Saints' Ryan Ramczyk: Announces retirement from NFL
Rotowire
Ramczyk announced his retirement from the NFL on Thursday.
The 32nd overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, Ramczyk injured his knee in Week 14 of the 2023 season and was never medically cleared to play again, missing the entirety of the 2024 campaign. Prior to the injury, Ramczyk was one of the best right tackles in the league, earning first-team All-Pro honors once and second-team All-Pro twice. He started all 101 games he appeared in during his seven seasons with the Saints.
Saints' Ryan Ramczyk: Renegotiates contract, may retire
Rotowire
Ramczyk (knee) signed a renegotiated contract Monday, potentially setting the stage for his retirement, ESPN's Katherine Terrell reports.
Terrell notes that Drew Brees signed a similar agreement in 2021 to help the Saints add much-needed cap space right before he retired. Ramczyk was one of the best offensive tackles in the NFL from 2017 to 2023, until knee cartilage problems derailed his career. He hasn't played since Week 14 of 2023 and will turn 31 in April.
The Saints placed Ramczyk (knee) on reserve/PUP Thursday, and he will miss the entirety of the 2024 season, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.
Being a vested veteran, Ramczyk's placement on reserve/PUP before roster cutdowns later this summer means he will not be eligible to be activated at any point during the 2024 campaign. This isn't a complete surprise, however, as Ramczyk's availability for this season was already in question way early in the offseason. It's still a huge loss for a New Orleans offensive line that lost 12-game starter Andrus Peat to the Raiders in free agency and 15-game starter James Hurst to retirement. The Saints did use their first-round pick on tackle Taliese Fuaga and did sign veteran backup Olisaemeka Udoh, but 2022 first-rounder Trevor Penning needs to step up and take hold of a starting job in his third season after failing to do so the last two years.
