Ian Rapoport mentioned on “Good Morning Football” Monday that the Patriots haven’t budged on the initial offer they made to free agent RB LeGarrette Blount at the start of free agency.
“It doesn’t sound like the Patriots have moved at all from their original offer, given a little less than a month ago when free agency started,” Rapoport said. “They like LeGarrette Blount. They have strong feelings for him. He actually wants to return as well.”
The main reason why the Patriots have yet to improve their offer, according to Rapoport, is the fact that he has yet to receive a competing offer from another and has yet to even take a visit up to this point.
“The Patriots really have not upped their offer because at this point LeGarrette Blount does not have a competing offer, has not yet been able to take a visit with another team, which might spur the Patriots to increase the amount of money they’re willing to give him,” Rapoport explained. “What LeGarrette Blount needs now is a little bit of leverage to get the Patriots to pay a little bit more than they originally offered. Because otherwise it just doesn’t seem like he’s thrilled to come back and make less than, say, Rex Burkhead is making for the Patriots.”
The Patriots brought in Adrian Peterson last week for a visit and workout and a report surfaced Monday that Marshawn Lynch has expressed interest in playing for New England, depending on how things play out with the Raiders.
This and the fact that there’s a very deep running back class all works against Blount.
Free agency clearly hasn’t played out as Blount had hoped, even though he’s coming off of a season in which he rushed for over 1,000 yards and scored a staggering 18 touchdowns for the Patriots.
Blount, 30, originally signed on with the Titans as an undrafted free agent out of Oregon back in 2010. He was unable to make the Titans’ 53-man roster during his rookie season, but was later claimed off of waivers by the Buccaneers.
Tampa Bay elected to trade Blount to the Patriots in return for Jeff Demps and a late-round pick after three years. Blount had a brief stint with the Steelers before he was cut loose during the 2013 season and later re-signed by the Patriots.
Last year, the Patriots brought Blount back on a one-year, $760,000 contract.
In 2016, Blount rushed for 1,161 yards on 299 carries (3.9 YPC) to go along with 18 rushing touchdowns and seven receptions for 38 yards receiving. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 39 running back out of 62 qualifying players.
We have him featured in our Top 50 Available Free Agents list.
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