Terron Armstead‘s Miami visit has produced an accepted contract offer. The veteran tackle is signing a five-year deal with the Dolphins, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
The sides agreed on a five-year contract worth $75MM, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets, with Schefter adding the Dolphins will guarantee Armstead $43.37MM (Twitter link). Armstead can earn up to $87.5MM on the deal through incentives.
While Armstead delayed his decision by a bit, keeping the door open with New Orleans, he will head to Florida to give the Dolphins a high-end left tackle option. Pro Football Focus ranked the Dolphins’ offensive line 32nd in 2021. The unit featured multiple starters change positions either ahead of last season or during the campaign. Armstead’s role figures to be solidified.
Armstead operated as the Saints’ starting left tackle for the past eight seasons. While the former third-round pick missed some time due to injury, including an extended stretch last season, he hit the market as one of the top players available. The 30-year-old blocker is a three-time Pro Bowler who played a key role in the Saints’ late-2010s resurgence. Elbow and knee trouble limited Armstead in 2021, a season in which he played eight games. The decorated veteran underwent knee surgery this offseason.
This contract is similar to the one he inked back in 2016, a five-year deal worth $64.5MM. While quality left tackles in their prime do not hit the market often, the Saints prioritized the younger Ryan Ramczyk by extending their right tackle on a top-level deal last year. Ramczyk’s contract contains escalators that would change the terms of the deal if the former first-rounder excels at left tackle. Regardless of New Orleans’ plan with its well-regarded right tackle, this ends a five-year Armstead-Ramczyk partnership.
Miami’s left tackle spot has been in flux since the team dealt Laremy Tunsil to Houston in 2019. Successor option Austin Jackson, a 2020 first-round pick, has since been moved to guard. The Dolphins used 2021 second-round pick Liam Eichenberg at left tackle extensively last season, but the Notre Dame product will not keep the gig. Armstead and Connor Williams have committed to Miami, with the latter likely claiming one of the team’s guard jobs. The Dolphins moved Robert Hunt from tackle to guard during the 2021 offseason, and PFF graded Hunt as the team’s best O-line regular last season.
The team may not be done up front. They are planning to add a center, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tweets. But new running backs Raheem Mostert and Chase Edmonds already have multiple well-paid blockers set to clear lanes for them.
I don’t know what this guy’s potential is, but I know the Dolphins needed a LT upgrade. Happy to see them address the need.
He’s one of the very best left tackles in football when he’s healthy. He’s never healthy for a whole season. So the potential is he locks down one side of the line as well as anyone for 15 games. The downside is he misses a lot more games than that and the Dolphins have to pay him while playing a lineman Grier drafted. But he’s really, really good when he suits up.
Bet you wish they had signed him up in New Jersey, hey Ooof? Make up for that Joe Douglas disaster drafting of Bechton..? It’s not a big deal, just be patient, when Mormon Drew Lock fizzles out in a few years, the Johnsons will go through another hiring process.
I will take my chances with Benton and a rebound.
Fant is not so bad as a backup plan.
I guess the Dolphins are now super bowl contenders with this signing?
Do you like the smell of my jock that much, Stabby, or are you judtbthat bored and lonely? You can’t troll a Jets fan about being a Jets fan. The Jets do that better than you ever could.
You really don’t know who Terron Armstead is?
He’s a great LT but the Jets are not going far so it’s better to go with Becton and Fant as a backup at this point.
This signing doesn’t move the Dolphins past the Bills or Pats and with the stacked AFC not a playoff contender either.
I know who he is. What I meant was I can’t predict how well he’s going to work out for Miami—none of us can—but I’m glad they addressed the position as opposed to simply hoping one of their draft picks miraculously comes around in year 3 or 4. Have to try something.
Every time I read his name I think someone got arrested
That 2020 draft for Miami sucked.
Tried to trade up for Joe Burrow and failed, then too Tua 5th over Justin Herbert 6th.
Took Austin Jackson as a tackle and is now a guard, when they could’ve just taken Cesar Ruiz.
Then ofcourse with their third first round pick Noah Igbinoghene…..
Imagine if they had ended up taking Herbert, Ruiz, forget CB get Jonathan Taylor.
Franchise QB and RB both arguably top 5 in the league already.
They would’ve found a way to squander Herbert
Not only that, but now they’re left looking for a LT to replace the pro-bowler they traded away to get all those picks.
Funny thing is both teams entering the two drafts needed to get a QB and LT and add a WR probably.
Dolphins could’ve done what the chargers did which was get Hebert then get Slater and with a 3rd get a WR (Palmer).
Instead they choose the wrong QB, then took the fancy WR (Waddle) and tried their luck spending money on Will Fuller aswell. Completely missed on LT (Austin Jackson) and are now having to pay the big bucks to have a good LT in Armstead but are still left with the bad QB and no where near playoff contention.
It’s a couple bad calls but it’s what separates the front offices from the bad
“Nowhere near playoff contention?” Want to look at their record the last two years and try again?
While I think Tua will still be good, there’s no question some of those early-round picks (Jackson, Igbo) are looking more like misses than hits. Even so, they had winning seasons. The only question is if McDaniel can put together the new pieces quickly enough for 2022.
A good move. Now hoping he can stay healthy
Huge loss for New Orleans.
Obviously a sizable loss, but New Orleans was expecting this for some time. Not to mention, they already have experienced Armstead missing like 40% of games since entering the league. They know what it’s like to bot have him on the field. He’s all-world but he’s fragile.