His lack of commitment was startling to coaches from the day he was claimed off waivers from the Titans an undrafted rookie in 2010. For the first two weeks after being acquired by Tampa Bay, Blount, who was suspended at Oregon for punching a Boise State player, never made it to work on time and compiled fines of more than $15,000. Exasperated, then-coach Raheem Morris and general manager Mark Dominik ordered him to hire a car service with a driver to wake him up in the morning and transport him less than 3 miles from his apartment to One Buc Place. After a few weeks, they canceled the car service for one day. And Blount was late. He continued to need a driver to get to work in 2011. But his poor preparation habits also spread to the meeting room, where coaches said he would sometimes fall asleep.

Not everyone needs to be "Packers people" to contribute, but that's pretty bad if true. Keep him away.

TAMPA Tampa Bay Buccaneers RB LeGarrette Blount closed out last week's 38-10 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs, running five times for 53 yards and a touchdown during the final offensive drive.

The Bucs don't plan to use Blount exclusively in a closer's role, but closing out games could become a big part of Blount's job description.

Tampa Bay (2-3) plays the New Orleans Saints (1-4) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.

"Every game is different, but that is a nice model that happened (Sunday),'' Bucs coach Greg Schiano said. "After playing for three hours in 85-degree heat and now you have this 250-pound man coming at you. That would work nice.''

Blount certainly wouldn't mind. He yearns to regain his role as a starter and is eager to get more work early in games, but knows he's suited to fill a closer's role and would gladly accept it.

"It's fun being a reliever,'' Blount said. "If I can, I want to get in early. But if I get in later, I'll just play later. I have a passion for the game and whenever I get a chance to play I just make the best of my opportunities.''

I've been rethinking my position on trading for a RB, and I think I am all for it now. Getting a top tier RB in our backfield right now with Rodgers would help both the offense (to extend drives), and the defense (to keep them off the field as much as possible).

Ted, make the trade! I would prefer either of Blount or Jackson. Do it!!!! Trade a #3. Go for it. The one you didn't trade for Lynch got us Green. Don't make the same mistake twice.

To be fair though, having Lynch on this team and his new contract would probably mean losing another key player; perhaps Raji, Jennings, etc. Perhaps that would be worth it, but there's something to say about a cheaper player to preserve other seemingly more important positions, in this offense anyway. Additionally, Lynch is a guy that needs carries to really get going, which is something he sometimes wouldn't get in this offense.

I'm still on the fence about paying big money to keep raji around.

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.

I've been rethinking my position on trading for a RB, and I think I am all for it now. Getting a top tier RB in our backfield right now with Rodgers would help both the offense (to extend drives), and the defense (to keep them off the field as much as possible).

Ted, make the trade! I would prefer either of Blount or Jackson. Do it!!!! Trade a #3. Go for it. The one you didn't trade for Lynch got us Green. Don't make the same mistake twice.

Buffalo got a 4th from Seattle in 2011 and a 5th in 2012. That would be trading Lynch for House and Manning. Not Green.

It would have taken the Packers late 3rd round pick to better Seattle's early 4th rounder. And then the Packers late 4th round pick in 2012 to better Seattle's early 5th round pick.

It would have taken the Packers late 3rd round pick to better Seattle's early 4th rounder. And then the Packers late 4th round pick in 2012 to better Seattle's early 5th round pick.

Buffalo got a 4th from Seattle in 2011 and a 5th in 2012. That would be trading Lynch for House and Manning. Not Green.

It would have taken the Packers late 3rd round pick to better Seattle's early 4th rounder. And then the Packers late 4th round pick in 2012 to better Seattle's early 5th round pick.

It wasn't an early 4th round pick... it was the 25th pick in the 4th round.
And the 5th round pick was the 12th pick in the round.

So, what the picks ACTUALLY were, is not relevant as at the time, no one knew. Thus, the perception was, the Packers would be selecting LATER in each round than the Seahawks, meaning the Bills would want a perceived Packers late 3rd to beat out the Seahawks early 4th.

All I'm saying is: make the freaking trade Ted! ;-)

I think a 3rd is worth what he would now add to the team. Figure, we trade for him tomorrow. We play both Starks and Green Sunday v. AZ, then Jackson has two solid weeks to get up to speed with our O.

But Jackson is 29 and seems like RBs drop off around 30...