FanHouse

Let's just start by answering the headline's query in a purely qualitative way -- Devin Hester is worth the heaven, moon and stars to the Chicago Bears. He has scored six of their 23 touchdowns this season and his return ability keeps Bears in games when their offense and/or defense is losing it for them. He's their MVP and is so far ahead of the second place finisher that there's no reason to count the votes.

Quantitatively it's a much harder formula. With the salary cap there is a finite amount of dollars available to the Bears as they try to keep their stars and patch their holes going forward. Hester has two years left on the deal he signed after the draft last year and will earn $975,000 over those seasons. This year he's making $360,000, which is $73,000 less than his teammate Lance Briggs makes every game.

Briggs is playing as a franchise player this season and is angling for a long-term extension, the Bears will either resign Rex Grossman or bring in another quarterback and will need to sort out contract situations with Bernard Berrian. That won't leave a ton of space to take care of Hester straightaway and could also create a situation where Hester feels he's underpaid in relation to teammates who provide less of the team's spark.

David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune feels that the Bears have to take care of Hester before his third season and it's hard to argue with taking care of the team's most dangerous weapon. How do you valuate him, though? He was drafted as a cornerback but has about as much chance of playing there as Olin Kreutz. He's done some nice work as a wide receiver but isn't going to be out there every down because that's going to limit him as a returner.

In other words, the team needs to figure out how much the best kick returner in the league right now, maybe ever, is worth. There's not much in the way of salary comps for Hester because he's a unique player who is vital to his team's success despite playing a handful of snaps every week. You can't expect him to make as much as Briggs or Kreutz but he's going to want to be paid like the force that he is at some point soon. It's going to be extremely difficult and absolutely imperative for the Bears to figure out what Hester is worth to them in the near future.