It’s not a secret that the New Orleans Saints want to cut Reggie Bush’s pay this season.

Bush, because of various injuries, has missed 20 games over the past four seasons. He’s scheduled to earn $11.8 million in base salary for 2011, the final year of his rookie deal.

FOXSports.com recently broke down his reduction in playing time due to injury.

Interestingly, according to Yahoo! Sports, the Saints gave Bush permission to talk to other teams prior to the March 4 transaction deadline.

The Saints re-signed veteran RB Pierre Thomas prior to March and selected RB Mark Ingram in the first round of this year’s NFL Draft, which would suggest that Bush might not be back, or, at the very least, would be in store for a major cut in pay to justify his expected reduced role because of the crowded backfield.

If Bush winds up being released, the report states the Miami Dolphins, New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants would be the most likely suitors.

If the Giants are able to re-sign RB Ahmad Bradshaw, it would seem rather unlikely that they would pursue Bush. Veteran RB Brandon Jacobs is signed through 2012, so the Giants could have a crowded backfield again in 2011. They certainly could use Bush’s speed on offense, but he would likely have limited touches if Bradshaw and Jacobs are back again.

The Dolphins badly need speed to go along with rookie Daniel Thomas, who is known strictly as a power runner.

The Steelers would be in need for a third down back if veteran RB Mewelde Moore doesn’t re-sign.

The Philadelphia Eagles were mentioned by Yahoo! Sports in another article as has having an interest in Bush. But with LeSean McCoy seeing 1080 out of the 1050 (76 percent) offensive snaps last season, it's hard to see Bush having a significant role with this team.

Bush will never live up to the hype that he had coming into the 2006 NFL Draft, but he still is capable of handling change of pace/passing down role (10-13 touches/game) with a team at this point in his career.