Reports: Olympic sprinter Demps to join Pats

FOXBORO -- During his Friday press conference, Patriots personnel chief Nick Caserio would not confirm reports that Olympic sprinter Jeff Demps has a deal in place to join the Patriots. 

There were conflicting reports earlier in the day regarding the team and Demps, who played running back at the University of Florida but was not drafted in April. Tampa TV station Fox 13 reported Friday that Demps has agreed to join the Patriots over the Buccaneers, and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport tweeted that one of Demps' agents confirmed it. However, other outlets reported that no deal was in place after speaking with a Demps representative.

"There's no news to report," Caserio said. "We have our list of players, players that will be eligible for the draft and we evaluate those players."

Demps, 5-foot-7, 175 pounds, captured a silver medal for being part of the United States' 4x100-meter relay team at the London Olympics. He did not participate in the final race but contribued during preliminary heats.

In four years at Florida, Demps rushed for 2,470 yards and 23 touchdowns, and he averaged 28.8 yards per kickoff return.

"Good with the ball, good speed, caught the ball OK, a little bit undersized," Caserio said. "They've had some good offensive players, he and [Chris] Rainey split some time so they kind of used him some different ways. Florida has had a track record of some pretty good football players to come out of there. Anytime we go into a school, we'll look at everybody, regardless of whatever his circumstance is."

Last season, he carried the ball 98 times for 569 yards and six touchdowns, and he caught 16 passes for 172 yards. His 5.8 yards-per-carry average as a senior was the lowest of his college career. He projects as a potential kick returner in the NFL.

"He had a little bit of production," Caserio said. "How that translates over, the schemes are different. Any returner that comes into the NFL, whatever did in college schematically is probably going to be a lot different than what we're going to ask him to do."

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