ESPN Milwaukee is reporting that Anthony Hargrove is headed to Green Bay. Hargrove’s Tweet:
Play with Pickett when he was a Ram. Going to be great playing with him again…
The 272-lb. defensive end may seem too small for the position in a 3-4, but generally if a player has success at both end and tackle in a 4-3 they can handle the end responsibilities in a 3-4. When he earned a Super Bowl ring with the New Orleans Saints, Gregg Williams used him at tackle.
But there lies another potential problem: Hargrove was part of the BountyGate team and could be facing punishment from the NFL. It is expected Jonathan Vilma, whose role was the most pronounced on the team, will be suspended for one season as coach Sean Payton was. It is unknown who else from the team will get how much time, but as many as 26 other players may face staggered suspensions.
It is unlikely Hargrove’s previous suspensions—twice for violating the league’s substance abuse policy—will play into a disciplinary suspension. It is also unlikely he will face more than four games.
However, if the league does not allow the players’ new teams to stagger suspensions, they could be without both Hargrove and Mike Neal for the same four games. That would leave Green Bay desperately thin (both literally and figuratively) on the defensive line into October.
Moreover, any further drug-related suspensions would be the end of Hargrove’s career, so you can bet the Packers are not putting much guaranteed money on the table. But if he stays in uniform, seeing him in on pass downs and Daniel Muir on run downs could give the Packers a defensive line more comparable to the championship defense of 2010 than the sieve line of 2011.
Original Story:
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March 27, 2012
