marty Hurn — never mind, this will never happen.