The NFL trade deadline is approaching, as any opportunity to trade players within the NFL this season will end on Thursday. That means we'll see a lot of rumors, most of them turning to absolutely nothing. One of them certainly is significant and has consistently been mentioned: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers want to trade Legarrette Blount.
Trading Blount would be perfectly logical. Doug Martin looks like a feature back, the Bucs have two backups in the form of D.J. Ware and Michael Smith and Blount is barely featuring in this offense. He could also be worth a bit: he's incredibly cheap this season, as he's playing under an exclusive-rights tender (worth just slightly more than the minimum salary), and he'll be a restricted free agent next year.
Despite all of those factors, ESPN's John Clayton reports that Legarrette Blount could be had for just a seventh-round pick (via Evan Silva). Apparently the Bucs are in the market of handing out players for peanuts. After all, they received nothing for Kellen Winslow, barely anything for Brian Price and simply cut Tanard Jackson and Dezmon Briscoe. Getting value hasn't been at the forefront of their minds since Greg Schiano got here.
Still, trading Blount for a seventh-round pick seems silly. Blount is far from the greatest running back in the NFL, but he's still a useful player. Giving 30 touches per game to Doug Martin isn't exactly sustainable, and Blount is a decent if inconsistent runner. Despite losing Carl Nicks for the season, the Bucs have a chance to make the playoffs and Blount could play a role there. Is a measly seventh-round pick worth more than a decent backup running back?
If the Bucs do trade him for a seventh-rounder, that will tell us exactly what they think of Legarrette Blount: someone who is useless on this team.