Saints match Falcons offer sheet and retain Rafael Bush

Derek Roy, Steve Sullivan

Picturing Rob Ryan in a room when Sean Payton breaks the news “the Falcons signed Rafael Bush to an offer sheet” is fun.

“They did WHAT?!?!”. I picture him responding. “Give me ALL the safeties Sean. I want all of them. You better match that $%&*#$ offer sheet. You want a Super Bowl?”

“Well obviously.”

“THEN GIVE ME MY $%&@ SAFETIES. You don’t let Rafi walk. And to the Falcons? Look, I’m going to go take a nap. Wake me up when you’ve filed the paperwork.”

I can confirm that in my imagination that is the extent of the dialog that preceded the following:

 

Of course I want to maintain that the Saints gambled a bit and lost by tendering Bush as the lowest level. Had they tendered him at the 2nd round level for around 700k more they would have had him this season on the roster for less money. Instead, his contract is now 2 years for $4.5 million. But that’s fine, since he was in the top 11 of snap numbers on defense last year I consider him a starter. You might hear some people suggest that’s too much for a backup. My response is 1. Kenny Vaccaro got hurt last year and 2. if you look at the number of snaps he played he’s a starter. That is a fair contract for Bush, is just more money than the Saints could have spent. It was a gamble they made that backfired a bit. But no worries, he’s back with the team at a bit more than they were hoping to spend. Bush needed to stay on the roster, safeties are too important to the defense and Bush is a good one.

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