Tag: Armon Watts

Giants signing DT Armon Watts to active roster

The New York Giants are signing DT Armon Watts to the active roster after teams expressed interest in plucking him off the practice squad.

The New York Giants signed veteran defensive tackle Armon Watts to their practice squad last week and now he’s headed to the 53-man roster.

ESPN’s Jordan Raanan reports that the Giants’ decision to add Watts to the active roster comes after other teams expressed interest in potentially signing him off of the reserve unit.

The 6-foot-5, 307-pound Watts began his career as a sixth-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings out of Arkansas back in 2019. He played three seasons in Minnesota where his unit coach was Andre Patterson, who currently serves as the Giants’ defensive line coach.

After being waived by the Vikings, Watts has spent each of the past three seasons with different teams — the Chicago Bears, Pittsburgh Steelers, and the New England Patriots.

The Patriots released him with an injury settlement in August.

Watts has appeared in 72 NFL games with 22 starts. He’s recorded 140 total tackles, seven for a loss, and 8.5 sacks in his career.

After Jordon Riley’s ugly performance against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, expect Watts to come in and steal his role.

[lawrence-related id=734846,734867,734857]

Giants sign DT Armon Watts to practice squad, release DB Duke Shelley

The New York Giants have signed veteran defensive tackle Armon Watts to their practice squad and released defensive back Duke Shelley.

Following a private workout on Monday in East Rutherford, the New York Giants have signed veteran defensive tackle Armon Watts to their practice squad.

The 6-foot-5, 307-pound Watts began his career as a sixth-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings out of Arkansas back in 2019. He played three seasons in Minnesota where his unit coach was Andre Patterson, who currently serves as the Giants’ defensive line coach.

After being waived by the Vikings, Watts has spent each of the past three seasons with different teams — the Chicago Bears, Pittsburgh Steelers, and the New England Patriots.

He was released by the Patriots with an injury settlement in August.

Watts has appeared in 72 NFL games with 22 starts. He’s recorded 140 total tackles, seven for a loss, and 8.5 sacks in his career.

In order to clear space for Watts on the practice squad, the Giants released cornerback Duke Shelley, who was previously elevated in Week 4 against the Dallas Cowboys.

[lawrence-related id=734515,734506,734479]

Giants hosted veteran DL Armon Watts for workout

The New York Giants hosted veteran DL Armon Watts, who played under Andre Patterson in Minnesota, for a workout on Monday.

The New York Giants reportedly had veteran defensive lineman Armon  Watts in for a workout on Monday.

Watts (6-foot-5, 307 pounds) began his career as a sixth-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings out of Arkansas back in 2019. He played three seasons in Minnesota where his unit coach was Andre Patterson, who is currently the Giants’ defensive line coach.

After being waived by the Vikings, Watts has spent each of the last three seasons with different teams — the Chicago Bears, Pittsburgh Steelers, and the New England Patriots, who released him with an injury settlement in late August.

Watts has played in 72 NFL games, starting 22. He has 140 total tackles, seven for a loss, and 8.5 sacks in his career.

The Giants appear to be fairly set on the interior of the defensive line with Dexter Lawrence, Rakeem Nunez-Roches, rookie Elijah Chatman, D.J. Davidson, and Jordon Riley but general manager Joe Schoen is always looking for ways to upgrade the roster.

[lawrence-related id=734506,734479,734494]

Patriots announce seven injury moves ahead of roster cut deadline

This is potentially good news for DT Christian Barmore

The New England Patriots made multiple injury transactions ahead of Tuesday’s 53-man roster deadline.

They placed wide receiver Kendrick Bourne, guard Cole Strange and linebacker Sione Takitaki on the reserve/physically unable to perform list. Defensive tackle Christian Barmore was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list.

Linebacker Marte Mapu, defensive tackle Armon Watts and offensive tackle Calvin Anderson were placed on injured reserve.

Barmore and Mapu are both designated for returns. So the Patriots defense could be getting a huge lift down the road with the two players potentially coming back.

This is a positive sign for Barmore in particular considering he’s out indefinitely after being diagnosed with blood clots. There is no clear timetable for his eventual return, but this latest designation leaves the door open for him to return this season.

That’s great news for a Patriots defense that heavily depends on his presence up front to win in the trenches.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Report: Patriots signing former Steelers veteran defensive tackle

The Patriots are adding to their defensive line depth

The defensive line for the New England Patriots is getting an added boost with the team reportedly signing former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Armon Watts.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported the news on Wednesday.

Right out of the gates in the new league year, the Patriots made efforts to continue to fortify their defensive front. Watts had three previous stops before New England, including stints with the Steelers, Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings.

His snap count dropped off significantly in his one-and-done year in Pittsburgh. After being in on nearly half of the defensive snaps in Chicago, he was only utilized for 28 percent of the snaps behind a powerful defensive front in Pittsburgh.

Watts will likely factor in as a rotational piece on the defensive line for a Patriots team that had one of the best units in the NFL last season.

Revisiting the Bears’ 2022 roster cutdown waiver claims

The Bears will be all over the waiver wire this week when cuts are made, but how did last year’s moves fare?

In just a matter of hours, the Chicago Bears and the rest of the NFL teams will whittle their rosters down to 53 players as they prepare for the regular season. That will leave hundreds of NFL athletes without a team, and they’ll hit the waiver wire with an opportunity to be picked up by a new one. When they do, the Bears will be waiting as they have first dibs at the top of the waiver order.

Just like they had the first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft thanks to having the worst record in the league, the Bears also have the first waiver spot and will keep it until Week 3 of the regular season concludes. Then, waivers will be determined by the current league records, with the worst team getting the first spot.

Last year, the Bears had the seventh spot, but that didn’t stop general manager Ryan Poles from putting in quite a few claims for players. In 2022, the Bears led the league with six waiver claims on the first day (seven in total). Will Poles top that number this year as he looks to strengthen the roster?

Before we dive into possible waiver claims for this year, let’s look back to see how the 2022 waiver claims fared throughout the season.

96 days until Vikings season opener: Every player to wear No. 96

With the Vikings regular season opener just 96 days away, let’s take a look at the player’s who have worn No. 96 for the Vikings.

It’s the final countdown…

Well, sort of.

The Minnesota Vikings will kick off their 2023 regular season in 96 days at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 10.

From now until then, we will take a trip down memory lane and count each day by revisiting the players that have worn that specific jersey number.

The number is currently worn by defensive tackle Ross Blacklock, who was disappointing last season. His spot on the roster is likely up for grabs, so this number could change places before the start of the season.

With 96 days until kickoff, here’s a look at every player to wear No. 96 with the Vikings (via Pro Football Reference):

Bears 2023 free agency preview: Did Armon Watts show enough to come back?

Armon Watts was a popular waiver claim last August. Did he do enough in his one year in Chicago to warrant coming back?

NFL free agency will be here before we know it, and the Chicago Bears have plenty of players set to hit the market. From key starters to valuable reserves, general manager Ryan Poles will have important decisions to make about who to bring back.

Here at Bears Wire, we’re going through each individual player and breaking down their 2022 performance and whether or not they fit in the Bears’ long-term plans.

Next up is defensive tackle Armon Watts, a player the Bears claimed off waivers just prior to the start of the season. He had some nice moments, but was it enough to warrant a return?

Bears 2023 free agency preview: Angelo Blackson is out the door

Angelo Blackson went from Week 1 starter to healthy scratch as the year wore on. His days as a Bear are likely over.

NFL free agency will be here before we know it, and the Chicago Bears have plenty of players set to hit the market. From key starters to valuable reserves, general manager Ryan Poles will have important decisions to make about who to bring back.

Here at Bears Wire, we’re going through each individual player and breaking down their 2022 performance and whether or not they fit in the Bears’ long-term plans.

Our next player is Angelo Blackson, a defensive lineman who saw his snaps diminish as the season went on and is on his way out of Chicago.

Bears Week 8 injury report: Larry Borom, Armon Watts DNP Thursday

The Bears released their second injury report ahead of Sunday’s game against the Cowboys. See Thursday’s report here:

The Chicago Bears (3-4) released their second injury report ahead of Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys (5-2), where a couple notable veterans were sidelined.

Heading into this Week 8 matchup against the Cowboys, the Bears are relatively healthy — except along the offensive line. Center Lucas Patrick landed on injured reserve with a toe injury and right tackle Larry Borom

Here’s a look at the full injury report from Thursday’s practice: