September 20th, 2007 by Chris M.
The New Orleans Saints have selected, with their first round pick of the NFL Draft, a running back desipite already having a successful, albeit oft-injured, previous first rounder on the roster. That’s ok, goes the logic, because this guy is a little different. He’s an excellent return man in the special teams game and often lined up at reciever in college, where he shared time with another back. He’s a game breaker, a guy who can take it the distance with any touch. He can line up any where on the field and with create matchup nightmares for the defense.
There are two knocks against him: he may be injury prone, and he may not be a feature back capable of carrying the rock twenty times a game every week. But that’s ok. We already have a power back who can be the thunder to his lightning, helping both backs to be healthier by splitting the load. I mean, a guy like this falls to us, we have to take him, right? Right?
The readers of this blog know exactly who I am speaking of at this point. And you’re exactly wrong. The gamebreaking running back that would return kicks, field catches, and generally add fexibility to a long stagnant offense was Deuce McAllister. Coming into the league in 2001, he was considered by many to be the best overall back on the board, placing him ahead of Tomlinson. Tomlinson was selected first because of McAllister’s propensity for injury and the fact that number 26 split carries at Ole Miss with Joe Gunn.
Today, McAllister is considered a power back. He may still have the speed to take it all the way, but another knee surgery in February can’t have helped his speed (unless they have installed jets, with are not, according to painstaking research, explicitly forbidden by the NFL. It’s gonna happen one day, people; I’d rather it was us first.) In 2012, McAllister will cost us 8.1 million dollars to our salary cap, plus a hundred thousand dollar bonus if he chooses to attend volentary workouts. While I’m only a international economics student, which in no way comes close to preparing you for the complexities of NFL cap management (seriously), I do know that this is, as Greenspan would have put it, ‘bad’. We can’t really cut him, not just because of cap penalties, but also because my potenial for tears would probably cause a levee to break (is it still too soon?). I mean seriously, Joe Horn was bad enough. I guess I’m just sentimental.
 I would like to keep McAllister around long term. But that may not be possible without some sort of restructure deal being worked out between him and the front office. This would not be, to say the least, the smartest thing McAllister could do finacially. But maybe he really loves the team. His business ventures in the New Orleans region are not just feel good stories. They may be an indication that he is willing to stay around, in spite of both his increasingly reduced role and possibly reducing pocket book. In any case, I want to take my hat off to Deuce (or as I like to call him, ‘Daddy Matrix’), for being willing and able to change his game through both injuries and a head coach obsessed with nineteen seventies power football. I’ll be wishing him luck each week.
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