The New Orleans Saints are rewarding one of the NFL's most promising young offensive linemen.
Left tackle Terron Armstead signed a five-year extension that will keep him in New Orleans through 2021, the team announced on Tuesday.
The new deal is worth $64.5 million with $25 million fully guaranteed and includes an $11 million signing bonus, NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport, via a source involved.
ESPN first reported Armstead's new agreement.
Perhaps the most anonymous of last year's Pro Bowl snubs, Armstead emerged as a top-notch blindside protector in his third NFL season.
"There's not a left tackle I would trade him for in the league," coach Sean Payton raved in late December. "I really like the way he's progressed. He's smart, he's athletic. And last week if you watch the tape, you can see that he's not 100 percent and he fights through it."
Armstead turned in one of the most astonishing performances in offensive-line history at the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine, blazing an official 40-yard dash time of 4.71 seconds at 6-foot-5 and 306 pounds.
Originally viewed as a developmental prospect coming out of tiny Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Armstead already has the look of a perennial Pro Bowl left tackle.
Along with franchise quarterback Drew Brees and two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Cameron Jordan, he's one of the most valuable building blocks on the Saints' roster.
