Category: Fantasy Football (Page 242 of 324)

Chicago Bears GM Jerry Angelo said he would take care of receiver/ kick returner extraordinaire Devin Hester if he came to camp. And he kept his word.

The deal that Devin Hester showed up Friday to work out was finally hammered out Sunday, with the Bears agreeing to a four-year contract extension with the wide receiver/return man that could be worth as much as $40 million.

The contract, which locks up Hester with the Bears through 2013, includes $15 million in guarantees—the type of reward he was looking for after holding for two days in protest of a scheduled $445,000 salary. If Hester develops into the No. 1 receiver he believes he can be, then he will be able to trigger up to $10 million in escalators in the final year of the deal, according to a league source.

Hester becomes the 10th Bears starter and fifth Pro Bowl player the Bears have signed to a contract extension this off-season. It is believed this new contract will make Hester the highest-paid return man in NFL history.

For a franchise that has been criticized in the recent past for not taking care of their players, the Bears have done a nice job locking up their key players over the last two years. Some may think $15 million in guarantees is a little steep for a returner, but then those people clearly haven’t watch Bears games the past two years. Hester is worth every penny.

Like Laurence Maroney needed any additional competition…

The New England Patriots signed LaMont Jordan to a one-year contract one day after he was released by the Raiders.

Jordan had a terrific season in 2005, gaining 1588 yards from scrimmage and scoring 11 touchdowns. It looked like the Raiders had found their running back. But the injury bug bit, limiting Jordan to just 1304 total yards over the next two seasons.

I’m not sure what this means for Maroney (or Sammy Morris, for that matter). Just when it looked like Maroney was growing into the feature back role, the Pats sign another vet who has shown flashes of talent in the past. Fantasy owners should probably knock Maroney down a few spots on their draft lists.

After holding strong for two days, the Chicago Bears’ offense caved and reported to camp.

The wide receiver arrived at training camp happy teammates reported at breakfast this morning, in time for a morning weightlifting session and today’s 3 p.m. practice.

Hester shows up after accruing roughly $30,000 in fines for missing two days of practice.

“It’s time for me to take a stand,” he told the Sun-Times Tuesday in explaining his absence. “We’re going to stand by our decision to do this and we feel like this can go down to whenever in the season or the end of the season. No matter what.”

There was a change of heart between then and now, and this puts Hester in position to compete for a starting job as a receiver. He was slated to work with the first team on Wednesday and will not be far behind now. Teammates and coaches were understanding of his position as he’s scheduled to earn $445,000 this season. General manager Jerry Angelo spoke with Hester’s agent Eugene Parker on Thursday and expressed that he didn’t want Hester to feel slighted that the club got a slew of contracts done and not his, that it remained a top priority for the club.

Hold out two days and lose $30,000. I’m no math major but that doesn’t sound like it was a wise move for Hester. But surely the team will eat that fine and get the lad a new deal.

The Chicago Bears and middle linebacker Brian Urlacher have reached an agreement on a restructured contract according to ESPN.com.

Urlacher, 30, had four years and approximately $25.5 million remaining on his contract. Under the terms of the upgraded deal, Urlacher will receive a $6 million signing bonus along with a $1 million bump in salary each of the next four years. The sides also have agreed to extend the pact into 2012, at a salary of $7.5 million. Urlacher can earn an additional $500,000 in a workout bonus in 2012.
That’s a total of roughly $43.5 million over the next five years, with $18 million in new money for the six-time Pro Bowler and four-time All Pro.

Boy, the Bears certainly go about things the hard way sometimes, but they’ve made their star players happy (of late). Lance Briggs got a new contract at the start of the 2007 season and now Urlacher is set to go until 2012.

Even though he was hampered by nagging injuries last year, there’s no denying Urlacher is still Chicago’s best option at middle linebacker in their Tampa 2 defense. With how important the position is in that type of defense, the Bears could ill afford not to pay Urlacher and have him back on the field in 2008.