Dan Pompei

One of the most intriguing questions of the NFL offseason was answered when Devin Hester signed a contract extension with the Bears.

The question: What is Hester worth?

The problem: No one can be quite sure where Hester's career will head.

Bears negotiator Cliff Stein and Hester's agent Eugene Parker answered the question by hammering out a deal that easily makes Hester the highest paid return specialist in NFL history, and also gives him the possibility of being paid like a top receiver if he performs like one.

The four year extension could be worth up to $40 million if Hester achieves wide receiver incentives worth $10 million each in the last two years of the deal. And even if he does not, he is guaranteed $15 million.

This was a wonderful compromise — a great way for Hester to achieve lifetime security and a method for the Bears to lock up their marquee player for the next six years.

As an NFL return man, Hester is unparalleled. And unparalleled in NFL history. He can single-handedly impact games as much as any player in the league.

Because he is unique in his ability, it is difficult to determine if he will follow the patterns that others who have gone before him have established. But the Bears have to be somewhat concerned about the history of return men.

Returners tend to last only slightly longer than most grocery store perishables. With the exceptions of Mel Gray and Brian Mitchell, almost every great return man in recent NFL history has been unable to sustain dominance for more than a few years.

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Part of the reason for this is opponents will take away opportunities by kicking away from special returners. That's already happening to Hester, and he will be given fewer and fewer returnable kicks over time. But there is more to it.

With multiple, high impact collisions comes less speed and quickness, and maybe even less aggressiveness. The game's violent nature tends to affect returners more than other players because they are so reliant on quickness.

Regardless of what happens to Hester as a returner, there is the issue of what kind of offensive weapon he will become. Up to this point, he has been a change of pace player on offense. Hester has the speed and elusiveness to be much more if he can master the finer points of the position.

Last season the Bears took it slowly with Hester, giving him only four pass routes to learn. This season, they are planning on him being a starting wide receiver.

History says he could struggle with the transition. The coaches at the University of Miami tried desperately to take advantage of Hester's skills at wide receiver, and they couldn't make it happen.

Other outstanding returners have tried and failed to become outstanding wide receivers. Steve Smith of the Panthers did it, but he was a two-time all conference wide receiver in college at Utah. He never was considered a return specialist only.

Dante Hall was the NFL's dominant returner before Hester, which prompted the Chiefs to try to make him a dominant wide receiver. He never had more than 40 catches in a season.

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Three of the five teams Desmond Howard played on thought they could get more out of the return specialist on offense. Howard was a Super Bowl MVP and a Pro Bowler as a return man, but he never could beat the jam as a wide receiver.

The point is, the ability to return kicks and punts does not necessarily translate to the ability to play wide receiver.

When returners take on greater loads on offense, their returns almost always suffer. I once had a discussion about this with Dick Vermeil, who started out as a special teams coach before becoming head coach of the Eagles, Rams and Chiefs. "I've studied this history better than most people have" Vermeil told me. "When they start going backward on the returns, it's normally because they are playing full time either as a running back, defensive back or wide receiver. The mental preparation is different. The competitiveness at that position isn't as intense as it was when he was just a returner."

The possibility exists that Hester will become as radiant a star on offense as he is on special teams. But the Bears were smart to hedge their bet in case this does not happen.

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