Per Adam Schefter, the Ravens have agreed to a one-year deal with former Chicago Bears return man Devin Hester. RSR staff react to the news here:
Brian Bower
While Hester may be on the back end of his career, his signing speaks volumes about the shape of the Ravens return game. Chris Moore took reps at both positions but isn’t worth the risk of injury. Oz must have liked what he saw after two workouts and a physical. Low-risk, high-reward signing.
Adam Bonaccorsi
Smart move. Camp only proved that he’s consistently inconsistent (or injured) and while many keep touting Chris Moore as the answer, he’s far too raw and inexperienced to trust for return duties.
And yes, Hester is 33 and coming off a turf toe injury, but it’s not like there’s a plethora of options out there. He’s a proven vet with a recently clean bill of health. Take it and run!
Also, please direct all ‘Adam was right’ messages to the comments section.
Mike Fast
Good move (I hope). The Ravens obviously think he’s better than anyone on their roster. That said, he’s obviously not the player he was when he was in Chicago. So fans ought to temper their expectations.
Overall, this move should, at the very least, stabilize a position that remained quite uncertain.
Kyle Casey
A low-risk move that says more about how bad the Ravens returners were in the preseason than how good Hester is at this point in his career.
If he can make smart return decisions and not fumble the ball, the addition will be a good enough move by the Ravens.
Ryan Jones
It’s clearly a necessary move considering the way things played out with Keenan Reynolds and Michael Campanaro. The name may bring high expectations but fans should be realistic of what the results could be.
We’ve all seen first hand what happens when a returner loses just a step or two. Jacoby Jones quickly went from one of the most dangerous return men to a liability. Maybe signing Hester pays dividends, but there’s just as good a chance it’s a short-lived experiment. Only time will tell.
Derek Arnold
I’m much more disappointed that none of the guys the Ravens already had could lock down the job than I am excited to bring in a guy who was a beast a decade ago. His last kick return TD was in 2011, though he had a punt return TD in both 2013 and 2014. But hey, he’s still just 33 and we call the same town home (Riviera Beach, though in two different states).
Joe Polek
If the Ravens felt that he was better than anything they had then it must be the right move. I just wonder how much Hester actually has left. If they are considering him as the 6th wide receiver, there obviously isn’t much to him on offense. But if he can help them on special teams then it’s a positive for the team.
Ken McKusick
Hester has a chance to be a positive addition, but a number of the Ravens moves over the last 24 hours have made the team older. This needs to change.
