Saints left tackle Terron Armstead will miss several weeks with an elbow injury (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Armstead will likely land on the injured reserve list, but it’s not believed to be a season-ender. 
The injury forced Armstead to exit early from Sunday’s victory over the Patriots. It’s somewhat familiar territory for the 30-year-old — he’s never played a full 16-game slate as a pro.
Armstead has been with the Saints for his entire pro career. He’s served as New Orleans’ starting left tackle for the last eight seasons, performing as one of the best left tackles in the league. Armstead earned a Pro Bowl nod for his work last year, his third straight accolade.
In the meantime, the Saints will use James Hurst in Armstead’s stead. They’ll also keep their fingers crossed for center Erik McCoy, who has not played since the season opener.
Armstead is currently on course for free agency next spring, where he’d be one of the top players available. The Saints would ideally like to keep him, but they’d have to top Trent Williams‘ megadeal while the rest of the league bids with an increased cap of about $210MM.
Armstead is certainly worth a deal for NO, despite their cap woes. The problem that they have is that they rather stupidly spent their money where they shouldn’t have on that line (Peat) and kept selecting high quality players who will also need deals themselves (not a bad thing necessarily, but rather limiting when it comes to future spending). Winston will also need a new deal, as will Hill. I think that there is a good chance that neither of the two are signed this year, and that New Orleans will select a rookie to build around. That makes Armstead an even more important piece on the line.
Even if Winston is retained, good protection will be absolutely key to limiting his turnovers and allowing him to take his time in the pocket.