Thread: Bears GM: Devin Hester to 'compete' for returner job

Good. I'm glad he's got a chance for another year, and it's not looking like WR is in the books. Either way, if he doesn't start returning kicks, he's out in 2 years.

Too bad Emery hasn't got the balls to cut this lazy and stupid sob.

If he can now concentrate on doing the ONE job that he was the best at I believe he can return to form and once again be "Ridiculous".

The thing I just don't understand with Hester is that he was so upset about the firing of Lovie, but it was Lovies staff that used Devin the the way that made him lose interest over the last couple of years. The only thing I can think of is that it wasn't the staff that made him lose interest, but the lost adulation when his production started to drop. Devin seems like the type of guy that has to have the glory from the fans to really excel and when the cheers died down and even occasionally turned to boos, then he didn't like it. That's total speculation on my part, but I can understand that. No one likes to hear their own fans boo them, but we are told all the time that these guys are professionals. Well Devin, time to be a professional.

Maybe what I have suspected all along is more accurate. Maybe these guys are professionals in name only (because they get paid) and the reality is that they really do need the emotion from the fans and the coaches to motivate them and keep them going, but that would be a pretty "meatball fan" thing for me to say.

Well hoo-f'ing-ray. Emery finally called him out.

"He'll compete to be our returner," general manager Phil Emery said Thursday from the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine, via the Chicago Sun-Times. "What he does beyond that depends on how he performs in that first role as a returner."Now Devin has a choice to make. Come to camp ready to set some all time return records and if you can do that we'll see what else we can find for you.

His big boss just gave him his job description and if he doesn't want that job and we can get value for him that give him his wish and trade him. The sooner he realizes that he won't do any better elsewhere the better off we are.

Good grief, im glad Emery is in charge of this team instead of any of you guys, cutting him now is about the DUMBEST move we could make regarding this situation.

He is entering the last year of his contract, next offseason he will be a FA, and he's only making something like 1.8M in base salary i think, which isnt unreasonable. Devin's future is up to Devin, he can either decide to quit and retire, or decide he wants to play, even if that means returning to a K/PR role only, because he is no longer going to be a WR pet project of Lovie's, Trestman will not use him in a WR in a major way. So...if Devin decides he still wants to play, then he will put all his effort into playing because either 1)he will want a new contract in 2014, whether thats here or elsewhere, and players typically perform best in the last year of their contract for this reason, or 2)he will retire in 2014, and will still put in effort this year so he can go out on top, so to speak. Im pretty sure he wants to break Deion's return record at least.

But cutting him? That gives us nothing. Its not like we cant make up for his absence, its just a dumb move to make considering that there is more to gain by keeping him this year. And regardless of what you think of his attitude or intelligence, he is still one of the best returners in the game, and even if he isnt returning kicks for TDs like he used to, he is still a threat, and teams have to adjust their gameplan for him, much like Peppers. Pepp might not always get the sacks, but just having him there forces the other team to gameplan for him, and you cant underestimate the value of players such as that.