CrackerDog

Probably has some paperwork with JA and his agent to fill out.

I'm a fan. As a fan, I agree with you 100%. Unfortunately, as a GM, JA can't afford to think that way. He won't draw double coverage unless he can prove he's capable of running the correct routes and making the right adjustments. He's not proven that to me and I don't know if he's got the smarts for it. Of course, he's only got 1 year as a WR under his belt, actually less, and WR's typically take two full seasons to learn their craft. So, we should know more at the end of the year. All of our guys besides Booker are working off their rookie contracts. They're cheap because they're young and haven't proven anything. Hester hasn't proven anything at WR either, IMO. When/if they do prove themselves, the Bears will pay them more. They gave a lot of coin to Moose so it isn't like they don't understand the value of the position (although we can all agree he wasn't what we paid for.) You can't spend our WR money on Hester assuming we'll always have cheap WR's. If he doesn't develop or he gets hurt, we're screwed. Me too. But as to Hester, he ain't getting paid by "someone" not named McCaskey for at least three more seasons. That's just a fact of how the NFL draft and the franchise tag works. He has zero leverage outside of crying to the papers every day and frankly, that'd get old pretty quick and the press would stop giving him a microphone after a short while. Bears fans love the team, not one player. So, he isn't going anywhere and he and his agent realized that, it appears. His butt is in camp where it belongs. The fair thing to do is to structure a deal that makes him wealthier when/if he produces.

How about Boldin and Kurt Warner for Hester? Boldin wants out of AZ and Warner still has enough that he could be our starter if/when we become unhappy with our current options. Hester is honestly worth all of Boldin/Warner and a 1rst round draft pick but I doubt anyone would give up that much. Frankly, I hope we can keep Hester happy with whatever deal JA comes up with and Kyle/Rex develop along with some of the young WR's we've got on the team now. Best case scenario, we don't have to trade him. I really love watching this guy play football!

OMG... Remember how some of the folks here went on and on about Hester? Sheesh. JA was killed for that pick and now some of the same folks are killing him for not signing him to a 50 year deal worth TEN BAGILLION DOLLARS. OMGZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!! I found this on Kellen Davis. http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingr...ellendavis.html All it says is he has character issues but doesn't spell it out. If anyone has the details please post. I don't mind rooting for a guy who got caught with a joint when he was a freshman but if there is something of real concern here, I'd like to know.

Wow. Strong statement! The only concern with this guy was character, correct? He slid because of something he'd done? Hopefully he can keep his nose clean.

Which is simply incorrect if you know anything about how the team is forced to slice up the cap money. He isn't as valuable as a #1/#2 WR. Period. His position dictates that. You can argue all day long that the field position makes him as valuable to the team but the reality is, it doesn't work that way. Glad we see eye to eye on his current value. I didn't misunderstand, you didn't make yourself very clear. PS. Learn to use the QUOTE button you dope.

He's in two plays from this footage of yesterday's practice and he really stands out as being BIG and looks like he's got some speed too. Maybe another steal? Wonder if he can run block?

Yep. Well said. And I'll just add that Brad was there on the day Orton was working with the #1 offense while Rex was with the #2's. Unless they enact a new rule whereby every team has to have at least one female player... In which case, we'll just keep Bradley.

I assume that post is from KFFL by the formatting. If so, they're reporting something I believe I heard Clayton say on ESPN yesterday morning on Mike & Mike. If that's the case and there isn't something more recent where he made a stronger statement, his comments yesterday weren't as direct as KFFL is making it sound. His comments yesterday were along the lines of he would put Orton down as #1 right now for the factors stated by a few above. He didn't really say he felt really strongly that the Bears saw it that way which is kinda implied in the KFFL short. Like many here, I think it's a complete crapshoot. And I'm not going to guess or even root one way or the other. I just hope that everyone agrees when the decision is made that the winner really won the job. I hope one of them stands out so much that the choice is easy. It'll make life around here a lot easier.

Actually, I used my Blackberry. I'm really liking it. It was easy to ignore Mike North and just become a Mike & Mike listener but these guys are good and they talk Bears all the time! Probably. Nate Vasher got that lesson. Once you show the inmates they don't run the prison, you have some level of discipline. Plus, JA has said all the right things about recognizing it needs to be addressed. I think they'll get something done that puts a few extra bucks in his pocket at a minimum for this season with the promise that they'll tear up his contract for next year and get a longer deal done. Or they'll do something with incentives as I mentioned yesterday. The problem is the cap. Think about the entire amount of money you have to spend as this line: ******************** Most teams spend it like this: Offense: ********* Defense ********* ST ** If you need to take a big chunk from O or D and put it into ST, you don't have the money you need to pay that rookie QB we'll sign next season, Forte if he turns into a stud, Rex or Kyle if they really pan out this year and take the next step, etc etc etc... You can't play it for just this year. You've got to look at the long term impact of what you do. So, if Hester turns into a #2 WR he gets another $4 million bonus. If he turns into a #1 WR he gets $4 million more. Something like that. I know NFO makes a good point about what he contributes given our offensive problems but you can't just look at this and resign yourself to being mediocre on O forever. If you hand a ST's guy a big check, even the potentially best ever ST's guy of all time, you're hurting the team elsewhere. So, his agent and he need to come to that understanding and JA needs to hold to his guns or the cap will be messed up for a long time. And let's not forget, playing ST isn't exactly great for your health. We could cut him a big signing bonus and his career could end in week 1 this season. We'd need to cut players and not resign some of our own who panned out just because of the cap hit a career ending injury would cause in this case. This is yet another reason roster/incentive bonuses make sense here. Like I've said, it'll be fun to see how this one comes together. Glad it ain't me making the decisions.

You're right Pix. The Bears will need to watch the cap cuts and get someone with the ability to float in and out at the various positions in the O Line. Olin having issues this early combined with the kid being hurt makes me worry and it's only July. The O Line was my major concern last season and now the things they've done to address it aren't looking like enough. If Rex/Kyle have significant pressure, they'll suck. Our running game with go down the toilet. Season over before it started.

Ha. I was in the car when I heard. Got out and bought my coffee and decided to see if anyone had posted it yet. Used my Blackberry which works surprisingly well for this site! Beat Brad by seconds, it appears. It'll be interesting to hear WHY he's back.

Heard on Score a minute ago.

I just heard Lovie on the Score and he didn't sound as positive as JA did. We'll obviously need to watch this one closely.

I agree. Although, Palmer at QB makes Chad what he is. Gross/ton still needs to prove that having good WR's on this team isn't like putting earrings on a pig.

It says... Angelo also said rookie tackle Chris Williams will be "fine" after Williams left practice today with back stiffness. "Nothing to be overly alarmed about," Angelo said of of the team's first-round pick.

First, use the quote button so people know who the hell you're talking to. Dillweed. That's an order! OK, now that we've got that covered... You're making the point that he deserves at least #2 WR money. I believe if you scan up you'll see I set that as a baseline as well. We agree on the starting point. My whole disagreement with you rests on whether JA can make an agent (and his client) see that the upside to #1 WR money must be proven. And even if agents don't like incentive deals (which I'm not conceding) you and Hester have to realize that he hasn't got a leg to stand on. If the Bears decide to force him to play under his current agreement, he either plays or sits. And this can last for three years (or even longer if PFT is correct about his needing to report by August 5th.) So, I'd suggest he has to at least meet the Bears halfway. We agree the kid deserves a new deal but it has to reflect that pure ST players aren't rewarded in the league and his upside in pay has to be tied to his continued upside in development at WR. That may not be fair but it's a reality connected to the salary cap. This is beyond the control of the Bears. Teams can't tie up a ton of money and a roster spot on pure ST players. They can have guys who are specialists in this area but they don't usuallly get paid very well. By the way, it's Hester and his agent that are making the comparison to WR money. I think it's fair for the Bears to ask him to prove he can actually play the position consistently if that's what he wants to be called and paid as.

He can't say that because he hasn't come close to proving he's a Berrian yet.

They need to get there. This is a very unusual circumstance. There aren't any "comps" out there for Hester.

Yeah, to read some of the stuff here it sure is. Of course, that's a good sign. I'm not sure if you're someone who came over from our other site or not but 2005 and 2006 were some of the worst "OMGZZZZZZZ we're going to be horrible" years ever. And about 5 or 6 wins into the season everyone shut up... Until Rex pulled his Jeckell and Hyde act. We'll see. I hope they've got another one in them. This D is getting a little older and I'm not sold on either coordinator, O or D. Hopefully last season was a fluke.

I've made the statement here that we could win or lose 10 games this season and it wouldn't surprise me. So I'm probably being a bit of a negative "chicken little" myself. But really, with QB play that sucked donkey balls last year, we had a season in which... We swept the Packers, a playoff team and almost a Superbowl team. We played the Superbowl winner to a 5 point loss in December. We lost twice to the Vikings by an average of 5 points. We finished the season with 2 wins in our last two games. We also managed to lose to the damn Lions twice which we know isn't likely to happen again any time soon. Since then, we've improved the offensive line and cut Cedric Benson while bringing in two guys who look like they can play RB. Sure, we've got the same QB's and we lost our #1 WR but let's be honest, we're no worse off there than we were in 2005 and 2006. And maybe we'll get lucky and one of the other WR's on the team will step up. I guess what I'm saying is, we don't know. This team could surprise to the upside. I'm not going to bang on them just for the sake of kicking someone while they're down. Let's see what they've got and hope for the best.

I agree. I think the solution is an incentive laden contract. If he does what he says he can and he accomplishes what we all hope he accomplishes, we're happy and he's rich. If he's just a great ST player, so be it. He'll be the best at that and earn #2 WR money. It shouldn't be difficult to reach agreement on this with JA and Hester's agent. If they push it harder I think the Bears will likely tell them to pound sand. PS. I personally don't see Hester ever getting there at WR but I hope like hell I'm wrong.

Apparently JA is going to address this after the practice ends. Should be interesting.

a Coin Toss. Ah well, at least internet whiner fans can't claim it wasn't an open competition this season. Let the fun begin!

This probably won't be a popular opinion here but... I'd let him stew. I'd tell him he has two years left on his contract and we won't negotiate if he isn't in camp. Get his butt back in camp and his agent will be welcome at Halas Hall. Until then, piss off. Sure, he needs to be paid. No question. And he's one of those special players you're willing to do 2 years in advance. But with that said, the organization has to have some backbone here and demand he be actively participating in camp. Also, his talents are natural god given speed and instinct. It isn't like his missing training camp for a few weeks is going to matter. Unless you really believe he's going to be one of our starting WR's, which I don't. I don't think the man has the brainpower (or height) to play the position. At least not at the level starter WR money would be justified. No, sorry Devin, I love you man, but you're not breaking the bank... We've got your butt for two seasons and then we can franchise you for yet another year. Average of the top three ST's players can't be a very big number, can it be? His leverage is minimal.