Honestly, considering the consistent decline of Bush's numbers -- his combined rushing/receiving yards have dropped every season since 2006, his rookie year, and the number of games he has played each season nearly has done the same -- there's reason to believe he'll never again match those career highs of 1,307 yards from scrimmage and 16 regular-season games in '06.In most NFL cities, the word for a player like that, who's scheduled to earn $11.8 million and count $16 million against the salary cap, is "luxury" rather than "necessity." The label is "situational" rather than "star." And the Saints, to their credit, have proven time and again that their offense doesn't dip in production when Bush's multiple talents aren't available.So if Bush were to be cut because the Saints need to purge salary, and not re-signed because the franchise believes it can function smoothly without him or because he believes he's more valuable and should be better compensated than the Saints are willi
ng to offer, it's not like it would signal the end of New Orleans' offense as we know it.It's not as if his role has amounted to much more than cameo appearances the past few seasons, a role he obviously believes will dwindle now that the Saints have added first-round pick Mark Ingram to the mix at running back.The fact is, Bush has nothing with which to leverage the Saints.
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