ProFootballWeekly.com asks associate editor Jeff Reynolds for his thoughts on the hottest topics in the NFL.

McAllister signs new eight-year deal

Eclipsing the six-year, $42 million contract handed to WR Joe Horn in May, the Saints signed RB Deuce McAllister to the richest contract in team history on Thursday. McAllister signed a deal worth as much as $53.1 million over eight years if he reaches incentives. The contract includes bonus payouts of almost $12.5 million — $7 million up front, a $4 million option bonus in 2006 and a $1.5 million roster bonus in ’06. McAllister had been entering the final year of the five-year contract he signed as a rookie. The new deal actually reduces McAllister’s $3 million cap figure for 2005.

PFW: Are you surprised the Saints were able to get this deal done?

Reynolds: Considering the team and, more specifically, front office and its sullied reputation among most personnel men around the league, the deal might have surprised more than a few. However, McAllister is from Mississippi and, given the substantial amount of up-front and guaranteed money, this would have been a tough deal for him to refuse. In terms of likely-to-be-earned dollars ($29 million in the first five years), McAllister becomes the second-highest-paid running back in football behind San Diego’s LaDainian Tomlinson, who was the only back drafted ahead of McAllister in the 2002 draft. At age 26, it’s not implausible that McAllister could play well into the second half of the deal. When healthy, McAllister rates as a top-five running back because of his size and speed. If he were a better battering ram in short-yardage situations — one knock on him is that he’s actually too patient waiting for holes to open up and that he runs tall, limiting his power near the goal line — he’d be almost flawless.