Soooo yea...Devin Hester Holds Out of Bears Training Camp?

[wwharton]

Quote: Originally Posted by Crimsontide27

Devin Hester has done more for that team recently than any other player. Im not even much of a pro football fan, but when I see Chicago is on, I always watch it just to see if Hester does anything. He has earned the right to earn more money just based on the fan base and viewship he has brought to this team. Im quite sure most people outside of Chicago could give a crap about Bear football these days. The only publicity the Bears were really getting besides Hester was all negative. He has earned a pay raise.

Don't mistake deserving money for what he's done for the team with having money available in the budget for players limited to kick returns. They already overpaid the kicker which makes it even more unlikely they can afford to throw a ton of money at another special team's player. Of course they did, lol. I really think it's going to hurt the Bears even with the de-escalators in there.

The only reason I could see this making since is if...

Quote: Originally Posted by illinifan91

They are paying him that much because hes is one of the best if not the best returner of all-time and i guess they expect him to do big things at wr.

I just don't see it. The history of players with his background making the transition is stacked against him, and he seemed lost and very limited playing WR last year. They're trying to find a way to have less turnovers by the QB and Hester has no idea how to get position or defend a 50/50 pass. But I'm not in camp so maybe he's learning quickly.

I recognize how talented Hester is. But I think the perfect role for him is his current one... returning kicks, used occasionally as a decoy, catching screen passes or pitches every now and then, and running fly routes. It'd be great if the NFL structure salary was currently built to properly reward that type of player then I'd have no problem with his demands. I think the Bears will be sorry if they try to force him into a WR role. If they can survive financially after this deal, it could open the door for returns to get more cash. Might see Cribbs trying to renegotiate soon.

Quote: Originally Posted by Cebby

And that's why you give him 4 years $12 million and make him the highest paid returner of all time instead of paying him like an elite receiver. Even if he keeps his production up (which is a huge if), he's way overpaid. If he drops off at all, this contract becomes hilarious.

my thoughts exactly

[Gman]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cebby

That contract makes Starbury's look reasonable. $30 million for a ****ing returner? Worst contract in salary capped sports history.

There are a lot of escalators written in his new contract that if he meets certain incentives will make it a total of 30 mil. Hopefully Devin will blossom into a receiver so he will do something other than return puns/kicks to appease all the naysayers in this forum. If the Bears had a better offense, Hester's presence would be even more valuable as they routinely get a short field to work with by all of the teams kicking away or out of bounds from him.

[ThreeKing]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cebby

And that's why you give him 4 years $12 million and make him the highest paid returner of all time instead of paying him like an elite receiver. Even if he keeps his production up (which is a huge if), he's way overpaid. If he drops off at all, this contract becomes hilarious.

What??!!?? How the hell you know what he was asking for?? So we go ahead and throw 4 yrs 12mil when he could've been asking for 40+ mil this whole time??

We both don't know what was asked at the barganing table. We say..."F U" Devin, we ain't paying, you bet your *** someone else will come in next couple years and scoop him up. Angelo is not stupid.

We let him go to free spenders like the Redskins or Cowboys, Bears fans would have Angelo's head on a ****ing plate. Forget on the field contributions. From a pure economical stand point, Devin is a must buy. Period.

[illinifan91]

Quote: Originally Posted by wwharton

I just don't see it. The history of players with his background making the transition is stacked against him, and he seemed lost and very limited playing WR last year. They're trying to find a way to have less turnovers by the QB and Hester has no idea how to get position or defend a 50/50 pass. But I'm not in camp so maybe he's learning quickly. I recognize how talented Hester is. But I think the perfect role for him is his current one... returning kicks, used occasionally as a decoy, catching screen passes or pitches every now and then, and running fly routes. It'd be great if the NFL structure salary was currently built to properly reward that type of player then I'd have no problem with his demands. I think the Bears will be sorry if they try to force him into a WR role. If they can survive financially after this deal, it could open the door for returns to get more cash. Might see Cribbs trying to renegotiate soon.

I agree i dont see it either, i was talking to my friends dad who is a scout for the browns and he told me that when talking to some people from the bears about Hester they said one problem is that he didn't seem to know the play book and he had to be told where to be and what to do every play, so maybe he just needs to study hard or maybe he will just never get it.

[Cebby]

Quote: Originally Posted by ThreeKing

What??!!?? How the hell you know what he was asking for?? So we go ahead and throw 4 yrs 12mil when he could've been asking for 40+ mil this whole time??

If he asks for $40 million, you call him on it.

I don't think you realize how ridiculous this contract is.

Lets assume he gets $30 million, since it's a lock he won't reach the $40 million incentives.

It's more than Torry Holts' and it's $4 million total less than TO's. It's roughly double Anquan Boldin's contract. It's worth more than Reggie Wayne's contract by about a million a year. It's a million and a half less per year than Randy Moss, but it also is longer than Moss'. It's the same amount as Santana Moss, but 2 years fewer.

The notion that Hester would walk is absurd. Nobody is going to pay him elite receiver money to return kicks. Neither the Cowboys nor Redskins are that stupid.

Hester would be the highest paid player on the Redskins. That's how stupid the contract is. You made a kick returner a top 5 highest paid receiver. Daniel Snyder, Al Davis, and Isiah Thomas are laughing at Chicago right now.

[bob99digi]

yea i think thats a lot of money. The only thing that helps is maybe you could say these next 2 years are part of that deal. So he's getting that 40mil (or 30 w/o incentives) over a course of 6 years. Not sure how much better that really makes it all.

damn its a hell of a lot any way you look at it, lol. He better become a pretty good WR.

[illinifan91]

Hes our best offensive player and sometimes you might have to over-pay them to make them happy. and only 15 million is guaranteed, TO got 3 years 25 Mill, Reggie waynes deal included a signing bonus worth nearly as much as all of Hester's guaranteed(13 million)

[SPTO]

I actually like the contract that Hester got. He got paid for what he's done so far and now has an escalation contract based on performance. Personally I think more contracts should be like this.