Reggie Bush is haunted by a seemingly eternal question: Is he a full-time running back or a part-time utility weapon? 

Reggie Bush's versatility makes him an appealing for some contenders. (Getty)As Bush takes the first free-agent tour of his career, starting in Detroit on Tuesday with possible stops in Arizona, Washington and Cincinnati, he is once again faced with that question. Does he want to be a starting running back that plays every down? Or does he want to primarily be a third-down, pass-catching player who gets deployed to take advantage of matchups.

"Reggie has a tough decision to go through," a source close to him said Tuesday. "He's very careful about how he considers these situations. He asks a lot of questions and wants to know all the ins and outs about how a team wants to use him.

"But, you know, in his heart, he wants to play all the time."

He finally got a chance to do just that the past two years in Miami, producing 1,086 yards rushing in 2011 and 986 this season. He also caught a total of 78 passes those two years, underlining

Read More »from Sources: Starting role offer gives Lions inside track on signing Reggie Bush

As full NFL free agency begins its 20th season, here's a look at the top 20 signings of the past two decades.

Percy Harvin wanted two things this offseason: money and a better quarterback.

On Monday, Harvin got closer to both when the Minnesota Vikings reportedly dealt him to the Seattle Seahawks for three draft picks. According to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports, the Vikings get a first- and seventh-round pick this year, and a mid-round pick in 2014 for Harvin.

That's a nice haul for a unique player with both wide receiver and running back skills. The problem for Minnesota, though, was that it found Harvin to also illustrate a uniquely disruptive attitude.

Percy Harvin celebrates after scoring a TD against the Cardinals last season. (AP)According to two sources, the straw that broke the Vikings' back with Harvin is when he bemoaned the fact that quarterback Christian Ponder, a 2011 first-round pick, was not good enough. That came even though Ponder consistently fed Harvin the ball.

Last season, Harvin had team highs of 62 catches for 677 yards, and added three touchdowns before suffering a season-ending injury in the Vikings' ninth game.

Now, Harvin goes to

Read More »from Sources: Percy Harvin's lack of confidence in Christian Ponder was final straw for Vikings

Sadly and perhaps tellingly, putting together a list of the worst free-agent signings in the history of the NFL is not hard. Here's a look at the bottom 20 over the past 20 years:

Albert Haynesworth was suspended for the Washington Redskins' final four games in 2010. (USA TODAY Sports)1. DT Albert Haynesworth – Some people argue that Haynesworth deserves a category all to himself for his slothful waste of a seven-year, $100 million contract. Haynesworth signed the deal in 2009 and was out of Washington before the start of the 2011 season. He was out of football after that season. He didn't get all the money, but he got way more than he ever deserved, spending most of the money on boats and legal settlements.

2. QB Jeff Garcia – For five years, Garcia was one of the great feel-good stories in the NFL. He was a San Francisco Bay Area guy (grew up in Gilroy and went to San Jose State) who played in the CFL before returning for a five-year run with the 49ers. But in 2004 at age 34, Garcia signed a four-year, $25 million contract with Cleveland. Except for the money, everything else was a

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While six NFL team executives and coaches agreed that New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis is the top player at his position and perhaps the top player available via trade or free agency this year, all of them said that there's enough depth at the position that getting by without Revis would be tolerable.

"If you play this out the right way, you can get two guys this year for less than you'd pay for Revis," one coach said. "You normally can't say that about cornerbacks and let's not fool anybody, I'd rather have Revis than just about any two guys on the rest of the list.

"But if I don't get him, we can probably survive OK."

Aqib Talib had one of his two INTs for the Bucs last year before being traded to the Pats. (AP)The position this season features roughly 18 cornerbacks (including Nnamdi Asomugha, expected to soon part ways with the Philadelphia Eagles) who have the ability to start, such as Aqib Talib, or at least be a solid nickel player, such as Brice McCain.

"Very deep, which is why you've seen some deals happen already that were probably

Read More »from Plenty of cheaper options at cornerback if teams shy away from pursuing Darrelle Revis

Talk to enough NFL people about the trade market for cornerback Darrelle Revis and there is a recurring theme.

If the New York Jets want to get this done quickly, they would be best served working with Revis' agents Neil Schwartz and Jonathan Feinsod.

It would behoove the Jets to trade Darrelle Revis soon. (AP)

"If I'm making this deal, there's a lot of stuff I need to know," an NFC team executive said. "I need to know if he's healthy. I need to know if he wants to play for us. I need to know if I'm going to get a long-term deal or is this one year and we'll see.

"But I talk to the Jets and they're like, 'OK, what are you offering?' I can't begin to figure it out."

Revis, who essentially has one year remaining on his contract, is scheduled to make $6 million next season. Following the 2013 season, the Jets can't use a franchise tag on him based on language in the contract.

Because the Jets are about to begin a rebuilding process, they do not want to pay Revis what would likely be in excess of $13 million per year and

Read More »from Sources: Jets' lack of cooperation with Darrelle Revis' agents hurting trade talks

Full-fledge NFL free agency has been in existence for 20 years. However, elements of free agency surfaced in the league well before Reggie White made his way to the Green Bay Packers in 1993.

Here's a look back at some of the strange twists of free agency before and after '93:

Steve Hutchinson was a four-time Pro Bowler for the Vikes. (USA TODAY)1. The poison pill – Technically, it's still not illegal, but the NFL quietly discourages clauses in restrictive free agents' contracts that make it nearly impossible for the current team to retain the player. It has resulted in some absurd moments. In 2006, Steve Hutchinson left Seattle for Minnesota, the Vikings getting him for a seven-year, $49 million contract that included a poison pill that the Seahawks unsuccessfully challenged. In return, Seattle then signed Minnesota wide receiver Nate Burleson later in March 2006 to a matching seven-year, $49 million deal that included two poison pills. Here is the description of the two poison pills from then-ESPN reporter Len Pasquarelli: "The first would

Read More »from NFL free-agency oddities: Poison pills, midnight strolling and unwanted QBs turned Hall of Famers

The NFL may have found yet another way to make players and agents nervous about money.

The league's new three-day negotiating period opens at midnight ET and lasts until the official start of free agency Tuesday. The new period, particularly when combined with free agency's later starting date (it began closer to March 1 prior to 2012) has had a chilling effect on the league.

Steelers WR Mike Wallace is one of the top free agents. (USA TODAY Sports)Largely gone are the behind-the-scenes discussions between pending free agents and interested teams that commonly took place since free agency's inception in 1993. That early maneuvering, while rarely punished, made events like the NFL scouting combine a veritable circus of action.

These days, agents and players are sitting by the phone and just wondering when some general manager will call to talk dollars.

"Nobody is putting any real offers out there because everybody is afraid that if you do it too early, all that's going to happen is that their offer is going to get shopped," a high-profile

Read More »from NFL's new free-agency negotiating window making players, agents more tense