Ex-Pro Bowl OT Terron Armstead: How AJ Brown to Patriots Impacts AFC Landscape

Terron Armstead would not give Rich the clean answer he wanted on the A.J. Brown trade. Does it push the Patriots over the top in the AFC? Better, yes. Over the top, not so fast.

New England, Armstead said, got instantly better, and he thinks the Patriots won the situation. They added a sure-fire number one receiver who already has history with Mike Vrabel, and they hand him to Drake Maye, an MVP runner-up coming off a strong second year with more growth expected. But the conference is too crowded for Armstead to crown them.

He ran the field. Buffalo wants its division back after the Patriots took it last year. The Broncos will be in the mix and added Jaylen Waddle. Patrick Mahomes is coming back. And the Chargers fascinate him, with Mike McDaniel now dialing up the offense under Jim Harbaugh, a scheme designer who manufactures creases, and key pieces like Slater and Mack returning.

Then Rich steered him to the AFC North, and Armstead did not hesitate. Out of Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cincinnati and Cleveland, he is going back to Baltimore. The Ravens bothered him last year, he admitted, because their preseason roster looked like a Super Bowl team and then they missed the playoffs entirely. He expects a correction. He also thinks Cincinnati is better than the quiet around the team suggests.

The intrigue, to Armstead, is what Baltimore's offense becomes now that the coordinator who helped unlock Lamar Jackson's MVP form has left to run the Browns. In his place, the Ravens brought in Declan Doyle, who comes from the Sean Payton and Ben Johnson coaching tree.

Armstead's read is that Doyle brings the missing ingredient: consistency. Last year's Ravens offense, he said, was baffling, with whole quarters that produced no first downs and no points despite Lamar's talent and through his injuries. Doyle should deliver a system with more rhythm, and paired with a Derrick Henry who is still performing at a high level, Armstead sees that offense becoming consistently dangerous.

For all the noise about the Patriots loading up, in other words, Armstead's pick to come out of the AFC North is the team that quietly retooled around its quarterback and running back. New England got better. So, he believes, did Baltimore.