When Jeff Demps announced earlier this offseason that he would be making track and field his athletic priority over football, it was unclear how or if the Patriots would move forward with a player who wanted football to be a sideline to his main gig.
According to Demps’ agent Daniel Rose, a trade is one of the possible avenues that the Patriots have mulled over. Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald reports that Rose said the Patriots have “discussed the possibility” of trading the former University of Florida running back that the Patriots signed last summer after Demps competed as a sprinter in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Howe believes there’d be interest from other teams, but it’s “unclear” whether the Patriots were going to try to go that route.
The Patriots only had three weeks to take a look at Demps before final cuts, which led to them keeping him on the active roster just long enough for them to put him on injured reserve without having to clear waivers first. Demps’ decision to make track his top priority likely alters whatever plans the Patriots had for him since he’d be limiting his availability to the team for portions of offseason and in-season work while competing around the world.
Any team acquiring Demps would have to deal with those same limitations, but there are a lot of seventh-round picks who don’t see much of the field so there could be someone willing to spend something in that range to roll the dice on a player with world class speed.
