Saints running back Reggie Bush has accepted the fact that whether he stays in New Orleans or plays elsewhere in 2011, there’s no way he’s making the $11.8 million that his current contract calls for him to make.
As he continues to walk back from his previous comments about being finished in New Orleans, Bush said he hopes to have the opportunity to work out a new deal with the Saints when the lockout ends.
“This is something that me, my agent and the Saints have to collectively come together to talk about and just come to a meeting point -- a happy medium -- because obviously there’s going to have to be some type of pay cut,” Bush said. “There’s going to have to be some type of renegotiation.”
Bush is right: It’s obvious that no one is paying him anything close to $11.8 million this season. There’s a lot we don’t know about how player compensation will work in 2011, but we do know for sure that no team is going to give an eight-figure salary to a running back who has never rushed for even 600 yards in a season, and whose total yards from scrimmage have declined every single season he’s been in the league.
But Bush is still optimistic that something can be worked out for him to stay in New Orleans.
“Hopefully I’ll be able to play for the Saints for six, seven, eight, 10 more years,” Bush said.
Considering that Bush will be 36 years old in 10 years, I’m going to go out on a limb and say he won’t play for the Saints for 10 more years. But despite what he tweeted on draft day, Bush may be in New Orleans for at least one more year.