Bush, McFadden to both be among 2012 highest paid backs
by Levi Damien on Feb 19, 2012 8:00 AM PST
Email
Print
Raiders running back Michael Bush has been one of the most dependable options in the Raiders' offense the past few seasons. While Darren McFadden has never played en entire season and has only had one good season with the team, Bush has always been there to step up and carry the load. Now Bush will very likely make more money in 2012 than his backfield mate.
Bush is set to hit free agency if the Raiders don't give him a new contract or nail him down with a franchise tag. Should the team go that route, Bush will earn $7.7 million in 2012 as the average of the top five running backs in the league. The fifth highest paid back in the league is McFadden who is set to earn $5.6 million.
This option seems like a long shot by some who can't see the Raiders paying the "back up" running back more than the starter. Even though last season this supposed backup had more starts than the oft injured incumbent starter. Bush just missed rushing for 1000 yards last season in relief of McFadden when he went down with a Liz Frank foot injury in week seven.
For the sake of McFadden's inability to stay healthy, holding onto Bush as long as possible would be a good idea. Even if it means he earns more next season than McFadden. There is no telling how this would sit with DMac but he needs to understand this is a business and the Raiders must protect their interests.
If Bush does not receive the franchise tag, there is a very good chance he will opt to test out the market. On the open market, he will be a hot commodity. He will garner interest from teams looking to make him a starter and pay him as such. Most other high profile backs whose contracts are up, such as Arian Foster, Ray Rice, and Matt Forte, will not hit the market as their teams will most certainly lock them down long term or tag them.
With slim picking in the running back market, Bush would have multiple suitors offering him good money to be their primary back.
Last offseason, the top running backs set to become unrestricted free agents were DeAngelo Williams, Ahmad Bradshaw, and Darren Sproles. Of them, Williams broke the bank with a 5 year, $43 million deal with $21 million guaranteed. Bradshaw and Sproles both signed 4 year deals at around $4 million per season. Both Williams and Sproles are among the top ten highest paid running backs in the NFL this upcoming season.
Sitting at sixth on that list is Michael Turner. I mention him as well because, like Bush and Sproles, he was a backup for a high profile player. He finally got his chance to be a feature back and took it and was rewarded with a 6 year, $34.5 million contract from the Falcons in 2008.
So, it is conceivable that Bush out-earns McFadden this coming season either in base salary or in salary plus a signing bonus. But at very least, he will join him among the top paid backs in the league.
The question then becomes; will it be with the Raiders? If we don't find out by the March 5th franchise tag deadline, we will certainly get a good idea about a week later on March 13th when free agency begins.
Follow me on Twitter @LeviDamien or befriend me on facebook.
25 comments
|
Add comment
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
I wish we could but i dont see us paying both dmac and Bush top dollar.
I know there’s alot of DMAC haters out there because of all the injury’s. But honestly how could we let go of a player that has that much explosive play making abilities. I mean there’s only a handful of guys that can even come close to his level of play. I know he gets hurt every year but so does every back in the league. Arian was out for a good chunk of last year and the year before not to mention Peterson , Hyllis , Turner , and pretty much every other team in the league loses their top back at 1 point during the season. These days there’s only a few backs a year that make it through all 16 games.
All im saying is im not ready to drop DMAC just yet , he’s got to much game changing abilities, even if he only plays half of the year. I think we’d be better off keeping him and Taiwan and let Reggie bring in some unseen talented back who has the power and durability to relieve DMAC or share the backfield with Jones if Mcfadden gets hurt.
by Sonoma County Raider fan on Feb 19, 2012 9:03 AM PST reply actions
It will be interesting to see what we do with the tag
I think Bush is the logical choice. Today’s successful running game almost indubitably requires running back by committee, and one must bring an equal quiver to the table to complement a corps that will continually strike fear into opponents with big play ability. The McFadden/Bush Thunder/Lightning is a perfect such one-two punch that either wears down opponents first with speed and then gives them a huge load impossible to bring down with single or arm tacklers, or vice-versa.
In addition, both guys are almost equally adept at pass catching—arguably better than many of the league’s wide receivers—with drops being very rare, and innate ability to find open space on the fly and stay separated and to create YAC.
I think anything less than doing whatever it takes to lock up both these guys will be a disservice to our team and this season’s chances, and we’ll see it almost immediately if we choose to go another direction. I also think McFadden remains possible trade bait, and might be more expendable in the eyes of the current regime than is Michael Bush, who might deserve the types of contracts as the aformentioned Michael the burner Turner, or at least to mentioned in the same conversations now, and could go on to be a similar type player.
No matter, as you have pointed out, we’ll know a lot with how the tags are used. I came to have a pretty good idea how Al would roll with them in the last five years, and this promises to be interesting if for no other reason than how different it looks from Al’s ways.
""The massive Raider Nation is beyond doubt the sleaziest and rudest and most sinister mob of thugs and wackos ever assembled."--Hunter S. Thompson
"In football, I root for the Oakland Raiders because they hire castoffs, outlaws, malcontents, and fuck -ups, they have lots of penalties, fights, and paybacks, and because Al Davis told the rest of the pig NFL owners to go get fucked. Someday, the Raiders will be strong again, and they will dip the ball in shit and shove it down the throats of the wholesome, white, heartland teams that pray together and don't deliver late hits." - George Carlin.
by brhynno on Feb 19, 2012 9:33 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
Love me some Michael Bush
But McFadden is our Franchise guy and as undependable as he is, I think we have another stud with a higher ceiling in Taiwan Jones and we can easily find ourselves another running back in FA. Clearly Bush isn’t a top 5 RB, DMC barely is with his injury record. It will suck to see Bush’s versatility flourish somewhere else, I’d like to see him on the Giants personally, I think he would do really well there.
Here’s a list of comparable RB’s they might not bruise up the middle as well but our running game shouldn’t drop out of the top 5-10 range because of Bush leaving.
Ryan Grant
Tim Hightower
Cadillac Williams
Kevin Smith
Derrick Ward
Jackie Battle
Tim Hightower
Justin Forsett
Thomas Jones
Rookie RB
Bernard Pierce
Chris Polk
Ronnie Hillman
Terrance Ganaway
Dan Herron
Not to forget that we also have Marcel “The Beast” Reese who could start carrying the ball more. Lets use that 4-5 mill a year on a starting CB rather then a backup RB. Not to say that its not important but I think we can do good there with FA or the Draft.
Someday, the Raiders will be strong again and they will dip the ball in shit, and shove it down the throats of the wholesome, shitty, heartland teams that pray together and don't deliver late hits." -George Carlin
Bush is a hell of back in 2011.
I think coach Jackson overused him without much choice because of the QB situation in 2011. You can see bush was just a consistent bruiser that wore down towards the end of the season. He needed the team to mix it up more but the options weren’t always there so he was the offense with our receivers ailing. So pay that man he is reliable and dmac is going to be a dangerous superstar if he can mix it up with bush. We all saw where we were going until McFadden and Campbell got hurt. It was exciting to watch McFadden like it was to watch charlie garner rip it up
Have you guys seen the replay of dmac getting his foot yanked by 2 KC defenders. They knew he had foot problems and went after his weak spot.
SO I HATE KC WITH A PASSION!!. I hope we own their ass for years to come. Only 2 good things came from KC and that was Rich Gannon who was a floater in the league and Al Saunders. that’s it. KC sucks.
If Rich Gannon would of played in the AFC playoffs instead of Elvis Grbac they would beat Denver. Good thing that didn’t happen. Gruden and Al grabbed Gannon and got rid of Jeff George and then we had cohesive team. To bad the team was filled with a lot of veterans that couldn’t of stuck together.
Raiders 2012 is going to be interesting and I can’t wait.
I like the option of using a tag on Bush for 2012
DMac is injury-prone and who knows if he’ll be able to play a full season. Taiwan has potential but he is not very strong and can’t run between the tackles so doesn’t provide a change of pace vs. DMC. Defenses totally keyed on Bush in the second half and the Raiders didn’t mix things up enough to protect him. No back can run through the line when there are four guys waiting for you.
Pragmatically, I like the tag rather than a big multi-year contract because most RBs have a shelf life in the NFL—it’s brutal but that’s the reality. If the Raiders have Bush and DMC in the backfield for a full year, they’ll have a very strong run game that will be tough to stop consistently.
@WorldBLee
You might have a point or two on Taiwan but I think your points at this time are too premature.
Taiwan did not get enough playing time amid the amount of time he was hurt to really form opinion. I have seen McFadden have trouble running between the tackles when the o-line is off key. They way Taiwan can hit top gear so quickly between defenders particularly when he is out in the open has been quite impressive albeit too few performances. I have this intuitive feel that he can be another Jamaal Charles, and if so, we won’t hurt much if we lose Bush provided he stays healthy. Nevertheless, let’s keep Bush if we can.
by RaiderPsycho on Feb 26, 2012 6:58 PM PST up reply actions
Bush or Branch Franchised?
Needs to be the real question…let Bush walk, franchise Branch if we can’t get him locked up. Bring in a dependable backup for McFadden…Bush will want too much.
lol
""The massive Raider Nation is beyond doubt the sleaziest and rudest and most sinister mob of thugs and wackos ever assembled."--Hunter S. Thompson
"In football, I root for the Oakland Raiders because they hire castoffs, outlaws, malcontents, and fuck -ups, they have lots of penalties, fights, and paybacks, and because Al Davis told the rest of the pig NFL owners to go get fucked. Someday, the Raiders will be strong again, and they will dip the ball in shit and shove it down the throats of the wholesome, white, heartland teams that pray together and don't deliver late hits." - George Carlin.
Can you really consider Bush as getting paid more next year without looking at the total value of their contracts? McFadden signed a 6 year $60 million contract with the Raiders after being drafted. Unless his contract was re-structured (which I haven’t heard anything of), that equates out to $10 million a year. But with signing bonuses and other bonuses written into the contract, it does not mean his salary is $10 million a year. His cap hit may be $5.6 million but that doesn’t mean it is his total compensation.
I always looked at this the same way with the logic Lance Briggs is using. Briggs complains that he is making like $2 million a year and that he is underpaid. He signed a 6 year $36 million contract. I guess he forgot about all the upfront money he got. He is basically getting $6 million a year.
darren McFaddden needs to restructure is contract or the Raiders should cut him like they did with Routt because he has not earned the money having yet to play a full season or lead us to the play-offs.
by Archangel25 on Feb 19, 2012 6:45 PM PST via mobile reply actions
How can you cut a guy like Mcfadden. When he plays even (if its only 8 games a year) he changes the game
The guy is incredible. I would hate to see another team pick him up and have to watch him tear it up for someone else. Every RB in the league gets hurt at some point during the year, its just what happens
by Sonoma County Raider fan on Feb 19, 2012 7:01 PM PST reply actions
I don't think any teams, including the raiders, will pay M.Bush top 5 RB Money
since he isn’t a top 5 back
I don’t think he will be a raider next year
give him a decent contract offer. 4-5mil
and if he thinks or can get bigger money. peace out. IMO when you look at great running teams the most common denominator is the Oline. Denver had like 5 straight 1000 yard backs a few years ago. all of them moved on and disappeared. DMC is a game changer, but our number two just has to be decent and dependable. plenty of guys like that for under 5 mil. I like Bush and hope he stays for while, but we need to build a Defense. But save that franchise in case we can’t get Tyvon to sign.
No way, let Bush walk.
The Raiders have been overpaying mediocre players for years. Dont panic like Hue and make more personel mistakes. Its time to clean house and get rid of the dead weight. Routt signed with KC today for 19 mil and 3 years, a fraction of what good ol Al paid him. Raiders need to get rid of these players who think they worth more than they actually are.
bush receiving top 5 money is a joke. he proved last year that he’s at his best sharing duties with dmac, as any rb would be as a part of a 2 headed attack. browns need a r.b., patriots, green bay, even denver! someone will pay him alot, hopefully its not us!
by massillonraider on Feb 20, 2012 1:36 PM PST reply actions
Funny how so many think Bush will be so easy to replace, as if backs of his quality are a dime a dozen. Do you really believe a comparable F/A would be a money saver or that a late round draftee will step right in? Nobody’s even mentioned the other teams that will be going after the good backs, then what’s left? The choice is to pay him or as soon as McFadden goes down (and that’s WHEN not IF), the Raiders are one dimensional. I hope McKenzie’s got more sense than that.
Oh, there’s been comments about Bush’s production dropping, which it did, but I suggest you go back and look at the line play in those games. When Little Wiz was at center the line blew holes in the opposing D’s. When Satele was in, it was the opposing D’s blowing up the o-line. How many RB’s can be productive under those circumstances? C’mon Raider Nation, wake up!
Anymore, there are almost as many talented UDFA Running Backs as talented 1st round draft picks.
Its is quickly becoming a passing league, and when UDFA’s like Foster and Hillis are producing as well as 1st round picks like Peterson (better in some cases) you can see how some could make the case that letting a high $$$ RB walk is a good idea (especially when you are trying to get under the cap).
Something to say? Choose one of these options to log in.
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Silver And Black Pride
Related FanShots on Silver And Black Pride
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Shutdown Corner - NFL - Yahoo! Sports
- Former ‘idiot kicker’ Mike Vanderjagt in trouble after accosting junior-high heckler
- Adrian Peterson blows teammates away in footraces; appears to be on the mend
- UPDATE: Charlie Sheen didn’t buy Lawrence Taylor’s Super Bowl ring
- Alex Smith gets blown up by Jon Beason over Cam Newton comments
- Having finally landed, Kellen Winslow looks for a fresh start in Seattle
