Bourbonnais Kryptonite?

The clock struck 3 and Superman was nowhere to be found. At a time the Bears need Hester being faster than a locomotive and leaping diving defenders in a single bound more than ever it appears his contract situation has poisoned Bourbonnais with kryptonite. Now at this point Jerry Angelo has to find a way to get Hester to camp for fear of being painted as Lex Luther.

In reality this is a pretty complicated situation. While no one would argue that Devin Hester is an elite NFL talent and grossly underpaid at $445,000 for the ‘08-’09 season, there is also no contract or player in the NFL to compare him to. The Bears and many fans are optimistic that Hester can develop into a #1 WR, but so far he has just 300 career receiving yards and rumors abound that he’s had trouble picking up the offense. So while the Bears would happily project him as the cornerstone of their offense for the foreseeable future, they also need to protect themselves against the chance that Hester’s pro career mirrors his college career and he never finds a true position. So do you pay him as the best special teams player in the NFL, and therefore about $2.5mil/yr? Or do you pay him as a #1 WR, about $7mil/yr? Where can the two sides land in between? Hester and his agent obviously understand how important he is to a Bears team that is currently lacking and sort of established threat, but there’s a decent chance if the Bears and Angelo cave too much it could really come back to bite them.

Just as we were settling in for the Rex/Orton derby and prepping for our first looks at rookies Chris Williams and Matt Forte the landscape has completely changed. Now the only question that will matter early in camp is, when will Superman return?

Where's Superman?