MIAMI — Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Terron Armstead announced his retirement Saturday night, ending his decorated 12-year NFL career.
The five-time Pro Bowl standout signed a five-year, $75 million contract with the Dolphins in 2022 and spent three seasons as the team’s starting left tackle. During that span, he was named to two pro bowls and was a three-time team captain.
Armstead, 33, announced his retirement at a party he hosted Saturday night in Miami to celebrate his next chapter, with several former teammates in attendance.
A third-round pick out of Arkansas-Pine Bluff by the New Orleans Saints in 2013, the Cahokia, Illinois native set an NFL combine record for an offensive lineman with a 4.71-second 40 yard dash.
Armstead spent the first nine seasons of his career with the Saints before signing with Miami, where he immediately took on a veteran leadership role for a team in the midst of several coaching and roster changes.
While he was instrumental in the development of offensive lineman like Austin Jackson and Patrick Paul, he also proved to be influential for players on the other side of the ball — like 2024 first round pick, Chop Robinson.
“Just getting an offensive perspective, especially against one of the greatest, just learning from him,” Robinson said in August. “I go against him in practice and he’s doing things that I’ve never seen before from an o-lineman … He gave me tips on how I could work on that — I can’t tell the tips, but it definitely worked.”
Armstead’s retirement leaves the Dolphins without a starting left tackle, although the 2024 second-round pick Paul is expected to fill the vacancy. Head coach Mike McDaniel told reporters at the NFL scouting combine in February that the team was operating this offseason as if Armstead would not return in 2025.
It also leaves Miami without two of the most respected ted voices in its locker room, after Calais Campbell signed with the Arizona Cardinals earlier this week. Multiple players and McDaniel admit to needing a stronger culture of accountability moving forward, and will now have to find a way to replace nearly three decades worth of NFL experience.
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