Fact: The Miami Dolphins don’t want Reggie Bush back, not at the price he’s demanding. Another fact: The Detroit Lions believe that signing Bush, regardless of the price he commands, is going to help the team be a force in the NFC North once again.
It was very disappointing for everyone to see the Lions, making the playoffs for the first time in over a decade in 2011, crumble to pieces and finish with a abysmal 4-12 season a year later, despite keeping most of their top talent. Not having a running game (running for less than 1700 yards as a team) was a big part of why things went so wrong, turning in the other direction.
Reggie Bush isn’t going to come cheaply, probably expecting $4.5-5.5 million a season, but he has proved during his two years with the Dolphins that he was probably slightly under-used by the Saints on his five seasons with the team, not regarded by Sean Payton as a between the tackles type of rusher.
He didn’t exactly set new NFL records for the Dolphins, but he did rush for over 2000 yards for the team on his two seasons there, including 17 touchdowns scored on rushing plays. The Lions believe that with the nucleus of Stafford, Calvin Johnson and Ndamukong Suh, they need to focus on adding offensive talent to make life easier for their quarterback.
While Bush is probably a tad expensive in a way that already makes him almost overrated, he’s better than whatever the Lions have at the moment, with Mikel Leshoure being their top rusher last season going for 798 yards, averaging 3.7 per carry. Bush still has a few years of quality production left in him, and on a team that forces defenses to respect the passing game might do even better than he did with Miami, both as a primary rusher or as another receiver for Stafford to utilize.