Seahawks RB Washington will be fine for training camp

Taking off New Orleans Saints jersey to join the Seattle Seahawks, running back Leon Washington seems eager to work with the new team. The 2008 All-Pro running back had to spend most of this offseason on recovering from a broken leg, but he told reporters recently that he would be fine for Seahawks’ training camp in late July.

Washington became expendable after his former team had a new running back LaDainian Tomlinson and it was no surprise that he was traded during the three-day NFL draft for a higher round draft pick. But to Seahawks, the addition of a running back like Washington was much more important than drafting a talented rookie. It was expected that Washington would take the starting job with the Seahawks. And if his leg allows him to return in time for training camp, Washington’s starting job would somewhat secured.

The All-Pro as a kick returner for the 2008 season made $535,000 in the final year of his rookie deal, and he had been asking for a significant salary raise before he broke the leg. The second-round tender he received from his former team was worth $1.759 million, far less than Washington’s expected $5 million to $6 million. The Seahawks have made it clear that they would consider giving Washington a chance to prove whether he is worth that much.

Saints RB Thomas is still negotiating contract with team

An ESPN reports released last Friday said that the New Orleans Saints running back Pierre Thomas could not receive a new contract as soon as expected, because he was not taken indispensible by team. However, this week another reports from the New Orleans Times argued that the talk is still going on and Thomas will stay in his New Orleans Saints jersey with a new contract.

The ESPN report said that Thomas was asking for a lucrative contract that matches what Steven Jackson received from the St. Louis Rams. The reporter made a comparison between the two running backs, citing that Jackson averaged 25 touches per game while Thomas averaged at only 13.3. He also wrote that Thomas was not so vital to Saints’ offense and received only a second-round tender offer from the team; therefore in conclusion, the reporter believed that the Saints would not give Thomas a significant deal.

Well, the latest report said that Thomas, as a part of the three-tailback rotation, gave an excellent performance despite his limited role and ranked third in term of total carries in 2009. The only better two running backs are Jamaal Charles and Chris Johnson. Besides, since Mike Bell has left the Saints, Thomas would see significant increase in playing time and would be even more important to the defending champion team, so Saints will take the deal with Thomas as a priority.

Saints RB Bush could reach out-of-court settlement with plaintiffs

According reports by Yahoo Sports, former NCAA cornerback for USC Reggie Bush might have reached out-of-court settlement with the plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit against him asking the star running back, who is currently wearing No. 25 New Orleans Saints jersey, and his family to return nearly $300,000 in cash and gifts they accepted during Bush’s college football career with the USC.

According to attorney Brian Watkins, the depositions scheduled to be made by the suitors on Wednesday have been cancelled. The suitors, Lloyd Lake and Michael Michaels tried to attract Bush as a client for their marketing firm, New Era, while he was at the University of Southern California. While Bush did not sign with New Era, they filed a lawsuit against the running back to ask for the money to be repaid. Michaels reached an out-of-court settlement with Bush’s family in April 2007 that included a confidentiality agreement, but in late December Bush lost his bid to go to confidential arbitration to settle Lake’s lawsuit and did not show up for a deposition scheduled in February 2008.

The lawsuit also caused Bush to be a subject in the NCAA investigation into USC's athletic program as they though he received possibly illegal benefits and violated association rules. If the investigators find that Bush is retroactively ineligible and determines that the USC violated rules, the player could lose his 2005 Heisman Trophy and his former college would have to their national championships in 2004 and 2005. But if an out-of-court settlement is reached between Bush and the plaintiffs, the NCAA and Pac-10 Conference would have to stop investigation and every one will keep what they already have.