Philadelphia Eagles find RB, sign LeGarrette Blount

May 17 (UPI) -- It surprised some fans when the Philadelphia Eagles waited until the fourth round to address its running back situation in the 2017 NFL Draft. But the franchise made up for it Wednesday, signing free agent LeGarrette Blount.

The team announced a one-year deal with the veteran tailback.

The Eagles had the No. 11 rushing offense in the NFL last season, using a committee including: Ryan Mathews, Darren Sproles, Wendell Smallwood and Kenjon Barner.

Sproles is likely playing his final NFL season while Ryan Mathews is now a long shot to stay on the roster, and is on the final year of his contract. Smallwood is entering his second season and Barner is now a member of the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Eagles' fourth-round pick, Donnell Pumphrey, is even smaller than Sproles and is expected to be a change-of-pace option in Frank Reich's offense. The team also signed rookie free agent Corey Clement.

The Eagles haven't had a running back rush for more than 1,000 yards or at least 10 touchdowns in a single season since the 2015 departure of LeSean McCoy.

Blount, 30, led the NFL with 18 rushing touchdowns last season. He also ran for a career-high 1,161 rushing yards. Last season marked the first time since his rookie year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that Blount eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards. He is also known for ball security, having lost just four fumbles since 2011.

NFL.com reports that the deal is worth a maximum of $2.8 million. Blount had offers from the Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants and was also linked to the Baltimore Ravens.

Blount would have earned a base salary of $1.1 million, with a max value of $2.1 million in New England. The Patriots used a rare May 9 tender on the running back last week, enabling the franchise access to compensatory draft selections if any deal was made during a specific time frame.

"We're always looking for complementary players when we go over our roster and positions," Eagles executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman said in a statement. "Obviously, LeGarrette had a tremendous amount of success with New England last year, rushing for over 1,000 yards and scoring 18 touchdowns and winning a Super Bowl. He sets the tempo for your team as a running back."

"He can run between the tackles and he can drag tacklers down the field. He can do everything you look for in the running game. He had runs of plus-20 yards (Blount had seven rushes of 20-plus yards last season, tied for sixth most in the league) and he's won two Super Bowls in the last four years. For us, people are going to see that his size is what jumps out at you, but he's also got quick feet for a big man. He has a complementary skill set that works well in our backfield."

Blount should immediately have midrange RB2 status and can be looked at past the fourth round in a standard league fantasy football draft. He has much less value in PPR formats.