New Orleans Saints right tackle Ryan Ramczyk has dealt with knee problems during his NFL career, and there were multiple reports of not-so-promising news on the matter Tuesday morning.
“The Saints are preparing for the real possibility that OT Ryan Ramczyk is medically not able to play this season,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweeted.
That came just about an hour after New Orleans coach Dennis Allen said that Ramczyk’s health improvement “remains to be seen” and that he felt better about his right tackle’s knee at the NFL Combine. Ramczyk had a knee procedure this summer after missing the final four games of this season.
“I don’t know that I’m seeing as much progress as I was hoping to see at this point … I think we’re going to have to wait and see how that all goes as we go through all the summer and as we get into the training camp aspect.”
Ramczyk got a five-year, $96 million deal before the 2022 season, which made him the highest-paid right tackle in the NFL at the time. He was a first-team All-Pro in 2019 and second-team in 2018 and 2020. His deal was restructured this summer so he’s only $12.8 million against the salary cap. That number goes up to $29.6 million and $26.8 million in 2025 and 2026.
If Ramczyk isn’t available for New Orleans in 2024, the need to fill both tackle spots is crucial. Even with the 29-year-old healthy, getting a left tackle was a need. 2021 sixth-rounder Landon Young replaced Ramczyk at the end of last season, but he likely isn’t the easy solve. New Orleans chose tackle Trevor Penning in the first round of the 2022 draft but he was benched in 2023.
New Orleans has the 14th and 45th overall picks in the 2024 NFL Draft. This news makes it even more likely that a tackle will be chosen with at least one of those two picks.