Re: Rafael Bush Signs Offer Sheet
 

he plays well Saints need to find the money to keep him.most likely a first year loaded deal harder to match but time to redo a contract with another player an find the money.

Re: Rafael Bush Signs Offer Sheet
 

6 passes defended and 1 interception,60 tackles in 29(586 snsps)games over 2 years. A good player but if the team thought he was worth more they would have offered him the second round tender.
He doesn't want to be here so let him go.

Re: Rafael Bush Signs Offer Sheet
 

Keenan Lewis shutting down half the backfield, Kenny Vaccaro in front on you, with Jordan, Galette, and Co. providing pressure on the QB... Saints FS seems a cushy job.

Fans love big hits, and Bush managed to hit 2 receivers hard enough and high enough that they left the game (not to mention that one of them was a stiff wind hitting his face away from another concussion). So I guess that's why the love for Rafael Bush.

I never saw him past being a solid player on a good defense.

Re: Rafael Bush Signs Offer Sheet
 

Agreed, he was our 3rd/4th safety all season. I'm sure if he were that great he would have been ahead of Harper and Jenkins on the depth chart.

All we had to do to guarantee we'd keep him was to place the 2nd round tender on him for a measly 800K more.

Ryan knew how to use him to his strengths and avoid placing him in spots to be exploited. He helped bracket WR's and TE's and played a lot of deep zone. I don't even remember when Ryan used him manned up on a TE or WR like Vaccaro Harper and Jenkins did.

I have a feeling that as a starter in traditional 2-safety sets, Atlanta is going to find out he's merely an average NFL safety, perhaps slightly above average at best.

Re: Rafael Bush Signs Offer Sheet
 

i think the reason he was not tendered at the 2nd round rate was the fact at that date the saints had hardly any cap space an the minimum tender bought time to cut players trade sproles sign some targeted players etc.the hit he put on the seachiken player in the playoffs set the tone to tell seackens Saints came to play for the rematch game.Its not that much money match it an baring someone gets hurt the Saints are set at the saftey position.will be a big mistake to not match offer of falclowns.

Re: Rafael Bush Signs Offer Sheet
 

No, I am not related to him, and saying that he has no weakness in his game is not the same as calling him elite.

And you are wrong about the Jenkins thing as well because by the end of the year Jenkins was playing mostly nickel corner. Bush was the guy covering the deep half of the field, not Jenkins.

Paying 2 million for a player of his caliber is a no-brainer. Safeties that can cover man-to-man, play zone, tackle, hit and get in on running plays near the line of scrimmage don't exactly grow on trees. I don't know what the FO was thinking here.

Re: Rafael Bush Signs Offer Sheet
 

I agree Bush is a good player and will play well for the ****clowns but the FO is thinking: Lewis, Byrd, Vaccaro and Bailey... I don't know where Bush fits in that picture, not to mention you got White and Robinson still plus the draft.

Re: Rafael Bush Signs Offer Sheet
 

Don't get me wrong. I almost never doubt the front office in most things they do. But letting Bush go is the one thing they've done so far this offseason that I have a hard time understanding.

I don't think it's going to cripple the secondary or anything like that. But he was a player on the rise. 2 years from now we'll be losing a 38-year-old Champ Bailey to retirement and getting nothing in return, meanwhile Bush will be at his athletic peak and playing for our biggest rival.

Re: Rafael Bush Signs Offer Sheet
 

how can you be so sure? From what I saw, Ryan is able to play all his players to their strengths. Can we be sure that Nolan will be able to get the same production from him; without the pass rush that we had last season not too mention the Falcons don't have the secondary we had to help take some of the pressure off...

Re: Rafael Bush Signs Offer Sheet
 

I only meant in terms of age; it is pretty well-accepted that most athletes peak around the ages of 28-30.

Will Bush be great for the Falcons? I don't know that, because of the reasons you mention. But I do know he was very good for us.