Saints release Deuce McAllister
The Saints officially released long time running back Deuce McAllister.
The news comes as no real surprise, though it still will come as a blow to the Saints fan base.
McAllister, who turned 30 in December, had four years remaining on his contract. But his role was greatly diminished last season after he returned from his second major knee injury in three years. And he was set to earn $5.3 million in salary and bonuses in 2009.
The Saints will save more than $4 million in salary-cap space this year now that McAllister is off the roster. His “cap figure” will decrease from $7.3 million to roughly $3 million. The way the cap works, the Saints still need to account for $3 million of his signing bonus from the eight-year, $50.1 million contract extension he signed in 2005.
The team was projected to be about $4.5 million over the $123 million salary cap heading into the start of free agency Feb. 27, so other changes could be forthcoming as well.
As the article notes, this isn’t a surprise. The Saints freed up some cap space in the move, Pierre Thomas has emerged as a feature back and is the power to Reggie Bush’s flash.
Still, McAllister will be missed and he was the model pro in New Orleans.
Well everyone knew it was coming.
I must say I am a big McAllister fan and he
always played hard and 100%.
Injuries, money, 2-3 back systems, I hope
the Saints get another 235lbs back cuz they need
one bad!
Pierre Thomas is legit. They can move forward with Thomas and Bush.
Does he have anything left in the tank? Where might he end up?
Somebody will give him a shot on a one-year contract, but I doubt he’ll get much more than that.
He’s 30 and has had multiple knee injuries, but somebody will give him a chance. In terms of where he could wind up, I’m not sure. He’s really just a goal line back at this point, so a candidate might not emerge for a while.
The Browns should sign him. He and Jamal Lewis would make for the slowest plodding duo in the league.
Texans should sign him—they need a short yardage back