Future in doubt

• By LES EAST
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: Mar 23, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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METAIRIE — Running back Deuce McAllister is rehabilitating two surgically repaired knees while the Saints ponder his future with the organization.

McAlllister is nearly six months past surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and microfracture surgery to clean up his left knee, on which he had ACL surgery in 2005.

He’s about three weeks away from an April 15 deadline for the organization to decide whether to pay him a $1 million roster bonus or terminate his contract.

The bonus was due March 15, but the Saints and McAllister agreed to postpone the deadline to give the organization time to better gauge the progress of McAllister’s rehab.

“Unfortunately I’ve been through this routine before as far as rehab is concerned,” McAllister said shortly after beginning the Saints’ offseason program last week. “Every day you just try to make it a little better.”

McAllister said he understood the Saints’ interest in postponing the decision on the roster bonus.

“For them to make good on their investment, as far as paying me the roster bonus, then I wanted to make good on my health,” he said. “Having ACL surgeries on both knees in the last three years is an unfortunate deal. Before we went into this season I wanted to make sure I was healthy and obviously the team felt the same way.”

It’s unlikely the next three weeks will yield any great revelation about McAllister’s effectiveness next fall, but he should be able to take on a greater workload once he passes the six-month mark.

McAllister said the left knee is holding him back more than the right knee. Both surgeries took place Sept. 27, three days after injuring the right knee in a loss against Tennessee.

“If it wasn’t for the right knee, then I would be able to do a lot more strenuous workout as far as planting and cutting, etc.,” McAllister said “You want to be careful with the microfracture and it give it time to heal fully. It’s not 100 percent, but it’s getting close to the point where I can do different exercises and different things.

“There’s still time out there for me to rehab and get stronger. If rehab continues to go as well, then it’s possible I can participate in that last minicamp (May 29-June 1).”

McAllister said he initially doubted whether he could endure another ACL rehab when the second injury occurred two weeks short of the two-year anniversary of the first injury.

“When it first happened I was like, I can’t do this, I can’t do it again,” he said. “But once I started the process of rehab — I had the injury Monday night, I had the surgery Thursday — it was pretty much I’m in rehab session now, I’m in that rehab process, I’ll be back. There’s nothing that’s going to stop me from returning and playing this game.”