A knee damage Ramczyk battled by final season has the eighth-year veteran at a profession crossroads, and the Saints drafted a deal with in Spherical 1 (Taliese Fuaga). The previous Oregon State proper deal with is coaching on the left facet, however it doesn’t seem Ramczyk will likely be counted on in 2024. This transaction factors to Ramczyk lacking the season, NewOrleans.soccer’s Nick Underhill tweets.
Groups have the choice of inserting gamers on the energetic/PUP record, which is a coaching camp-only designation that doesn’t have an effect on a participant’s regular-season availability. The Saints taking this step with Ramczyk greater than a month earlier than they must doesn’t bode nicely for the embellished blocker’s possibilities of factoring into the 2024 marketing campaign.
Ramczyk, who turned 30 this offseason, has began 101 video games. Twelve of these got here final season, however knee bother has pointed to this actuality for a bit. A cartilage defect in Ramczyk’s knee has led him to this crossroads, which compounds points for a Saints crew in dire straits at deal with. Dennis Allen had labeled Ramczyk’s offseason knee surgical procedure as minor and projected he can be prepared for camp however mentioned in April he felt higher in regards to the veteran’s possibilities on the time of surgical procedure.
The crew has not seen 2022 first-rounder Trevor Penning pan out; an early-season benching occurred. The Saints then noticed three-year starter James Hurst, who labored at left deal with for 2 seasons and left guard for many of final 12 months, retire. This got here shortly after Andrus Peat, a Professional Bowl guard who was Penning’s major LT substitute final 12 months, defected to the Raiders. This all however assured the Saints would reap the benefits of this 12 months’s deep deal with crop, with Fuaga being the prize at No. 14 general.
As not too long ago as final season, the Saints rolled out an O-line with 4 first-rounders (Ramczyk, Penning, Peat, Cesar Ruiz) and second-round heart Erik McCoy. The crew went again to the Spherical 1 nicely through Fuaga, who’s in line to begin at left deal with, however the LG and RT spots are unsure. Penning skilled at proper deal with this offseason and might be the favourite to fill in for Ramczyk, however the Northern Iowa alum’s efficiency so far leaves that as an unstable place.
This will likely be a blow for a perennially cap-strapped crew. The Saints gave Ramczyk a five-year, $96M extension in 2021. That contract included $43M assured at signing and $60M assured in whole. A part of a 2017 draft class that modified the Saints’ trajectory, Ramczyk is a three-time All-Professional (first crew in 2019) who has given the Saints stability on the precise facet. Ramczyk reworked his contract this offseason, dropping his cap quantity from $27M to $12.9M. A lifeless cash cost of $23.1M would come the Saints’ approach if Ramczyk strikes off the roster through launch, although that quantity might be break up through a post-June 1 minimize.
In much less impactful Saints information, the crew positioned tight finish Juwan Johnson, defensive finish Tanoh Kpassagnon, linebacker Nephi Sewell and free-agent DE addition Chase Younger on the energetic/PUP record. Chris Olave landed on the energetic/NFI record. Gamers moved to the energetic/PUP or energetic/NFI lists could be activated at any level. Younger is coming off offseason neck surgical procedure, although the previous No. 2 general choose has been considered as prone to be prepared for Week 1. The Saints activated rookie large receiver Bub Means from the energetic/NFI record Thursday.
