Miami Dolphins Pro-Bowler Announces Shocking Uncertainty About NFL Future In 2024, Pondering Retirement
The Miami Dolphins looked to be one of the most dangerous teams in the NFL for most of 2023 under first-year head coach Mike McDaniel.
Ultimately, key injuries on both sides of the ball throughout the season led the Dolphins to enter the playoffs with a depleted roster and despite an impressive (11-6) regular season record, they got throttled by the Kansas City Chiefs in the Wildcard Round of the NFL playoffs.
While the Dolphins are best known for their dynamic players at key skill positions like QB Tua Tagovailoa and WR Tyreek Hill, offensive tackle Terron Armstead plays a major role on the Miami offense Dolphins’ offense, protecting his quarterback while blocking to open up holes in the running game.
Armstead — who is in Orlando enjoying the Pro Bowl with many of his teammates — said he feels the team is headed in the right direction with a Super Bowl at the forefront of their minds.
“Our expectations are at an all-time high and that’s exactly the environment and situation you want to be in,” he said. “I don’t want to be in a place that six wins is — no, no. It’s Super Bowl or nothing. That wasn’t the expectation when I signed in Miami; that’s the expectation now. So, I think our trajectory is headed in the right direction and we just have to finish the job.”
Still, after an injury-plagued season, Armstead is contemplating all possibilities heading into 2024, even if it means stepping away from the game he loves.
Miami Dolphins Star Terron Armstead Undecided About NFL Future
Although Armstead was voted to the Pro Bowl, the elite offensive tackle is coming off a season filled with adversity that has him questioning his NFL future.
He was on the Dolphins’ injury report 13 out of 17 weeks this past regular season and missed seven games. Though the five-time Pro Bowler’s level of play hasn’t taken a hit, his body certainly has, and it’s led to him pondering retirement.
The 32-year-old said Friday at Pro Bowl Games practice that he hasn’t made a decision yet, though. Since the Dolphins’ season ended in an AFC wild-card loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, he’s been focused on getting better in body and mind before making the anticipated determination.
“Just taking time away from the game,” Armstead told NFL.com. “It was a long season, up-and-down season for myself, physically. Getting away coming out of the playoff loss to the Chiefs, I haven’t even started that process. I’ve just been resting, recovering and enjoying family.”
Terron Armstead has three seasons left on his five-year, $75 million pact with the Miami Dolphins.
He was perhaps the most coveted free agent in the 2022 offseason before he signed with the Dolphins following nine seasons with New Orleans Saints. He responded with back-to-back Pro Bowl campaigns, but he’s dealt with injuries throughout his career. He’s played 14 or more games just three times in 11 career seasons and never played a full year. Since he joined the Fins, he’s played in 23 of a possible 34 regular-season tilts.
This year might well have been the most painful to trudge through.
“This season definitely was a challenge physically, probably this one more than the others this one stuck out,” he said. “I’m feeling well, though, healing up. I’ve just been resting, recovering; I haven’t been doing much since the playoffs.”
In the end, Terron Armstead’s litany of injuries might prove to be an obstacle too arduous to overcome.
Nonetheless, it’s clear he would be heartsick giving up the game and believes he’s very much in the right spot with the Miami Dolphins.
“It’s just tough being away from the guys,” Armstead said of the mental toll of missing games and even practices. “Being away from that energy, that chemistry, that cohesiveness. That’s why we play the game. You know, you get into the huddle with your guys, you’re talking, you’re having fun, you’re making light of situations. Then on game day, you’re feeling that energy of that crowd, whether it’s home or away. It’s just an atmosphere that you cannot recreate. When you’re not playing, it’s an empty feeling. It’s hard to deal with.”
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