New England Patriots on paper: Armstead, Harrison to NFI/Reserve list

Among several roster moves in anticipation of the mandated reduction of rosters to 75 players by 4:00 pm Tuesday, the New England Patriots have moved defensive tackle Armond Armstead and wide receiver Mark Harrison to the reserved/non-football injury list.

Happier times: Belichick released Koudouvides Monday

The team also has placed defensive tackle Corey Grissom and offensive tackle Markus Zusevics to the injured reserved list, ending their seasons.

Since the NFI works the same as the reserved / Physically Unable to Perform list, the Patriots are obviously holding out hope that Armstead and Harrison, both physical freaks with tremendous upsides, can return to the roster after week 6, though there is no guarantee.  If neither is able to contribute, they could remain on the list for the entire season.

As part of the roster purge, the Patriots have also released wide receiver Kamar Aiken, linebacker Niko Koutouvides, cornerbacks Brandon Jones and LeQuan Lewis and rookie long snapper Mike Zupancic. 

While Aiken had a blazing start to camp, he tailed off recently while dealing with a few nicks.  He and Koutouvides should garner interest elsewhere - and it's not beyond the spectrum of possibility that any of them could be resigned down the road.

These moves could have satisfied the 75 man roster mandate had the team not resigned two players that were previously released.  The resigning of cornerback Stephon Morris and defensive lineman Scott Vallone leaves the Patriots' roster at 77 players, which means that the team must make two additional roster moves within the next 24 hours.