Thread: HESTER Vs BENNETT

Originally Posted by XxMidwayMonstersxX

So I was listening to Mully & Hanley this morning (sports talk radio 670 the Score 10/16/12). They were talking about the value Earl Bennett bring to the Bears Vs. his contract cost. Comparisons were made between Hester and Bennett. To me the obvious answer is Bennett. My opinion is that Hester is a situational receiver at best and a gimmick at worst. Bennett is a solid receiver who is valued by our QB and comes up big on third down and in the slot, his only problem is that he is injury prone (not really his fault but if his body can't hold up you have to take that into consideration).

Basically I want your opinion on who brings more value to the team (as a wide receiver) for the money.

To help us out I'm posting the contracts of each player below (you can look them up in more detail if desired):

Hester: $15 mill guaranteed, $18.94 mill in escalators, $7,646,000 cap hit in 2012, $12,857,523 cap hit in 2013

Bennett: $9 Mill guaranteed, $9.55 Mill in escalators, $2,800,000 cap hit 2012, $3,550,000 cap hit in 2013


Essentially Hester ends up making slightly more than double what Bennett makes when you look at what they "actually" get paid. But that doesn't really matter for purposes of this discussion. We should only look at what effect their salaries have on the team (team cost) and what value they bring for that cost (team value).

Finally, be careful not to look at Hester's return value. Thats not what I'm asking about here and thats not what Hester is being paid for as most of his escalators are for WR stats. You could also say that Hester is no longer prolific as a return man. Prolific to me is when everyone knows what you are going to do and they game plan for it but they just can't stop you (Hester circa 2006). I think using that definition Hester is no longer prolific in that area (although he's still very good). So lets just compare them as receivers.

Thanks for your opinions!

GO BEARS

Bennett is far more valuable as WR than Hester is because he can keep drives alive. He's one of the best go to receivers on third down in the entire NFL. Hester simply doesn't make enough big plays at WR to offset that.

But in making this $$$ vs $$$ comparison MM we have to consider that Hester is actually getting just a little more in combined base salary and amortization of his signing bonus ($3.5mil) for 2012 and 2013 than Bennett ($3.25mil) is. The $250k difference is mostly a workout bonus Hester has. The salaries and their signing bonuses are actually very similar. One big difference is that Hester gets a $5 mil annual roster bonus and as the best KR/PR of all time I believe that's fair.

The other $5 mil tacked onto his 2013 cap will only be earned for his production as a WR and since he's not gonna earn it without being a #1 guy that will never be paid and will end up being a credit to the cap. So in reality he's really only making about $5 mil more than Bennett and that is more based on his continuing to make the final roster and that only happens as long as his return skills keep him as one of the best. He's not getting the extra $5 mil as a #3 WR.

I disagree that Hester is no longer a prolific return man. He took three to the house just last year and three the year before. You gotta stop reading what the sportswriters are saying MM and look at the reality. Long TD returns on kicks and punts area a rarity that's been made even more rare by moving the kickoffs up. Hester has returned them from 8 yards deep in the endzone for TDs despite the rule changes.

In seven seasons Hester has a total of 17 of them combined plus one missed FG return for a TD. That's 18 total during the regular season plus one in the SB. He's averaged over 2.5 of them per year and that's including a two year drought where he had none. No one else is even close to that. Sorry but the word prolific is almost an understatement when it comes to him.

Even after losing some of his best blockers year after year he bounces back once the new guys get with the flow of it and before this year is out they will and he'll have another TD return for a score. Bet you 1000 Bear Bucks he does. I can't see where he's lost any of his speed or elusiveness at all. Every year that we've used him more at WR his return game has suffered and this year is no different. He's still starting as the #2 guy at WR.

IMHO Hester is worth every penny of his salary AND that $5 mil roster bonus. What he's not worth is that extra $5 mil he'd get for being a top #1 WR and he won't get that so it's a moot point. So the only real question to me is whether or not Devin Hester is worth $5 mil per year more than Earl Bennett and I say he is.

I say that based on Hester ability to break a game open and the other guys down with a long kick or punt return for a TD. Or with a long TD pass, or with a short slant where he can leave the field of guys chasing him behind and out race them to the end zone like he did against Minny a few years back. Devin Hester can hurt you bad with just one play out of 60 whereas Earl Bennett can hurt you too but it would take 6 out of 60 to do it.

Devin Hester is another Gale Sayers but Earl Bennett is another Brian Piccolo. They're both worth having around and they each has proven it just like "Magic" and "Pic" did.
That's my opinion.