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Breaking Down Armstead's Revised Contract ... And What It Suggests

Miami Dolphins five-time Pro Bowl tackle Terron Armstead now is scheduled to make the veteran minimum in 2025 ... if he continues to play

Alain Poupart

Miami Dolphins offensive tackle Terron Armstead (72) during the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
Miami Dolphins offensive tackle Terron Armstead (72) during the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
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The details are in on the restructured contract of five-time Miami Dolphins Pro Bowl tackle Terron Armstead, and while they were reported already, they still are startling.

As previously reported, Armstead agreed to bring his base salary down from $13.3 million to the veteran minimum of $1.2 million, in the process lowering his cap number for 2025 from almost $23 million to a little under $9 million, according to overthecap.com.

Doing some quick math, that's a cap savings of almost $14 million as long as Armstead is on the roster.

The pay cut does not necessarily mean that Armstead will be on the roster in 2025, but it means he will be on the roster when the new league year kicks off March 12.

That's because cutting Armstead now actually would bump his cap number back up to $18.5 million (because of prorated signing bonus hits). If the Dolphins decided to release Armstead with a post-June 1 designation, his cap number would go down to $7.8 million, saving the team an additional $1.2 million of cap space (the amount of his new base salary).

It truly is a drastic pay cut, one that would suggest that Armstead really is leaning toward retirement but wanted to give himself more time to finalize his decision.

Really, if Armstead was thinking he'd want to retire for a 13th NFL season, it's hard to believe he would have chopped his base salary to the veteran minimum because if the Dolphins ended up cutting him, he likely would have been able to make more than that on the open market given his credentials.

So this looks like a case of a veteran buying himself some time with his mind kind of made up or somebody who really, really just wants to play for the Dolphins for a fourth season.

Head coach Mike McDaniel said at the scouting combine in Indianapolis that the Dolphins were proceeding with their plans as though Armstead was going to retire.

“We’ve been in direct communication with Terron as recent as last week, and one thing that Terron understands is from the organizational perspective we have to operate in some way, shape or form," McDaniel said. "I think with Terron reflecting his ability and all that, he’s not totally ready to make that decision. As a result, I think we have to operate as though he won’t play – just because you have to prepare for things that you can’t control. But I think he’s going to take his time with his family and loved ones and make that decision because it is not an easy one. But we will be operating as though we are moving on in that way, simply for the execution of free agency and the draft.”

Money clearly hasn't been Armstead's biggest motivating factor in the late stages of his NFL career because he took a pay cut last year as well when he returned to the Dolphins for a third season.

Like Calais Campbell, Armstead has had a great career, but one that's been missing a Super Bowl title.

During interviews on Radio Row at Super Bowl LXIX, Armstead kept talking about the Dolphins as someone who was planning to be with the team in 2025.

ARMSTEAD'S MAJOR HONOR

While he contemplates his NFL future, Armstead receive a significant college award Thursday when he was named to the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame.

Before he set a record for offensive linemen in the 40-yard dash at the combine, Armstead attended the Senior Bowl out of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

He became a third-round pick of the New Orleans Saints in the 2013 NFL draft and played nine seasons with that team before joining the Dolphins in 2022.

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Alain Poupart
ALAIN POUPART

Alain Poupart is the publisher/editor of Miami Dolphins On SI and host of the All Dolphins Podcast. Alain has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 for various publications and media outlets, including Dolphin Digest, The Associated Press and the Dolphins team website. In addition to being a credentialed member of the Miami Dolphins press corps, Alain has covered three Super Bowls (for NFL.com, Football News and the Montreal Gazette), the annual NFL draft, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine. During his almost 40 years in journalism, which began at the now-defunct Miami News, Alain has covered practically every sport at one time or another, from tennis to golf, baseball, basketball and everything in between. The career also included time as a copy editor, including work on several books, such as "Still Perfect," an inside look at the Miami Dolphins' 1972 perfect season. A native of Montreal, Canada, whose first language is French, Alain grew up a huge hockey fan but soon developed a love for all sports, including NFL football. He has lived in South Florida since the 1980s.

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