LeGarrette Blount to Visit Steelers

I dont care if Blount stays or leaves. Unless you have a guy like AP, RB's are pretty replaceable. I loved what Blount did during that 3 game stretch where he ran all over everyone but it really caused people to over-rate him.

Blount adds nothing to the passing game, to the extent that pretty much everytime he is on the field the pats run the ball. When he is on the field the offense is 1 dimensional. Id much prefer to let Blount walk and look for a cheap replacement in the draft or in an UDFA.

Not good,he had such a productive year.

BradyFTW! said:

I agree, but I also do believe that Blount has an unusual combination of burst, elusiveness, and size. Once the Pats taught him to run with power and keep his pads down, he came a lot closer to his ceiling, which I believe could be "top 5-10 RB in the NFL" potentially. But even with all of that having been said, I'm still not a fan of matching the Steelers' offer if they want to give him more than, say, Ben Tate got from the Browns.

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My skin is thick, but one of the yahoos on this board had a field day when I compared him to clock killin Corey Dillon circa 2005. Now I know CD circa 1999 - 2004 was a unique blend, but Blount does have a rare combination of power and burst. Sign the beast

BradyFTW! said:

I agree, but I also do believe that Blount has an unusual combination of burst, elusiveness, and size. Once the Pats taught him to run with power and keep his pads down, he came a lot closer to his ceiling, which I believe could be "top 5-10 RB in the NFL" potentially. But even with all of that having been said, I'm still not a fan of matching the Steelers' offer if they want to give him more than, say, Ben Tate got from the Browns.

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I would be stupified shocked if Pittsburgh offered him more than the 3.5m AAV that Tate received from the Browns.

I went into the FA period feeling as though Tate would set the bar for FA RB's, and that he clearly was the best option for a team (especially one like CLE). We've seen some others overpay guys like Toby Gerhert, etc, but I'm doubting that Blount receives anything more than 2m per year myself.

Pittsburgh is looking for a bruising back to take some rotational reps away from bell-cow back Le'Veon Bell, but I can't see them paying more than 2m dollars to do so.

That all said, I agree with your initial comments that if the offer is too high we should let him walk, and 2m dollars per year may arguably be too high.

I do feel as though they are allowing Blount to price himself though, so I don't think we're going to see him sign with PIT right off the bat. Just my opinion though. I think Blount receives something in the ballpark of 50% of Ben Tate's AAV at about 1.75.

breakin said:

I dont care if Blount stays or leaves. Unless you have a guy like AP, RB's are pretty replaceable. I loved what Blount did during that 3 game stretch where he ran all over everyone but it really caused people to over-rate him.

Blount adds nothing to the passing game, to the extent that pretty much everytime he is on the field the pats run the ball. When he is on the field the offense is 1 dimensional. Id much prefer to let Blount walk and look for a cheap replacement in the draft or in an UDFA.

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I agree that he's overrated a bit by many here, or maybe even a lot.

Then again, why mess with what appeared to be a pretty good fit? I'm hoping that they can agree to a deal, even if it's only a one year pact. If not, I'm certainly not going to lose sleep over it though, as you said.

He reminds me of Spikes on offense.

Not a knock on him either. I want him to re-up as a Pat.

I don't want Blount going to the Steelers.

wrangler said:

I still believe Ridley and Vereen as our major backs. jmo

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I agree, but Blount will only help, the combination of Blount and Ridley late last year was pretty awesome.

Unless you're a generational talent, Running Backs are easily replaced and interchangeable. If Blount leaves, so be it. If he comes back, great.

No! No! My binkie. No touch. WAAAAAHHHH!

Mike the Brit said:

No! No! My binkie. No touch. WAAAAAHHHH!

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this is how i feel

strngplyr said:

I agree, but Blount will only help, the combination of Blount and Ridley late last year was pretty awesome.

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ausbacker said:

Unless you're a generational talent, Running Backs are easily replaced and interchangeable. If Blount leaves, so be it. If he comes back, great.

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Both reasonable points, I think.

I suppose it'll all be up to Bill Belichick's value system, and really nothing else. Hopefully no one will overpay him too much.

I don't think we really need to worry about this happening with the Pittsburgh Steelers though. They aren't really known for that type of thing too often, particularly when they already have a blue-chip, bellcow back in L.Bell.

The Steelers would have to give him basically the minimum.

The Steelers seem like a great fit for Blount, if, and only if, Roethlisberger decides to actually hand the ball off.

VrabelJr said:

The Steelers seem like a great fit for Blount, if, and only if, Roethlisberger decides to actually hand the ball off.

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The fact that they lost Jonathan Dwyer makes him an even better fit, but they obviously want Le'Veon Bell out there as much as physically possible. He brings a whole new dimension to that offense, and was an enormous part of their improvement in the 2nd half of the season.

His ability to produce in both the pass/run game is big for them, so Blount wouldn't be anything more than a depth signing for relatively lower money in my opinion.

They may go as high as 1.75--2m dollars, but I think that's a bit high myself. I would imagine that Belichick is hoping that it's no more than 1.5, and that it allows us more leverage over him for our own offer.

supafly said:

I agree that he's overrated a bit by many here, or maybe even a lot.

Then again, why mess with what appeared to be a pretty good fit? I'm hoping that they can agree to a deal, even if it's only a one year pact. If not, I'm certainly not going to lose sleep over it though, as you said.

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If they come to an agreement with him I wont complain as there is a spot for him on the team. I just feel that that spot is minimal and i expect/hope the contract to show that.

If a team like the Steelers over-value him and overpay him I would be more than happy to just let him leave without trying to match the offer.

supafly said:

The fact that they lost Jonathan Dwyer makes him an even better fit, but they obviously want Le'Veon Bell out there as much as physically possible. He brings a whole new dimension to that offense, and was an enormous part of their improvement in the 2nd half of the season.

His ability to produce in both the pass/run game is big for them, so Blount wouldn't be anything more than a depth signing for relatively lower money in my opinion.

They may go as high as 1.75--2m dollars, but I think that's a bit high myself. I would imagine that Belichick is hoping that it's no more than 1.5, and that it allows us more leverage over him for our own offer.

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You were dead on!... until that last paragraph. There is absolutely no chance the Steelers give Blount 2 million. As I posted over in the free agency thread that you guys have runnin' right now, I'd be surprised if he ended up with us next year. He'd provided needed depth and would be effective as a change of pace, short yardage 'Back, but there are RBs later in the draft that could provide the same thing for 1/4 of the cost.

Unless he's willing to play for a little above the vet minimum, I'd be surprised if he ended up with us next year. As you said, his role would be limited as Bell is the... well, Bell cow.

The list of affordable free agent running backs is quite impressive. It's very hard to set a value on these guys until some of them get signed to fill up 90 man rosters.

» Over the Cap- 2014 NFL Free Agent Running Backs

@nfl: Report: Ravens among teams showing interest in LeGarrette Blount Report: LeGarrette Blount on Baltimore Ravens' radar - NFL.com http://t.co/uKF4I8Fuue

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Blount update.

PP2 said:

This thread thanks you for giving it a 300-page life.

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