LeGarrette Blount against the Denver Broncos in the 2013 AFC Championship football game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The New England Patriots didn’t make much of an effort to re-sign LeGarrette Blount due to more important free agents, a difficult cap situation, and much bigger needs at other positions (Stevan Ridley, Shane Vereen, and Brandon Bolden make up a solid RB trio without Blount). I’m sure they would have liked to keep Blount, and there is still a chance they could re-sign him. He did turn his career around with the Patriots organization, and that has plenty to do with no longer being around Greg Schiano, who didn’t give the talented RB2 much of a chance when he took over.
Blount had 772 yards on 153 carries last season for an average of five yards per carry and an excellent seven touchdowns. Working with renowned RBs coach Ivan Fears, Blount was able to improve his speed, power, and pad level in order to break more tackles. He has extremely underrated agility and explosiveness, and he is an excellent No. 2 back in this league.
Per sources close to the Baltimore Sun’s Aaron Wilson, not only will the Pittsburgh Steelers host Blount tomorrow and on Monday, but the rival Baltimore Ravens also have interest. The Steelers significant interest isn’t surprising, as they could really use an RB2 of Blount’s quality to put behind talented second-year pro Le’Veon Bell. Meanwhile, the Ravens already have a talented duo in Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce, even if both were awful last season behind even more putrid blocking. Unless if the Ravens plan on surprising most of us and moving on from Rice, I don’t know why they would want to crowd their backfield with Blount in the mix. Blount’s free agent interest right now is a storyline well-worth watching closely.