New Orleans Saints running back Deuce McAllister has agreed to push back payment of the $1 million roster bonus he’s owed while he and the team evaluate the rehabilitation progress of his surgically repaired knees.

“It’s pretty much both parties working together,” McAllister said. “It’s not something they were interested in doing if I was healthy, but at the same time, they want to make sure they’re protected.”

McAllister’s contract called for him to receive a $1 million bonus today, but it now calls for him to receive the bonus on April 15. It’s entirely possible that if McAllister hadn’t agreed to delay payment of the bonus, the Saints simply would have released him, and it’s still possible that they’ll release him at some point in the next month. McAllister is scheduled to make $3.6 million in base salary and a $100,000 workout bonus in addition to the $1 million roster bonus.

Although McAllister said, “I think, honestly, if I would have pushed for it, I think I could have gotten it,” he acknowledged that, “in doing that, they probably would have wanted to lower my pay.”

McAllister tore his left ACL in Week 3 last season. He also had microfracture surgery on his right knee, which still has problems stemming from a season-ending injury in 2005.