Nate Burleson

looked directly into the camera Monday morning and made one thing clear: Reggie Bush should come to Detroit.

The Detroit Lions wide receiver was in NFL Network studios this morning as a special guest on NFL AM's "Double Coverage" segment.

He and Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark were asked a series of questions, such as "Who is the best wide receiver in the league?" and "Who will go No. 1 in the 2013 NFL draft."

But it was the third question of the segment that prompted Burleson to make a sales pitch. Which free agent would you want to join your team?

"Where's my camera at? Am I right here?" Burleson asked, pointing out towards the TV audience. "Reggie Bush, you already took your talents to South Beach. Come on to Detroit. I know it's not as sunny, and it might not be the same type of glitz and glamour, but you can do wonders for us."

Bush is a free agent. He rushed for 2,072 yards in two seasons with the Miami Dolphins. He ran for 996 in 2012 on a career-high 227 attempts. In the last two seasons, he's has 13 runs of 20-plus yards.

As a team, Detroit rushed for 1,613 yards as a team this past season (23rd in the NFL) and just over 100 yards per game.

"You know we lost Jahvid Best, he was the speed guy, the complement guy to a guy like Mikel Leshoure. Reggie Bush has proven that he's still explosive," Burleson said.

In five years with the Saints, the 28-year-old from USC never eclipsed 600 yards in a season. Unhappy with his role on the team, Bush left for the Dolphins in 2011, where he has doubled his ground production. He has just over 4,000 rushing yards in his seven-year career.

"Me and Ryan talked about it off air," Burleson said. "He still has that legend behind him. He came from USC and everybody knows he can go out there and shake a little bit, wiggle a little bit and break that big run. And for him to put up 2,000 yards the last couple years, proves that he's still an elite running back."

Burleson's shout out to Bush isn't the only sign that he's a popular guy around the Motor City. As was pointed out by Pride of Detroit's Twitter account over the weekend, @reggie_bush has a new follower, and it's Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. That brings Stafford's selective total of people he follows up to 111 and started the rumors of Bush to Detroit.

"If I can get Reggie Bush in a Detroit Lions uniform?," Burleson said with a grin, "Ooooh wee ... watch out."

Free agency opens March 12.

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