Negotiations between Saints, Bush agent to heat up

itvnetop

The season ticket sales a day after the draft say otherwise. To discount Bush's impact on the rejuvenated interest in Saints' football in NO is naive. People can hate on him as much as they want or believe he has a big ego or think he won't produce on the field. But he's already brought a whole lot to the table even before he's stepped on the field. Joe Horn isn't on the cover of this season's NCAA video game. Drew Brees isn't selling ESPN cell phones on TV. Deuce McAllister didn't get Subway to design an entire sandwich marketing campaign around him. You don't think the Saints organization benefits from this type of hype? Tell me, did the Cleveland Cavaliers benefit a few days after Lebron James was drafted?

Reggie Bush and his agent are playing hardball because they can... his marketing appeal provides contract negotiation leverage. Now that Young has signed for his amount, Bush has even more leverage to get what he wants. Yet the outrage for Bush is much higher than that towards Young- and VY was drafted third!

jdlea

Exactly! I was in the city right after the draft. That place was going nuts. There's a reason season tickets sold out after the draft and not before it. Because, let's be honest, if Mario Williams were the pick...they'd still be selling season tickets. I can guarantee you that much. A lot of you seem to think that the fans would blame Reggie Bush, I disagree. Everyone there hates Tom Benson and the organization. They'll side with Reggie, at least early.

Now, I want to know how Reggie Bush is out of line asking for "#1 pick money" when Vince Young is getting about $1 million less guaranteed than Williams and up to $4 million MORE overall. Now, how selfish is Reggie?

And from a personal standpoint, it's hard for me to hate on anyone who contributes to the Katrina relief efforts. I've been there. I've seen it. That city needs all the help they can get. And at a time when everyone has basically forgotten them, I salute him and any athlete who donates time or money to New Orleans.

But I'm sure that doesn't mean anything to most of you because the media is pushing him as the next big thing and it's turned you off to him so whatever.

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superskins

it's stupid because he is already a got millions from promotions. if he really cared about neworleans (as he says)he would sign a deal that was respectable and move on already. he only cares about himself

itvnetop

yes, because professional athletes should never try to negotiate their worth to the franchise and always short change themselves for the good of the team... /sarcasm. who the hell else should he care about if he's putting his body on the line?

Doesn't care about New Orleans huh???

steveo395

but he's not worth more than the number one pick...he was the #2 pick, so he should be paid like it

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jdlea

Vince Young was the number 3 pick and he's being paid more than the #1 pick. The difference in guaranteed money is 1 or 2 million between Williams and Young. So, it seems that Reggie will have to be paid close to that according to the way rookie contracts are negotiated.

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itvnetop

Mario Williams (first pick): 6 year/54/26.5 g
Vince Young (third pick): 6 year (option 6th)/58/25.7 g

Granted, both of these guys probably won't see these full base salaries before extensions hit (and williams gets a little more guaranteed), but the fact is VY's numbers are higher than MW's.

Justify this...

steveo395

mario williams still got more guaranteed money and the only way vince young can make more than him is if he meets certain escalators and plays out the whole deal (most likely won't happen)

reggie bush should get guaranteed money at about 26 million with the base salary somewhere around where these two players are. He shouldn't get more guaranteed money than williams, which is what he wants

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itvnetop

so if the rumour is true that bush wants a dollar more guaranteed than williams, it's a matter of principle with him. the only reason why he and his agent would want a dollar more than williams has to do with his belief that he should have been the number one pick and houston signed williams because of signability issues with RB. That may or may not be the truth, but it's what the Bush camp is basing their argument on.

if you split the guaranteed money down the middle (b/t young and williams), we're talking about a 500K difference of opinion b/t RB and the organization. Considering what Bush has already brought to the table, it's probably not worth the Saints trying to prove a point. RB isn't the typical no. 2 overall pick, despite what you want to believe.

Regardless, I do think both camps will meet down the middle and it'll probably get taken care of by Monday. I just don't understand all the hate towards the player regarding his own damn business- it's his livelihood we're talking about... we're just fans.

Daseal

Edge petitioned to wear #5 and got turned down. Before Keyshawn wasn't the league already thinking of opening up WR numbers because most teams carry a lot of WRs and numbers were a bit thin?

Yes, let's cry about Reggie Bush. Poor him. So what if he was illegally getting housing for his family and other perks against NCAA rules. You know what, if he wanted #1 pick money, he should have taken the contract Mario Williams now has. Because from everything I've heard, they tossed that deal to both, Mario accepted, Reggie declined. That said. QBs and DEs are two of the highest paid positions in football. They aren't a dime a dozen like running backs.

Good for Reggie for donating money to Katrina and the city of New Orleans to help it recover, but let's not act as if he did it totally selflessly. Remember when he was giving X amount of jersey sales to Katrina, as long as the NFL let him wear #5. That's not the least bit manipulative. An attempt to force the NFL to let him have 5 or to try to make them look bad. Luckily, he's giving that percentage anyways, but still. Lets not act like he didn't have some alternate motives.

Listening to Sirius, the beat writer for New Orleans said the McAllister was definitely the #1 and was progressing great. Looked and (somehow) felt better than he has in a long time. Let's also not forget they have Michael Bennett who isn't a bad back and is Bush-esque in his scat back, small frame type of guy.

As they say in the NFL. You play for that 2nd contract. That's where you get your money. Once you're proven you can work on getting a big deal. Until then, he's just the next Ryan Leaf in my eyes.

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dmek25

im not sure what all the fuss is? i really could give a rats ass about what # reggie bush wants to wear. as far as the money, just another greedy, pampered athlete trying to make as much money as possible so his kids kids never have to work a day in their lives. i think its great that bush donated 50,000 to new orleans but, in the big scheme of things, fifty grand to him is peanuts. probably done more for the good publicity than anything else

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TheMalcolmConnection

If he hasn't signed a contract, where did he get that $50,000?

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Regret nothing. At one time it was exactly what you wanted.

gibbsisgod

endorsements. i think he signed a deal with adidas.