Armond Armstead signs with Patriots

[Uncle Rico]

I just read this guy has a Heart Attack that forced him to play for the CFL? That sure doesn't sound good.

From the Reiss story I linked to above:

His attorney claims Armstead suffered a heart attack in early 2011, the alleged result of team doctors treating him with the painkiller Toradol. He was not medically cleared to play in 2011, and sued the university in August 2012 for unspecified damages.

 

[Deus Irae]

This is potentially tremendous news. If the kid can be what his potential indicates, this team just got much stronger on the line while keeping draft picks in position to address the other significant issues.

Armstead
Re-sign Welker
Re-sign Talib or find a suitable replacement
S - round 1 or round 2 trade up
WR - round 1 or round 2 trade up
OL
healthy return of Ballard


That'd be a hell of a promising start to the offseason, IMO, particularly if it's accompanied by the re-signing of Edelman to serve as a Swiss Army Knife sort of player and the re-signing of Woodhead to serve as Woodhead. Do that, and find a way to fleece the Chiefs out of Poe, and I'll need to visit my doctor about a "more than 4 hours" issue.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I just read this guy has a Heart Attack that forced him to play for the CFL? That sure doesn't sound good.

The cardiac event was caused by an overdose of painkiller. Hes been medically cleared.

I'm pretty sure the Pats have done a ton of tests to ensure that his heart has no natural defects as is 100% healthy.

 

[patsinthesnow]

Cmon. You have to admit that Ninkovich has played way over his head and is a valuable player. It's not his fault that the BB/the team has relied on him to be something he really isn't.

I'll take it a step further and say he really is a starting NFL DE. He's not your main pass rusher you want on the line, but when you take into account pass rushing and setting the edge abilities, he's a solid starter. It's not his fault an UDFA started opposite of him in the AFCCG.

Even if Armstead pans out to hopefully everything we want him to be, Ninko can still play DE on third downs. Jones-Wilfork-Armstead-Ninkovich

 

[1%er]

Per Curran :

Tom E. Curran ‏@tomecurran
The Patriots have signed Armond Armstead, according to a source. Former USC player was productive as CFL pass rusher in 2012.

We needed some good news.

I just forgot they lost the AFC Championship game. This is huge for a number of reasons.

Not only is he an excellent player with a ton of potential but he eliminates the need for the Patriots to use one of their top 2 picks on a penetrating DT/3-4DE.

Gives us excellent depth going into 2013/14

3-4DE/DT
Armstead
Deaderick

NT
Wilfork
Love

Also allows us to run a true 3-4 defense against teams that run the ball with

LOLB - Hightower
LE - Deaderick
NT - Wilfork
RE - Armstead
ROLB - Jones
SILB - Spikes
WILB - Mayo

Actually after writing this I want us to switch to a 3-4 that is a huge powerful front 7. Rotate Nink in as pass rusher in to replace Deaderick in sub-packages..

 

[Get it shawtaay]

I'll take it a step further and say he really is a starting NFL DE. He's not your main pass rusher you want on the line, but when you take into account pass rushing and setting the edge abilities, he's a solid starter. It's not his fault an UDFA started opposite of him in the AFCCG.

Even if Armstead pans out to hopefully everything we want him to be, Ninko can still play DE on third downs. Jones-Wilfork-Armstead-Ninkovich

Personally I want to see Ninkovich off the field and getting some rest on run downs. That's not his game. Bring him fresh off the bench as a situational pass rusher and he'll produce just as many sacks and splashy plays.

 

[Patradomous]

Sign Talib and Ed Reed then draft a tall wideout.

Interior OL needs help too center.

 

[Uncle Rico]

Weak video quality and the overuse of effects is pretty gross, but, worth a peek:

Armond Armstead 2012 CFL All-Star Highlight Video - YouTube

 

[Marqui]

Cmon. You have to admit that Ninkovich has played way over his head and is a valuable player. It's not his fault that the BB/the team has relied on him to be something he really isn't.

True. He's a very good player, my problem with him was he's not a great player this team should build it's defense around. But like you said, that wasn't really his fault.

Hopefully this is a 4 year deal.

I'm ecstatic about this. I view Armstead as my #1 "draft target" for the Pats. It's like having two 1st round picks this year. He will be the beast LDE/DT that we lacked this year, another physical presence alongside Wilfork and Jones.

Our defense is already better. I really think this kid could be a slightly lesser version of a Calais Campbell/JJ Watt kind of player. I can't describe how happy I am about this signing.

Looks like you were right about him waiting on the Pats finishing their season to sign here. They either gave him a good chunk of change or Belichick is a great recruiter.

 

[Kontradiction]

What a fantastic way to start a (hopefully) very big offseason for this team.

 

[SONS_OF_BELICHICK]

Any more CFL stars we can sign???

 

[Get it shawtaay]

Slightly OT, but this looks to be the nail in the coffin to the Jermaine Cunningham era in New England. Francis and Armstead are both DE/DT types.

 

[Big-T]

Draft a DE (or pick one up in FA) and have Armstead inside next to Wilfork, generate some interior pressure so a QB has nowhere to go but into the arms of one of the ends. Ninkovich can be used as a LB or DE when the situation requires his versatility.

As I said in another thread - the last time the Patriots lost a Championship game they went out and assembled the best offense in the history of the game and added a pass rusher so don't be surprised to see something big happen this year too.

 

[RobertWeathers]

They either gave him a good chunk of change or Belichick is a great recruiter.

Well, BB and Pioli sold Rodney Harrison over cheese fries at the Ground Round in Foxboro. Maybe Caserio and Patricia grabbed the Amex Corporate Card and took him to Toby Keiths bar or CBS Scene and bought him a turkey club.

 

[MTM558]

I've seen a little of him in the CFL. He has the potential and skillset, no doubt. He can be the next Cameron Wake, though more of a Tackle than an End.

Let us hope he pans out for the team and isn't another Markell Carter. Hyped but nothing to show.

 

[resdubwhite]

Great news. Good luck to the lad and good health to him also. Always great to have more potential at DE.

So we're set at DE for the draft then.

 

[Big-T]

Any more CFL stars we can sign???

Weston Dressler - a smurf WR looked somewhat decent the 3 times I saw him play this year

 

[aluminum seats]

All together now, let's count our blessings for being a fan of this team.

On Monday, we nurse our wounds from falling short in the playoffs (but we still made BACK TO BACK AFC CHAMPIONSHIPS GAMES!) Tuesday? Time to start thinking of next year!

Awesome news.

 

[Henroc]

Yes we need OL help but i believe we can draft a player in mid to later rounds to help in that area. i say we sign G jennings, draft T Austin. then look to fix cb/s position with a possible hybrid player.t austin is a player that you can't pass up. yes he's not a tall WR and that's probably what you guys want but all the other players are just tall and fast and play pretty good. But Austin is welker 3.0 i mean have you seen this kids highlights. Tavon Austin 2012 Highlights
And this is before you develop him even further. I heard somewhere that the patriots might be looking to trade mallet for a higher 1st round pick. If that happens, I say pats trade out from that higher 1st round pick for another 1st while gaining other picks also. So who knows what the offseason will look like. It could change a whole lot depending on what pats are trying to do in the Draft. It looks to be an exciting off season so far though. Is September here yet? lol

 

[ausbacker]

This is legitimately good news after a horrible start to our week.