Ummm... No, it wouldn't. Neither of them command the attention from defenses that Reggie commands because neither of them possess the play-making ability that Reggie possesses. Sure they probably run as fast, but they don't have the same agility and athletic ability. Not even close. Eric Metcalf is probably a good comparison to what Reggie Bush should be if Payton stopped trying to make him a runningback, only with twice the playmaking ability. That was done to lower his salary cap hit. After this season, they'll probably do the same thing and reduce that $11 million over a longer period of time. He'll never get any of that $20 million because it's performance-based options of which he will never reach in Sean Payton's offense as long as Drew Brees keeps spreading the ball around consistently to 5 receiving targets.
are you serious? play action passes work all the time in the NFL. they work just as well if you fake it to a fullback, or you fake it to a WR on a reverse. do you honestly think that Reggie is the only guy a safety has ever bit on? so, they're paying 50 mil and wasted the #2 in the draft for Eric Metcalf? did you read the article? his cap hit goes UP every year they REMOVED the performance-based from the contract. as in that part no longer exists. it is now part of his SALARY. as in he's getting that money if he's on the roster regardless of performance.
Wait a minute. You can't have it both ways. If we're supposed to be quiet and let the coach make decisions then you shouldn't say that Bush isn't used correctly by the coach. That's a double standard. That sounds like something for the liberals in FSA. :hihi: (Where's red?)
Perhaps, except that the coaches are beginning to use Reggie more in that fashion. This season we're finally seeing Reggie run routes downfield and being used as a receiver more than a runningback, Mike Bell and Pierre Thomas will be getting the bulk of the carries if the first two games are any indication.
New guy here. The wife and I are die hard Saints fans and have this discussion at least weekly. Here's my take. I think that reasonable Saints fans (I know that's an oxymoron :wink agree that Reggie Bush hasn't lived up to our initial expectations as fans, justified how high his draft position was, or lived up to the hype of how good we imagined he'd be considering the contract he got. This is based purely on our expectations considering how great a player he was in college (playing the Wac 10 notwithstanding) and the money he is being paid. I doubt that anyone including the most ardent Reggie Bush hater has any illusion that he isn't trying his best and working very hard every day to improve the deficiencies in his game. Nobody has ever accused him of being lazy, a bad teammate, or unwilling to do anything he's asked to help the team win. Has anybody ever seen him shy away from trying his best to run hard between he tackles? No. Does he refuse to try his best to pass block? No. Does he take plays off, cause chemistry issues in the locker room, or pout when he doesn't get the bulk of the carries? No. Balk at being asked to play special teams? No. Any prima donna behavior since he's been a Saint? Not that I'm aware of. The issue isn't that he's a bad player because he's not if you are objective. He has holes in his game. Some big ones. Ball security. Inability to hit the hole with authority. Happy feet and too much lateral running. Is he great? No way, not yet at least. But he's still a positive asset to the team. What would you think about Reggie if he were utilized more in a way that made best use of his skills? If he were an undrafted free agent making $750K a year? He'd be as beloved as Michael Lewis was. That guy couldn't catch a pass in the open field to save his mother's life; in the passing he game he had 5 toes on each hand. Fastest guy on the team yet couldn't get open. Why was he beloved? Because we didn't have such high expectations of him. My point here is that much of the blame goes to the coaching staff and front office for our perception of Reggie's failure. It's the OC's fault for giving him carries between the tackles when we have Bell, Thomas, and Hamilton for that. The guy has great speed, pass catching hands, and moves in space. Why doesn't he line up deep then get sent out to the slot to create matchup issues for an OLB or SS in the flat or across the middle? That's how he could be a great weapon. The front office were the ones who drafted him so high when other players with a different skill set were still available. He got paid the money he was slotted to make at his draft position, I don't hate on him for cashing the checks. What Reggie needs to do is shake of the haters and stop trying so hard. He does need to work on ball security - his performance in that area is 100% unacceptable and it's all on him and nobody else. He runs laterally and has happy feet too much in both the rushing and return games, but that's who he is and we all saw it when he was at USC so nobody should be surprised. He's not 30% faster than every other player on the field anymore now that's he's playing on Sundays. He seems pretty good at accepting that his role is not to be a Ladanian Tomlinson in this league, it's us Saint fans who have a problem with expecting him to be and it's all based on how well we think he should play based on the money he's getting. There are other guys wearing black an gold who are doing far less than he is earning bigger paychecks. If he ends up with 150 carries for 700 yards, 70 receptions for about 600 yards, averages about 10 yards per punt return and stops turning the ball over I will be ecstatic. What we expected (and I think he did too) was a guy who would contend for rushing titles but he ain't that guy. Does anyone have any illusion that a team is going to give the Saints any value whatsoever for a player with his production capability and tendency to be injured given his contract? Keep dreaming. He may not be completely untradeable, but he's pretty close. Put #25 in the best position to help his team and keep chanting "Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!" every time he goes back to field a punt.
Welcome to TF, 70, and excellent first post. A wise person once said, the worst thing one person can do to another is fail to live up to their expectations. Actually, it was Guinan on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but she was written to be a very wise character.:lol:
low production, injury prone, overpaid seriously, if this guy was doing this for the Cowboys, you wouldn't be nearly as much in his corner. even people on USC boards are labeling him a bust now.
You must have skimmed instead of read. Injury prone was covered, hence his low trade value. Overpaid is a moot point since his draft position dictated his contract. Subsequent contract restructuring has been at the initiation of the Saints to assist the team in salary cap manipulation, not Bush. Low production is relative. Low compared to what you expected from him based on college performance. 1100+ all purpose yards and 9 TD in '08 is not an insignificant production in the eyes of any NFL GM. Nor mine. You only see it as low because you expected more particularly for the money he's being paid. If he was a Cowboy I'd hate him as I hate all Cowboys. But the fact is that he's a Saint and I am a die hard Saints fan and love any player that helps my team win games. I don't need him to be a superstar to do that. I'm a Saints fan, not a Reggie Bush fan. As far as I've seen, he's helped the team more than he's hurt it. Are you one of those fans who talked trash about Deuce and said he wasn't worth keeping because he was injured a lot? It's true. But IMO he was the best RB the franchise has ever had. Perfect, no. But he helped the team win a lot of games they wouldn't have won without him, that's indisputable. That's what I'm about - the team winning not Reggie Bush putting up stats. If he becomes a bigger liability than asset, I'll be all for making a change if it's possible. I'm interested in knowing what trade do you realistically expect that the team can get for him considering his production and his salary? Name something that gives the team as much value as he brings and that another GM wouldn't hang up the phone on? If his production to this point is what you call a a "bust", how many previous Saints first round picks weren't a bust?
Throwing his career numbers in a spreadsheet, he averages a shade over 100 total rushing/receiving yards and a touchdown per every game he's started. Those numbers are almost the mirror image of Brian Westbrook's production his first four years and Westbrook started more games. Westbrook also had only two less fumbles. I will be very happy if Reggie turns into another Westbrook. Bust is not really an accurate adjective. There's no excuse for the fumbles, though. I don't think that Reggie ever put it on the ground in college. After the Lions game it was said that Reggie spent time by himself after practice catching punts on the Juggs machine.
