!HESTER HOLDING OUT!

[chitownsports4ever]

You can't pay a guy mega bucks just to be a return man, even if he is the best return man in history. All the opposing team needs to do is kick it out of bounds and he's pretty much neutralized. Hester needs to prove that he can at least be a serviceable receiver before getting a big pay day, so his hold out is a pretty foolish one, ICLO.

But then again doesn't make him that much more valuable? Field Position starting from the 40 yard line every time? That would be the best in football by far and with this offense, we need it...

Rodanlee has a point there, Cliff. Automatic 40yd line field position is invaluable. Well...it should be. Unfortunately, we have an offense that can rarely take advantage of that but, hey, that's not Hester's fault.

I agree but hes already under contract. Hes also not just asking for a raise hes asking to get paid bigtime receiver money when he should be the highest paid special teams player in the league with HUGE offense based incentives but I doubt he would accept that.

[Chi Dynasty12]

This is disappointing. We NEED to keep him though, he IS our offense.

[VoiceofReason]

If he wants receiver money, he'd better be a successful NFL WR first. Losing reps in practice isn't going to get him there. I'd offer him a 3yr deal for $6mil, guarantee the whole thing and throw in a re-negotiation clause after each season if certain WR goals are met. Easy on the cap, and it gives him a reason to become a better WR. I don't see him being driven to excel at the WR position if he gets paid big time for doing what he does now.

[Gene]

He wants 6/45mil - 7.5mil per - yikes!

[northbrookrich]

The guy needs to be paid more money. There is no question that he is underpaid and a renegotiation needs to get done.

However, big time #1 receivers are simply more valuable to a team than a return guy. Teams already diminished his impact by kicking away from him. Getting improved field position is nice and all, but signing a guy like Owens or Moss would have a much more significant impact on the team than Hester. Therefore, his salary should reflect that fact. Pay him more than any other Special Teams player, but not as much as a Berrian, Moss, Owens, etc.

[emperorjones]

He wants 6/45mil - 7.5mil per - yikes!

I think he's worth something close to that.

[Cliff Levingston]

Sorry, but the Bears have got extensions done with every major player on the roster this year that needed extending (minus Hester), and they also got all the rookies into camp on time. So, Cliff Levingston finds it hard to believe that the Bears are the ones being unreasonable here.

It's pretty simple. Hester has said he wants to be paid wide receiver money when he's not a wide receiver; or at least not a good one yet. Cliff Levingston doubts the Bears have any problem paying Hester as the best special teams player in the league, which is probably somewhere around $2-2.5 mil per year, so it's probably Hester simply being unrealistic about his worth right now.

If they haven't already, the Bears should offer to pay him as the best special teams player in the league for the next two years to give him a chance to prove that he can become a great wide receiver.

[Chewie]

I agree but hes already under contract. Hes also not just asking for a raise hes asking to get paid bigtime receiver money when he should be the highest paid special teams player in the league with HUGE offense based incentives but I doubt he would accept that.

Hey, Lovie's been the one talking him up all offseason as a starting wideout. There's got to be a happy medium here. The new contract shouldn't just reflect his special teams contribution but what he's expected to bring in the coming years at WR. And, from all accounts, he'll be seeing a good number of snaps at that position. And it's not like they weren't in the process of negotiating at the time Hester decided to holdout. They weren't at a standstill - they were still talking (which is why Angelo was surprised he didn't show up). I remain optimistic until talks completely shut down.

[Chewie]

He wants 6/45mil - 7.5mil per - yikes!

Source? Link ? Anything ??

[Gene]

Hester, who has two years left on his rookie contract, is seeking a new deal in the six-year, $45 million range. Though Hester has been mainly a returner to this point in his career, he was supposed to open camp as a starting wideout. The Bears are expected to fine him $15,000 a day. An extended absence would severely hurt Hester's chances of keeping his first-team gig.

http://rotoworld.com/content/playerpage ... 70&id=3675

Second little headline - Jul. 23 - 4:17 pm et

I swore I saw it on suntimes.com too.

[Cliff Levingston]

Hester, who has two years left on his rookie contract, is seeking a new deal in the six-year, $45 million range. Though Hester has been mainly a returner to this point in his career, he was supposed to open camp as a starting wideout. The Bears are expected to fine him $15,000 a day. An extended absence would severely hurt Hester's chances of keeping his first-team gig.

http://rotoworld.com/content/playerpage ... 70&id=3675

Second little headline - Jul. 23 - 4:17 pm et

I swore I saw it on suntimes.com too.

See, that's fine and fair for a guy who's the best kick returner in history and a very good receiver, but he's not a good receiver yet. He should be open to accepting a nice pay raise for the next couple years and then proving that he can be a good receiver. 6-8 mil over the next couple years, then if he shows that he can be a beastly wide receiver, the Bears would probably be happy to pay him the big bucks.

[chibearsfan]

You can't blame the guy for wanting money up front. Realistically, how long will Hester be this great, 2 maybe 3 more years?

He hasn't been paid market value for what he's done the past 2 years, so he deserves a great payday. Anything with 3-4 million per year, with a fat signing bonus seems fair.