"As much as you might admire Devin Hester as a player, like him as a person and respect his Stick-It-To-The-Man negotiating tactics, understand this about his decision not to report to training camp in a demand for more money: It's either a bold act of genius or an act of complete madness.

Clearly, the Bears were stunned by the escalation of tactics. And that was before Hester told the Sun-Times on Wednesday evening that he was ready to sit out the season to force a new deal.

''I talked to his agent [Eugene Parker] a few days ago,'' general manager Jerry Angelo said. ''He floated it out there, but I didn't really take it serious because we are still talking. We're still in the process. There's no closure.

''Usually when you say, 'Hey, it's over, take it or leave it, we're out of money,' you might get a reaction like that. But as you're continuing on in negotiations as we have been, it is surprising.''

Hester would gain nothing from his threat to take his holdout to the limit, even if he was sincere when he promised to stand by his decision to sit out until ''whenever in the season or the end of the season. No matter what.''

Two problems there. The first is the fact his contract would be essentially frozen if he sat out a season, and he'd have to come back under the current terms of the four-year, $2.88 million deal he signed as a second-round pick in 2006. Next comes a report from Mike Florio of profootballtalk.com that states Hester would not accrue a third NFL season in 2008 if he does not report to camp by Aug. 5. The issue is a bit cloudy because of the status of the collective-bargaining agreement, but two league sources said Florio's report made perfect sense.

Regardless, the real problem with Hester's holdout is that it denies him the opportunity to develop as a wide receiver. Offensive coordinator Ron Turner said Tuesday that Hester was slated to open camp with the starting unit. If he's not in camp, he can't get better at that position and thereby earn the kind of money he's seeking.

Why is that significant? Because Hester never is going break the bank if he's strictly a return man, even a potential Hall of Famer who is likely to shatter every league record before he retires. In fact, sources say the Bears already have offered to make him the highest-paid returner in league history, with incentives to pay him significantly more if he continues to develop as a receiver. He has played the position for only one year in the NFL after beginning his career as a cornerback and won't improve if he's not playing.

Given the Bears' concerns at quarterback and throughout their offense, you can understand if he is reluctant to agree to an incentive-based deal that could be difficult, if not impossible, to maximize.

Possible missed opportunity

As frustrated as Hester might be by seeing so many of his teammates get deals before him, sitting out now could squander his opportunity to be a go-to receiver when the season starts. The holdout will not affect his ability as a return man because teams are unlikely to kick to him even if he misses all of camp and reports only for the season opener Sept. 7 at Indianapolis.

Teams already have begun a strategy of not kicking to Hester; just ask Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan what happens when you decide to let Hester into a game. According to research from Pro Football Prospectus, 58 percent of the kickoffs against the Bears were squibbed or otherwise intentionally short. Opponents opted to kick out of bounds against the Bears 11 percent of the time, compared with 2 percent for the rest of the league. Also, 34 percent of the punts to Hester were kicked out of bounds or into the end zone to deny a return, compared with 20 percent league-wide."