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Terron Armstead agrees to 5-year extension with Saints

New Orleans Saints left tackle Terron Armstead has reached an agreement on a five-year extension that will keep him with the team through 2021.

The deal is worth $65 million total, with $38 million in total guarantees, a source told ESPN's Adam Caplan.

Armstead was entering the final year of his four-year rookie deal. He has started 27 games the past two seasons, including 13 in 2015.

The 24-year-old lineman is a tremendous athlete who has emerged as one of the league's top young tackles in recent years. Although Armstead has yet to make his first Pro Bowl, Saints coach Sean Payton said last year, "There's not a left tackle I would trade him for in the league."

"[I'm] excited for him. He has worked extremely hard at becoming an outstanding left tackle," Payton added Tuesday.

The Saints drafted the 6-foot-5, 304-pounder out of Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the third round in 2013, after he set the NFL scouting combine record for the fastest 40-yard dash by an offensive lineman (4.71 seconds). He became a starter in December of his rookie year and has started 29 career games.

Armstead fought through a significant knee injury for most of last year and missed a good deal of practice time. He drew only more praise from teammates and coaches for pushing through the pain.

"Terron is a valuable and important piece to our offense and has shown that he is one of the top players in the game today," Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said in a statement.

He was one of three key players scheduled to become a free agent in 2017, with the others being quarterback Drew Brees and center Max Unger. But the Saints actually have some breathing room under the salary cap, for a change, with an estimated $50 million-plus in cap space currently projected for next season and 37 players under contract.

ESPN.com Saints reporter Mike Triplett contributed to this report.

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