Tommie Harris, Lance Briggs, Robbie Gould, Rex Grossman, Kyle Orton, Rashied Davis, Alex Brown, Desmond Clark, and Brian Urlacher.
What do they all have in common?
They are the members of the Bears that have recently received new contracts.
Devin Hester has yet to see his new contract, and now he's a training camp holdout.
"You should pay me like I’m one-of-a-kind," Hester told the Chicago Tribune. "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."
Hester is without doubt the most electrifying player on the Bears roster. Now the Bears have a chance to expand his role past return specialist to a starting wide receiver and give him more of a chance to shine. Too bad Jerry Angelo does not want to pay him for what he brings to the Bears.
Should we count the number of times Hester has bailed the Bears out of a loss?
I'll just leave it at the game against the Arizona Cardinals in 2006 when Hester returned a punt to help lead the Bears over the Cards.
Hester is now another statistic in the Jerry Angelo Era that has been nothing short of cheap and stingy when resigning players.
Briggs was a near hold out last season, Urlacher this season, and now Hester has followed through.
Even if the Bears lock up Hester soon, which they should, it's time for the Jerry Angelo Era to end in Chicago.
"We thought Devin was going to be here," Angelo said after Wednesday's practice. "We've been negotiating with Devin for a while and we are continually negotiating with him as well. So I really don’t know why he isn’t here today."
It's not that hard to figure out why Hester is not in camp.
He's an impact player even though he has not shown his full potential at receiver. He has shown enough and done enough for the team to insure himself a lengthy contract.
He has only two years left on his original four-year $2.61 million deal.
That's not the Angelo way though.
He would rather keep a player as cheap as possible, no matter how unhappy they are, and no matter how much they threaten to not play.
Sadly enough, Angelo even admitted after practice to not taking Hester's holdout threats seriously.
"He floated it out there, but I didn’t really take it serious because as I said we are still talking, we’re still in the process, there’s no closure," Angelo said. "Usually when you say, ‘Hey, it’s over, take it or leave it, we’re out of money,’ you might get a reaction like that. But as you’re continuing on in negotiations as we have been, it is surprising."
Angelo's reign in Chicago has produced nothing thus far. No Super Bowl rings, one Super Bowl disappointment, and a boatload of unhappy players.
Too often Angelo has let the good players get away. Marty Booker in his prime was a Bear, but Angelo didn't retain him. Same with Bobby Engram, and same with Thomas Jones who also wanted a new contract before Angelo traded him.
If the Bears want to find the Super Bowl again, they need to cut the dead weight at general manager. If they hang onto Angelo, he will cost them big one of these days.
comments (21) write a comment »
write a new comment
4 months ago
i believe you have to look above the gm and look at the owner for the reasons behind all of these financial moves. the owner, mccaskey, has done a terrible job of gathering revenue, taking money out of the gm's hands. the owner has intentionally turned down marketing deals, and tried to cut profits enough so they dont have to contribute to revenue sharing, leaving the bears in the middle of the pack in revenue.
from 4 months ago
The problem is Hester isn't going to ask for mega deal money. The Bears are still staring at around $12-13 million under the salary cap and Hester will not be asking near that much money. The money to re-up Hester is there but Angelo won't pull the trigger. He did the same with Briggs.
4 months ago
Thomas Jones wanted to be the #1 back and i have to agree with Brian because the owner has done a bad forever and the Bears should just give Hester his money
from 4 months ago
The McCaskeys have been cheap but the money has always been there to resign players without the constant bickering and hold out threats. They have just never had a GM who had the cohanes to pull the trigger and make the deal. If you look at most successful franchises they have the brash GM, i.e. the Red Sox, Yankees, and now the Cubs. It's the GM's job is to make the deal happen, and make the team better.
You are right, the Bears should give Hester his money.
4 months ago
the reason each of those gms have been brash is because the owners decided to put alot more money into the team. sox, yankees, and cubs have three of the biggest payrolls, and that is why they are succeeding. the reason they were able to sign briggs is because he took below market value to stay with the team.
from 4 months ago
One thing to remember with Briggs was that he never wanted money. During all of the hold out threats, he was always about a long term deal. Numerous times he even admitted to not wanting money, because if he wanted money, he would have went elsewhere without considering Chicago.
In the case of many of the successful teams, the owners did fork over the money, but it wasn't until they had a change in GM did they become successful. The Red Sox went to Theo Epstein and the Yankees went with Brian Cashman and both teams have won multiple World Series since. Despite facing $13 billion in debt the Tribune Co. continues to spend money on the Cubs because Jim Hendry is tired of taking the bad rap for the Cubs constant failures because of bad trades, bad signings, and not being aggressive.
Again, the money for the Bears to make the move is there, if anything, they need someone more brash at GM to convince the McCaskeys to spend the money to win.
4 months ago
How do you know what Hester is going to be asking for? Angelo is in the middle of setting a market for a player. There's never been a player like Hester and no one is sure how to pay him. How much does the field position mean? Can he be a #1 WR? Or will he float around without a position like in college?
Hester is basically holding the team hostage because this is his point of maximum leverage. I doubt there is much Angelo could've done to avoid this situation because I am sure Hester's agent feels he can demand somewhere close to #1 WR money at the moment (before he's proved or disproved anything at the position).
You are talking about a GM who has managed to sign a couple of pro-bowl CBs in Vasher and Tillman to incredibly reasonable deals at a time when CBs are WILDLY overpaid. He also managed to lock-up Briggs, Harris, Urlacher, Brown. He hasn't been as successful on offense but he did manage to put enough together to get the team to the Super Bowl two years ago. Calling for Angelo's head over this is seriously over-reacting.
from 4 months ago
Anybody who knows anything about sports would know to sign Briggs, Harris, Urlacher, and Brown.
Thomas Jones was signed through 2007 and him and Benson made a nice duo in 2006. Jones wanted an extension but Angelo wanted to see Benson play, despite the fact that Jones' numbers made him the best back for the Bears since Walter Payton. The money was there for both but Angelo had an ego trip and wanted to see his $16 million man play. It was Angelo who ruined the Bears' running game.
Then there's the bad trades, free agents, and draft picks. I'll start with signing Adam Archuletta and then trading Chris Harris shortly after. How nice would Harris have looked in blue and orange? He had a good 2006 season and was a solid tackler and pass defender. The Bears lacked there at safety.
Then there's letting Bernard Berrian go to Minnesota and replacing him with...Marty Booker? Brandon Lloyd? Marcus Robinson? Hell, Robinson retired this season.
Let's not forget the bad QBs brought in. Henry Burris, Chad Hutchinson, Moses Moreno, Jonathan Quinn, Craig Krenzel, Kyle Orton, Rex Grossman to name what I can.
Then there's the bad draft picks: David Terrel, Anthony Thomas, Marc Columbo, Roosevelt Williams (?), Michael Haynes, Bobby Wade, Tank Johnson, and Justin Gage, many of which were first or second round picks. Compare that to the picks who have worked out: Alex Brown, Tillman, Briggs, Harris, Berrian. And for now, Olsen and McBride.
The 2006 Super Bowl team came together nicely, and now Angelo has demolished it like the Bears are the Florida Marlins. Angelo is not football savvy. If he was, Jones would still be a Bear and the Bears would be a perennial contender in the NFC. Now, they are basically in a complete offensive overhaul and rebuild and their secondary, minus Tillman and Vasher, is really up in the air, again.
And I don't know what Hester will be asking for, but even he knows he can't get $12 million out of any reasonable team. But he surely deserves an extension and a raise from the $455,000 he's making this year. He deserves more than that.
4 months ago
Do you remember what it was like at Soldier Field before the Angelo era? Do the names Alonzo Spellman, Jeremy Lincoln, Barry Minter mean anything to you? Love him or not Jerry Angelo has returned the Bears to legitimacy. With draft picks like Urlacher, Tommie Harris, Lance Briggs, Mike Brown, Nathan Vasher, Charles Tilman, Alex Brown, and DEVIN HESTER, Angelo has built what was the laughing stock franchise of the 90s into a playoff caliber team. He hired Lovie Smith who put the team in the playoffs in back to back seasons for the first time since Da Coach stalked the sidelines. Angelo drafted Devin Hester, so at least give him credit for that. I for one think that Devin Hester is the most exciting player in sports, period. But I also loved his humility and the fact that he didn't mouth off like the TOs, ocho sincos, etc. For all his ability he is still a third year player who instead of asking for more money should be in camp busting his butt to be the best player he can be.
from 4 months ago
Urlacher and Mike Brown were drafted in 2000, the year before Angelo became GM.
And yes, it wasn't pretty before Angelo came. But only three playoff appearances in his tenure speaks nothing to him. The 2001 appearance was a pre-built team. Angelo really added only Thomas and Terrel to the team. They then went 4-12, 7-9, 5-11 and rebounded with 11-5 adn 13-3 seasons, only to disband their leading rusher for contract issues and go 7-9. Now, he is short a sure #1 back, quarter back and reciever. His safety squad could be a joke if Craig Steltz doesn't work.
The Bears are only 60-52 under Angelo and if he keeps this current trend going, they're going to regress to that laughing stock again.
I will give him credit for signing Hester though.
4 months ago
I want to see Hester back as much as anyone but I just read his quotes for the first time. Pretty tough to listen to that guy right now and think that he cares much about his team or about the fans. He's afraid of showing up because he might get hurt? C'mon Devin, you might not be paid like a number one reciever, but you sure are starting to sound like one.
from 4 months ago
Can you post the links with his quotes, I haven't had a chance to look them up yet.
4 months ago
Apologies, he' set to make $445,000, not $455,000.
4 months ago
i think the thing with briggs was that he embarrassed himself so bad, that he wanted to save face. he was still under contract, and the bears wouldnt trade him.
red sox and yanks are the exception because of their payroll, and jim hendry was allowed to spend all that money because the tribune company wanted to sell the team. they wanted to make the team more valuable to all the buyers. otherwise the cubs wouldnt have lilly, soriano, zambrano, marquis, harden...
jones and benson were feuding and one of them had to go, benson being the bigger contract and younger, they had to see what the guy had. benson became a bust. archuletta was a low risk one year deal that didnt cost them that much and now hes gone. berrian was a speed receiver with bad hands, and was over payed by the vikings with a six year 42 million dollar contract.
their offense has always sucked, and i think their secondary is actually pretty solid with tillman, vasher, manning, brown, steltz, mcgowan, mcbride, and payne
from 4 months ago
Jones and Benson are adults, they should have been able to put their differences aside for the team and looked like they did so in 2006. There was no reason at all to dump Jones prematurely like they did without at least adding a similar back to compliment Benson. Again, lack of football savvy by Angelo has not allowed him to piece together a championship team.
Good chance you're right on Briggs, we'll see when he's due again I guess. But even before the Lambo incident he was still threatening to hold out of camp because he wanted long term. Thank you Urlacher for talking him into playing.
I think the secondary is solid at the corner position, but the safety spots bother me the most. Mike Brown is walking torn (insert body part) and the others are essentially unproven in a full time role, only fill-in duty. It could, could still be a joke.
4 months ago
Marques Colston just signed a three-year extension with the Saints. Details not yet released. He was also due to make what Hester makes. This could be a basis for Angelo to go off of for Hester. Colston arguably meant as much to the Saints offense as Hester did to the Bears. Colston is a bonified #1 receiver but it could be a starting point for the feuding sides.
4 months ago
totally agree with you on jones and benson, they acted like bitches, but one of them had to go. they were getting into fights in the locker room and i could see why angelo traded jones away, who seemed to be on the backside of his career. this year forte has to produce or the bears are screwed.
i think one of these young safeties has to step up and be able to contribute either payne, steltz, or mcgowan. as long as they figure out to put alex brown back at the other d end spot, sub in anderson occasionally like the year before, and clear up the other d tackle position, i think the safeties will look alot better.
from 4 months ago
Yes, Dusty needs to stay healthy at DT.
And I never liked the Jones deal when it happened. So this isn't something I'm just jumping on because it didn't work. Jones had a decent season in New York behind a worse O-line than Chicago had. Which is pretty damn bad. We'll see what he does this year with Faneca and an improved line overall.
And I agree 100 percent man, it's all on Forte. Kevin Jones isn't anything to get too excited about, he was cheap and available and is pretty solid when he's healthy, IF he can stay healthy.
4 months ago
i just didnt like what they got for him in the trade, just moving spots in the 2nd round with the jets. i know they could have gotten more for jones than that even if running backs are a dime a dozen.
i thought they should have drafted a qb in the 2nd round instead of forte, so this guy better produce. i dont think we'll see kevin jones for the first 6 weeks, while he still recovers. if hester thinks hes getting colston money than he's nuts, he still has to prove himself at wr with his constant fumbilitis.
they say that orton is the leader for the qb position, so forte and peterson will be counted on much more this year.
from 4 months ago
Yeah same here on a QB. I was loving how Chad Henne fell so nicely into the Bears' lap but Angelo failed to land him. Brian Brohm should be nothing special though. Josh Johnson might be.
I also wasn't happy when he decided to pass on electric wide out Mario Manningham, twice!! Yeah he admitted to marijuana use and had a sketchy combine, but he's still better than what they put on the field for Day 1 of camp this year.
4 months ago
Good conversation guys! I think Hester is looking for a deal somewhat like Antwaan Randle El's, where Randle El is paid as a top returner/receiver. Hester has yet to establish himself as a legit wideout, and look for the Bears to bring that up in negotiations.
write a new comment