According to a report by FOXSports.com, the Saints are considering signing free agent running back Edgerrin James.

Saints general manager Mickey Loomis told FOXSports.com that the team is still considering making a contract offer to free-agent running back Edgerrin James.

“We’ve spent some time evaluating Edgerrin,” Loomis said Tuesday morning. “We think he can still play. We’re going to continue to evaluate that and see where it ends up. We haven’t made a decision on Edgerrin yet.”

James could be a nice fit in New Orleans, which didn’t draft or sign a replacement for the released Deuce McAllister. Loomis, though, expressed confidence that Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush could carry the Saints’ rushing load. A five-game starter last season, Thomas scored nine times and gained 625 yards on only 129 carries. Bush generated 844 yards from scrimmage in an injury-plagued 2008 campaign.

“Every time Pierre has had the opportunity to play, he’s performed really well,” Loomis said. “I think he was one of the leaders in the league in not getting tackled for a loss among running backs (in 2008). He’s not the big prototype back that Deuce was but we’re confident that Pierre can do some good things for us.

I completely disagree that James would be a good fit. I know the Saints are trying to replace McAllister, but Thomas proved last year that he deserves more carries and the team still has to make sure that Bush gets his touches as well (at least until he gets hurt).

If they want to add a bruiser for short yardage situations ala McAllister last year, then James isn’t the guy. And don’t forget that James wanted out of Arizona because he didn’t like splitting carries with Tim Hightower and feels as though he can still be a starter. Thomas has way more upside than James, so why eat into his carries?

The Saints only had one draft pick in the first three rounds this year. Had they had more, there’s a very likely chance that they would have selected a running back like Beanie Wells in the first round. Why? I’m a little confused by the Saints line of thinking here with how well Thomas played last season.

After drafting Chris “Beanie” Wells in the first round of the NFL draft on Saturday, the Arizona Republic expects the Cardinals to release running back Edgerrin James soon, possibly even as earlier as this weekend.

James started clamoring that he wanted out of Arizona last season when he started losing carries to Tim Hightower. James carried the ball only 133 times (his lowest total since an injury-plagued 2001 season) for 514 yards and three touchdowns in 13 games last season. He did rush for 236 yards on 61 carries in the playoffs last year (including the Super Bowl), but even then the writing seemed to be on the wall that he was done in the desert.

If he is released, James will get what he wants, although his market value will be extremely low now that the draft is over. At 30 years old, he’s at the age where teams stop looking at you as a starter and more as a backup in a platoon.

This is just speculation on my part, but one team that could be interested in James is the Texans. Steve Slaton emerged as a quality starter last year, but like most backs in the NFL, he wouldn’t be able to sustain the pounding of a full 16-game season. The team also still has Chris Brown and Ryan Moats on the roster, but Brown spent the entire 2008 season on IR due to a back injury and Moats rushed for just 94 yards on 26 carries last season.

Some speculated that the Texans would pick a running back in the first round of last week’s draft, but they decided to once again address their defense with the selection of linebacker Brian Cushing. Houston then went then entire weekend without taking a running back in any of the seven rounds.

James wouldn’t get more than a one or two year deal at this point, but he could make a nice complement to Slaton as long as he’s motivated. I know James still wants to be a starter, but at this point he better be willing to take a role in a platoon.

Fresh off their Super Bowl XLIII appearance, the Cardinals are apparently set to release running back Edgerrin James this offseason.

From Rotoworld.com:

According to the Arizona Republic’s Dan Bickley, Edgerrin James is “already gone” from the Cardinals.

Edge reportedly did not return to Phoenix with the Cardinals after the Super Bowl. James’ release, which cannot become official yet, will save Arizona $5 million under the cap, increasing the team’s spending limit to roughly $47M. It also creates a need area at tailback. J.J. Arrington is a free agent and the Cardinals will have to find a complement for Timmy Hightower.

This makes sense. Edge already stated throughout the regular season that he wanted out of Arizona, so why should the Cardinals keep him? They’ll save $5 million in cap space, and cut ties with a player that doesn’t want to be there. Plus, the draft is loaded with solid running back prospects this year so they don’t even have to use a first round pick on the position if they wanted to address other needs.

It’s not worth speculating at this point what teams will be interested in Edge, but considering he’s already hit the dreaded age of 30 he probably won’t receive more than a two-year offer.