Saints can’t afford to lose Terron Armstead next offseason
The New Orleans Saints feed off their top-notch offensive line and they’ve made sure the right side of their line will be set up to succeed with the recent extension of Ryan Ramczyk. With Ramczyk locked up long-term, the Saints now have to turn their attention to left tackle Terron Armstead.
Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report wrote that Armstead is the player the Saints can least afford to lose next offseason. Here’s more of what he had to say on the matter:
"Ramczyk had the edge because he’s several years younger than the soon-to-be 30-year-old Armstead, but there’s no sign that three-time Pro Bowler is slowing down after another strong season in 2020. In fact, he had the fourth-best PFF grade among qualified tackles last year.As the Saints try to bridge the gap between Drew Brees and their next quarterback, it’s important that they keep their pillar tackles on board for several seasons to come."
Gagnon notes in a section I didn’t include that Ramczyk was his original pick for this article but the Saints extended him, which obviously took him out of the running. That now makes Armstead the player New Orleans can’t lose and Saints fans really hope the team can come to an agreement to keep the long-time left tackle of the black and gold.
Terron Armstead is a vital part of the Saints’ offensive line.
While the extension for Ramczyk will make retaining Armstead trickier, it’s not an impossible situation. Justin Fried of Who Dat Dish discussed what the future looks like for Armstead in New Orleans now that Ramczyk is locked up. Fried noted that the Saints should absolutely look to keep him in the Big Easy if they can but the cost will be the biggest obstacle.
Armstead is a former third-round pick out of Arkansas-Pine Bluff and has gone on to become one of the best left tackles in the entire league. The Saints could end up moving Ramczyk over to left tackle if they can’t retain Armstead but it’d be great if they could keep him in a Saints uniform for the rest of his career.
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Without Armstead, the Saints will be in a situation where they either shift Ramczyk to the left side of the line, roll with James Hurst as their left tackle, or find an entirely new option to be their left bookend. Armstead gives the most stability for sure and that’s why losing him would be a massive blow to this team.