Dolphins five-time Pro Bowler Terron Armstead to retire after 12 NFL seasons

One of the NFL’s best offensive tackles the league has seen across the past decade is tapping out after 12 seasons.

Terron Armstead is retiring after a dozen NFL seasons in which he played for both the New Orleans Saints (2013-2021) and the Miami Dolphins (2022-2024). Armstead, a third-round pick of the Saints in the 2013 NFL Draft, totaled five Pro Bowl selections since entering the league in 2013, tied for the fourth-most by an offensive tackle in that span with Laremy Tunsil of the Washington Commanders. Trent Williams (10), Tyron Smith (8) and Lane Johnson (6) are the only offensive tackles with more Pro Bowls over the course of Armstead’s career. He also added a second team All-Pro nod in 2018. New Orleans was a top 10 scoring offense in every season of Armstead’s career as a Saint until his last year there in 2021, the first year of Brees’ retirement. 

Armstead came to Miami on a five-year, $75 million contract signed in free agency during the 2022 offseason, and he tacked on his final two Pro Bowl selections in his first two years there. 

He’s going out on top at the age of 33 with Pro Football Focus rating him its fourth-highest offensive grade among offensive tackles in 2024 at 89.4. Armstead was PFF’s eighth-best pass-blocking offensive tackle (84.8 pass-blocking grade) and sixth-best run-blocking offensive tackle (83.4) in 2024. Miami’s Patrick Paul, a 6-foot-7 offensive tackle who weight 332 pounds, could be his successor at left tackle after being selected in the second round (55th overall) in the 2024 NFL Draft. 

The Dolphins could also select another offensive tackle, armed with the 2025 NFL Draft’s 13th overall pick as one of its six picks within the draft’s first five rounds. How Miami addresses Armstead’s void is critical given quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s injury history.