I belive Deuce's contract runs through 2012. So even if we traded him after the '09 season, the Saints would take a $5.4M cap hit at $1.8M per season signing bonus.

I would guess that Deuce i not going anywhere for a long, long time.

I don't think Deuce is going anywhere soon, but I do see some valid points on why he may. Maybe not so much his age, but as far as seasons played he is starting to get up there. The career of a RB is usually short. He could very well have just another season or two before he is either out of the league or possibly being a role player. Hopefully he can go strong for another 5 or 6 years, but it would go against some pretty big odds. In no way do I see Pittman as taking over for him, I see Pittman strictly as a possible replacement for Aaron Stecker. The most interesting thing is to see if the Saints will shift more of the load to Reggie Bush. Maybe Reggie Bush will always be that "specialist" type of guy, but you never know. I am not sure how long Bush will be content with his role. All RB' s want to have that chance to carry the load. Hopefully everyone will be happy and we can win a couple superbowls...

Bottom line, deuce will have to take a pay cut. But if there's anyone that will it's him. He's got his dealerships in Jackson and various ventures in MS and LA, plus he likes going home to Morton on off days. More importantly, I think Deuce (unlike Horn) loves the saints and the fans almost as much as we love him, and he realizes that he can go down as the face of the francise. Maybe even a FO job in the future.

I predict he sticks around and takes a cut in pay in a few years coupled with a gradual transfer of carring duties to Reggie.