Blog Down, Chicago Bears

Today’s decision by NFL owners to opt out of the collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association could have titanic implications. We’re not talking about a boat that hits an iceberg, we’re talking about a kick returner that hits a hole and is gone.

Per David Haugh of ChicagoSports.com, if the 2010 season were to take place without a salary cap, the years of service required before a player could be elgible for free agency would jump from four to six. In this scenario, wide receiver/returner Devin Hester, who wants to renegotiate his current contract and is slated to become a free agent in 2009, couldn’t hit the market until 2011. That would give the Bears two additional years to work out a new long-term deal.

It’s unlikely that Hester or fans in Chicago, would stand for such a delay in restructuring his contract, seeing as he’s only set to make $975,000 over the next two seasons. That’s damn fine for a court reporter, but not for the most electrifying football player on Earth.

The best thing to do, regardless if 2010 becomes an uncapped year or not, is to extend Hester’s contract now. A disgruntled “Windy City Flyer” might leave him with a chip on his shoulder and doesn’t bode well for a team with so few proven offensive weapons as it is. Surely, even someone as sober as Bears general manager Jerry Angelo would get sh-tfaced and sick to his stomach if the Bears let Devin Hester abscond to new, better money.