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Controversy figured to be a no-show at the Bears' training camp after star LB Brian Urlacher and the team's first-round draft pick, OT Chris Williams, agreed to new contracts within 24 hours of one another not long before the team's first practice in Bourbonnais, Ill., Wednesday afternoon.
But that all changed in a hurry when return specialist extraordinaire and emerging wideout Devin Hester was officially deemed a holdout after failing to show up for the opening practice. With two years remaining on the four-year, $2.86 million deal he signed as a second-round pick in 2006, Hester is apparently thinking a holdout will improve his chances for a new deal more worthy of his considerable double-threat contributions to the team. Hester could be fined about $15,000 for every day of camp he misses.
The PFW spin
While Hester has made it known that he was unhappy with his current deal, his decision to initially steer clear of camp clearly took the Bears by surprise and probably creates a bigger distraction than a holdout by either Urlacher or Williams would have created because of the major role Hester is expected to play in the team's revamped offense. By all accounts, he was considered on a fast track toward becoming the team's No. 1 receiver, and his absence from camp for however long figures to significantly alter the offense's development moving forward.
It's certainly conceivable that the tack he and his agent, Eugene Parker, have decided to take could force the Bears to up their ante in the hopes of a quick resoulution to a problem nobody really wants to deal with. But the continuing dilemma of figuring out the parameters of a deal for a player who is unanimously considered the league's top kick returner but is also a relatively unproven commodity as a wide receiver could be a very tough nut to crack. In the meantime, a Bears offense that entered training camp with major questions at every position except center and tight end has been forced to take a very untimely step backward at a most inopportune time
The more practice time Hester misses in a receiver role that is still relatively new to him — although he did show tremendous potential as a receiver on occasion last season — the less likely he is to be a fantasy selection worth considering.
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