Ian Rapoport reported yesterday that free agent offensive tackle Terron Armstead was flying to South Florida and set to meet with the Miami Dolphins. This was later clarified by Cameron Wolfe, who said that things were “heating up.”

Miami has had an interesting offseason, filling most of the positions of need while underwhelming some Dolphins fans who wanted more. This has not been helped by the array of stars moving to the AFC West, the arrival of Von Miller at the Buffalo Bills, DeVante Adams being traded to Las Vegas, and some of the AFC North signings. This includes Deshaun Watson’s move to the Cleveland Browns and La’el Collins to the Bengals, who was reportedly a target for the Dolphins on the offensive line.

The AFC is becoming more and more stacked, and teams in the AFC will need not just good records, but great records in 2022 if they want to make the playoffs.

This has ramped up the pressure on the AFC teams needing to do business. Miami has gone out and got guard Connor Williams, but the offensive line needs more than just one offseason addition to improve one of the worst units in the league. Here is why the Dolphins need to get Armstead.

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The Talent of Armstead Alone

Even if Miami had a good offensive line, getting someone in of Armstead’s quality would not hurt. Instead, his arrival would significantly boost a struggling line.

Over the course of his nine-year NFL career, which has solely been with the New Orleans Saints, he has allowed 29 penalties, has had 14 false starts, 13 holding calls, and allowed 18 sacks in the 97 games he has played in (93 of which were starts). He allowed three in 2020 and 0 in both 2018 and 2019. He only started eight games in 2021, but he only allowed one sack.

He has remained the best offensive lineman available in the Free Agency period, and it is a surprise that he has still not sorted his future. It was reported that he was waiting for the news on any Watson trade, but the news broke out about his arrival in South Florida well after the Browns acquired their new QB.

Miami must go out and get a stud offensive lineman if they want to have any hope of making the playoffs.

Helping Tua And McDaniel

It is no secret that there is a wide range of opinions on quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and his time in the NFL thus far. Many think he isn’t very good while others feel he still has the potential to be great. However, getting in someone like Armstead would help give him the protection needed to fully unleash his potential. Doing so would also provide new head coach Mike McDaniel the best chance of succeeding during his first-ever season as an NFL head coach.

He has publicly backed his quarterback, which signifies even more reason for him to get good protection between the trenches. The pressure will be on McDaniel if his first two or three seasons see no progression in terms of competing for postseason football and developing the 2020 fifth overall pick.

Dolphins general manager Chris Grier has spoken about the team wanting to be aggressive in the offseason. Adding in Armstead would show that Grier has been true to his word in what would be one of the best Free Agency additions in 2022.