NFL odds: Hester's holdout a bummer for Bears

By Jordan Walters
WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

Sports Betting at WagerWeb Online Sportsbook

No one argues that Bears return star and now also full-time-receiver Devin Hester is underpaid, as he is in the third year of his four-year rookie deal that pays him less than $450,000.

Hester has become the best return man in NFL history, with 11 kick returns for touchdowns in two seasons, a total that ranks fourth best in NFL history (and that doesn’t include his return of a missed field goal or his TD return in the Super Bowl). Last season, he made the Pro Bowl for the second consecutive year. And the Bears were criticized for taking this guy in the second round!

"I have to make a statement. I showed by going to [organized team activities] that I was a team player,” Hester said. “But then, I just felt they weren't taking it seriously that I wanted to get a new deal. I can't go out and play this year making $445,000. Come on, man."

The Bears acknowledge how special and underpaid Hester is, but the problem is paying him by position. Chicago is hoping to make Hester its No. 1 receiver this year, but it remains to be seen how that experiment will go, and he’s unproven in that spot after playing part-time there for one season. Hester scored two touchdowns on offense last season, when he had 20 catches for 299 yards - a 15-yard average.

Offensive coordinator Ron Turner said that Hester was slated to open camp with the starting unit, opposite Brandon Lloyd.

And Hester wants to be paid as a receiver, but the Bears are willing to pay him only as the league's highest-paid special teams player - a deal that no doubt would fall short of Hester's mark.

"You should pay me like I'm one of a kind," said Hester, who will be fined $15,000 per day for every day he’s not in camp. "It's like dating a girl. When you find somebody who is real special, you're going to do whatever it takes to keep her. You might cut back on what you're giving your mom to give to her. And that's how I feel they should treat me."

 

The Bears may hold the trump card here, as if Hester were to somehow sit out the season (no way), he would still be stuck in the third year of his original contract. And a recent decision by NFL owners to opt out of their collective bargaining agreement with the players union means Hester might have to wait until after the 2011 season to become a free agent, not the 2009 season.

So while Hester not playing would certainly cripple a Bears team that already has trouble scoring, the team also has some leverage in all this. Expect the sides to come to an agreement, as Chicago has with stars Brian Urlacher and Tommie Harris, before the season begins.

Chicago’s 2008 odds on WagerWeb.com: +275 to win the NFC North, +1500 to win the NFC, +3500 to win Super Bowl XLIII.