Patriots, Buccaneers Strike Deal For Excess Running Backs

The Patriots and Buccaneers have struck a deal that will have each team sending their excess and unwanted running backs to the other team.

The move was just the latest in what has been a long and exciting extended weekend for the NFL. The 2013 NFL Draft has been going on over the last few days and teams all over the league have been using the event to reshape their rosters.

The deal has the New England Patriots sending Jeff Demps along with the 229th pick in the draft to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs are sending former Oregon star LeGarrette Blount to the Pats.

The Patriots and Buccaneers were able to strike the deal because both teams no longer felt as though the players that were involved in the deal fit into their plans for the upcoming season.

Tampa had been shopping Blount around to several different teams and wasn’t being particularly picky about the teams they tried to make a deal with. New England apparently changed the way they viewed Demps as a member of their roster when he decided to try and run track for the US Olympic team.

At one time, Blount was considered a franchise type player for Tampa. In his rookie season the running back managed 1,007 yards while averaging 5.0 yards per carry and scoring six touchdowns. His second year in the league, those numbers declined to just 781 yards and a 4.2 YPC number. Last season he rushed for just 141 yards on just 41 carries.

Demps has not appeared in a game in the NFL. The former Florida Gator wasn’t drafted after his senior season because of his apparent desire to run track. He was signed as a free agent by New England last August.

Just how much the Patriots and Buccaneers struck deal actually affects either team is something that we’re going to have to wait a while to see.