Belichick talks Jeff Demps trade and LeGarrette Blount

The Patriots were successful in their attempt to move running back/return man Jeff Demps after the Olympic Sprinter announced that his devotion to Track & Field would limit his time on the gridiron. In addition to Demps' open devotion to track, the Pats signed Pro Bowl return specialist Leon Washington this offseason as well.

So the need to keep Demps quickly spiraled down. It made perfect sense for the team to try and trade him for at least some form of compensation. In return for Demps and a seventh-round pick, the Pats acquired hot-headed running back LeGarrete Blount from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Definitely a solid player, but Blount has had some off the field issues. The most notable being when he punched a Boise State player in the face after Oregon's loss a few years back.

Without further ado, here's the classic Bill Belichick response to the trade:

"We ended up working out the deal with Tampa for LeGarrette, and we're excited to have him here," Belichick said. "I think he's a good football player. He's had a lot of production. I think he got into a situation last year where they obviously went with (Doug) Martin (as the starter), but I think this guy is a good football player. We're happy to add him to our team."

"I think we felt like we had an opportunity to get a good player at a price we thought was fair, good value for what we gave up, and so that's why we did it," Belichick answered. "Our job is to acquire good football players. That's what we're in the business of. When you can get a good football player and the price is right, if we can afford the price, depending on what it is, whether that's financial or compensation, depending on what the trade terms are. It's all tied in together. If it's a good player at the right price, and it's affordable, then you have to consider it. Sometimes they work out. Sometimes they don't, but in this case, it did." 

Fairly vague response from BB, but he did acknowledge that he thought the Pats were receiving a very good player in Blount. He did not however, mention if Demps' commitment to track was also a motivation for this trade to go through:

"We just felt the overall trade was good for our football team," Belichick responded. "Anytime you get something, you have to give up something, or most of the time. You usually don't get something for nothing. We gave up something, and we got something. We feel good about what we got. I'm sure Tampa feels good about what they got, so that's why it was done." 

Moving forward, do not worry too much about Blount's supposed punk-like attitude. If there was any locker room that would take care of someone with a bit of a hot head and get the best performance out of him, it would be the Patriots.

Anthony Aidonidis
@aidonidis18
#PowRightInTheKisser