Aging running back are a dying breed in the NFL, just ask Reggie Bush.
Better yet, ask the Detroit Lions, who are trying to find cap room to re-sign Ndamukong Suh.
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Multiple outlets are reporting that the Lions parted ways with the running back, who turns 30 next week, in an attempt to create cap space to sign Suh, their mercurial defensive tackle.
ESPN.com reported that the Lions are saving $1.7 million in cap space by releasing Bush, who was injured for most of 2014. NFL.com suggested that Bush was unwilling to take a pay cut to stay in Detroit.
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"It's not about Reggie Bush. It's about the process of evaluating where you are as a football team," Lions general manager Martin Mayhew told ESPN. "We have a bunch of meetings after the season. The coaching staff meets. The scouting department meets together and we evaluate everybody's performance.
"Part of that, from my standpoint as GM and in terms of setting up our team, is how much of a contribution each guy made to the football team that year. In Reggie's situation, obviously last year he was injured so you have to look at the contribution versus how much you're paying a player. It's not just Reggie. It's every player on the team."
Bush played in 11 games last season but had just 297 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 76 carries. He also caught 40 passes for 253 yards. As a team, the Lions ranked 28th in the NFL in rushing at 88.9 yards per game, USA TODAY Sports reported.
"For the most part I just think that we just have to be a little bit better just in terms of getting our running game off to a start better earlier in the year," coach Jim Caldwell said last month, according to USA TODAY Sports. "But I think we've got to do some of the same things we did before. I think if we don't turn the ball over, give ourselves the opportunity, I think it's going to be fine. We've got a great nucleus of guys coming back. But I think you're going to see improvement in all of those areas."
The previous season, Bush rushed for a 1,006 yards, the most by a Detroit running back in nine years.
There was no mention of Bush's name being mentioned in connection with the Darren Sharper rape case as a possible cause for his release.
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