usc boys demand big $$$$$$$$

[Velcro]

USC boys demand big money even before they graduate.  Just to sign with USC, they demand big money.  

[E.T.]

I also thought this was a recruiting thread  ;D

[smazza]

I read an article today that bush cost himself over 7 million by being an ass to Texas and dropping to the 2nd pick just on State taxes alone...By the way, Arizona has a State tax also just waiting for linehart.

bush got top dollar

new orleans is  a better franchise than houston at this point in time

where was this article?

one would think free agents would be flocking to tenn and texas

THE TOTAL COST OF NOT BEING NO. 1

Now that Saints running back Reggie Bush has signed a contract, it's time to take a look-see at the total consequences of the events that resulted in Bush not being the first overall pick in the draft.

For present purposes, how he ended up at No. 2 isn't relevant.  Some league insiders believe that it was a combination of factors.  As we've previously reported, the Texans were turned off by the perception that Bush wasn't being honest with them regarding the news that broke less than a week before the draft as to the potential involvement of Bush's family with a San Diego sports agency that wanted to represent him.  (It likewise didn't help that, as we've previously heard, Bush dragged his feet in returning calls from the Texans regarding the situation.)  But there's also a sense that, if agent Joel Segal had been willing to do a deal, the Texans still might have pulled the trigger, and that the inability to sign Bush served as confirmation of the concerns that the team developed based on the alleged free rent and alleged cash payments received by Bush and/or his family while he was still eligible to play college football.

So Bush doesn't get picked by the Texans, a franchise playing in a state with no income tax.  Instead, he's drafted by the Saints, where the total state and local taxes will chew up a whopping NINE PERCENT of his gross income.

The impact?  On the surface, Bush got $300,000 less in guaranteed money than No. 1 pick Mario Williams.  After factoring in the state and local taxes, the difference is more like $2.658 million.

$2.658 million!  

And if the base package is $51 million over six years, the difference between the Williams deal and the Bush deal isn't $3 million.  It's $7.59 million.

Because Tennessee likewise doesn't have an income tax on salary or wages, Bush's in-pocket money also is less than that received by Titans quarterback Vince Young, the No. 3 overall pick.

Young gets $25.74 million in guaranteed money.  After state and local taxes, Bush comes out $1.898 million behind Young on that aspect of the deal.

[smazza]

lienhart will get his money

az would be foolish not to make him happy

who will be az's qb next year?

[Triple B]

lienhart will get his money

az would be foolish not to make him happy

who will be az's qb next year?

Isn't Kurt Warner still there?

[smazza]

yeah and warner will not finish out the season

forget skill players

cardinals have no oline

leinhart is their future

[smazza]

if there is any doubt bush made the right decision

Bush raking in cash, reinvesting part of it into New Orleans  

Posted 8/10/2006 6:29 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions | Subscribe to stories like this  

 

Enlarge By Rogelio V. Solis, AP

Reggie Bush still caught a pretty good contractual deal despite going second in the draft.

 FOLLOW THE MONEY

Comparing the contracts of defensive end Mario Williams, selected No. 1 overall by the Houston Texans, and running back Reggie Bush, chosen second by the New Orleans Saints:

Williams Bush

Terms 6 years 6 years

Maximum value $62.1M  $62.05M

Guaranteed $ $26.5M  $26.325M

After five years (1)  $47.98  $48.3

(1) including all escalators

Source: USA TODAY research  

By Larry Weisman, USA TODAY

Running back Reggie Bush was not the first pick in the NFL Draft. But he is turning out to be No. 1 in many significant ways.

His jersey is among the NFL's hottest sellers. He's appearing in six national advertising campaigns. His seven-figure shoe deal is the largest ever in football, and so is his memorabilia deal.

When the New Orleans Saints open the preseason Saturday night against the Tennessee Titans, Bush will get to do the other thing he excels at  playing football. And that might bring more business if his professional successes mirror his collegiate past.

"The response is amazing," says Mike Ornstein, who handles Bush's marketing. "Everyone wants to do something with Reggie. I've never seen a phenomenon like this, and he hasn't played a snap yet."

Dogged in the week before the draft by reports of improper dealings with another marketing firm, Bush, a Heisman Trophy winner from Southern California, fell from favor with the Houston Texans. They instead chose defensive end Mario Williams, and the Saints selected Bush.

Each marketing deal that is executed brings a commitment to help the city rebuild. Bush has helped generate funds to rebuild a high school football field and save a school. He'll kick in 25% of his take from jersey sales  which Ornstein estimates could be "several hundred thousand dollars"  to relief efforts still underway almost a year after Hurricane Katrina hit.

"This is a dream come true for me, and I'm here to live my dream of playing football," Bush says.

His selection by the Saints set off a run at the box office that sparked season-ticket sales of nearly 55,000, a club record, by mid-May; the Saints drew about 23,000 fans for their home preseason opener last year. They did not play any regular-season games at home because of conditions in the city and the damage to the Superdome.

"There's something called 'it,' and Reggie has it ... with five Ts," agent Joel Segal says.

Williams' contract guarantees $26.5 million; Bush gets $175,000 less. If both reach maximum value through escalators, Williams tops Bush by $50,000. The total package value: Williams is at $62.1 million, Bush at $62.05 million.

Segal and Ornstein absorbed a lot of criticism when the Texans picked Williams and when Bush missed the opening of the Saints' camp. Yet Segal effectively landed the kind of contract Bush would have received in the top spot, and Ornstein has his client off on one of the hottest marketing runs of any player, rookie or veteran.

"Everybody was down on us, and we took a lot of abuse," Ornstein says. "We just hung in there."

[JoeB]

Bush already got his money.  Last year at the $750,000 home.  But I disagree that the Saints franchise is better than the Texans at this point.  Saints may be moving somewhere.