Bush agrees to six-year deal with Saints The New Orleans Saints and first-round draft choice Reggie Bush agreed to terms late Saturday night on a six-year contract, ESPN.com has learned. Financial terms of the contract, which will be signed on Sunday, were not yet available. But based on discussions with NFL sources throughout Saturday, as the two sides moved closer to the accord, it appears that Bush's contract will easily exceed the one signed earlier this week by Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young, and will come very close to the deal for top overall pick Mario Williams. Agent Joel Segal, who hammered out the accord over the last few days, would only confirm late Saturday that he will travel to Jackson, Miss., site of the Saints' training camp at Millsaps College, to meet with New Orleans officials there. He will be joined by Bush, who is flying in from Los Angeles. It is doubtful that, given the travel involved and the time that it will take for all the parties to review what is expected to be a very lengthy contract document, Bush will practice on Sunday. For a while on Saturday night, it appeared that an agreement would not come until Sunday, as the two sides approached a deal, but still had to pore over a substantial amount of complicated data. But Segal and Saints negotiator Russ Ball forged ahead and came to an agreement at about 10:30 p.m. ET. It is not known how much impetus was provided by the contract to which Young, the third overall selection in the draft, agreed this week. Young received $25.74 million in guarantees from the Titans, slightly less than the $26.5 million in bonuses that the Houston Texans awarded Williams. Bush was the second player chosen and had missed the first two days of training camp practices. Before the discussions heated up on Thursday, the two sides had discussed framework and concepts, and perhaps even floated some dollar figures. Compounding the negotiations for the Saints was the fact that Bush, who has embraced the hurricane-ravaged city of New Orleans and already made several sizeable donations to charities there, has banked $5 million-$7 million in various endorsement contracts negotiated by Mike Ornstein, his marketing agent. That certainly alleviated the urgency for Bush to sign a contract quickly, since he already has considerable cash flow. Bush said during the team's rookie minicamp in May that he wanted to be in camp on time and that he had instructed Segal to attempt to accomplish that goal. But only a few days later, Bush clarified his remarks, telling ESPN.com that any contract had to be a sound business decision. link
Now it's all about what he does on the field, which is good. Either he performs up to the hype of being "the best prospect in 15+ years" or he "isn't even a full time running back." More likely it's in between. Mario Williams vs. Reggie Bush vs. Vince Young. Texans fans will be focusing on the comparison for the next 10 years. For me, its go Mario! Go Vince! I couldn't care less about Reggie Bush or the Saints.
-But- Reggie is good for the NFL and is huge for the struggling Saints -- he will be a blast to watch next year. Reggie may actually save the Saints in New Orleans [ticket sales] so this signing is just great after devastation of Katrina. And all that talk of a year long hold out was utter crap.
Of course he wasn't going to hold out for the year. He may have an ego but he's not stupid. But this whole holdout thing had him at the top of Sportscenter every day. Now it's time for him to step on the field and make news with his performance whether it be good or bad.
Young received $25.74 million in guarantees from the Titans, slightly less than the $26.5 million in bonuses that the Houston Texans awarded Williams. I think Bush will receive around 26.1-26.4 M in gaurauntee. I dont think its more than Mario Willams
the original stated he would EASILY make more than vince I was like man . . he gonna hit 30 Mill or something then they come with this .. . I was a little surprised Rocket River
how is it going to easily exceed vince's but only be very close to mario's when the guaranteed money was almost equal and vince's total exceeded mario's? or is $700,000 easily exceeding?
Yeah, I think he gonna. WHOA WHOA WHOA... are you saying the entire pick revolves around McNair? You think others didn't have anything to do with whom we picked first? I don't understand you. Certainly anyone who is money hungry is a prick. Bush's demeanor has lost him MANY fans from outside of New Orleans already. Nonetheless, those stadiums on the road Saints games are going to be packed.
I wonder if this means that Michael Bennett is available now and if the Texans will return to their pursuit of him.
It's early and I am half asleep but..... For a second I thought I was in D&D and when I read the thread title I was spewing all sorts of profanities..... Bush is now extending his term to 6 years and is signing his own presidential contract?!!? WTF?!
What team are you talking about? If you answer TEXANS, then a big to you: Domanick Davis: 1031yds 2003, 1188yds 2004, 976yds 2006 (that was only 11 games, mind you). If you answered ANY OTHER TEAM... which one?
you have know idea what you're talking about. because of benson's history, fans of the saints have sided with reggie. that and he came in as soon as he was drafted and donated a lot to katrina relief. the aints fans love reggie already.
You're right, I don't. You win. Bush is no longer a money hungry 2nd pick. Carry on. You mean the exactly 5 games he was injured? None other than Jonathan Wells, who ran a decent 86 and 87 yards on 2 of the last 3 games. Wells is no longer in our roster, but our backups now are Morency and recently-signed UH standout Antowain Smith.
