When it was announced that Ryan Ramczyk would miss the entire 2024 season with a knee injury, everyone assumed that his career with the New Orleans Saints was coming to an end. On Tuesday, that belief was essentially confirmed as the Saints made a cap space move regarding Ramczyk‘s contract.
Over The Cap reported that New Orleans cleared $16.7 million in cap space by restructuring Ramczyk‘s contract. The veteran tackle agreed to reduce his base salary for 2025 from $18 million to the league minimum of $1.255 million. This paves the way for Ramczyk to officially retire this summer, when the team will then be able to split his dead cap hit across two seasons.
Of course, this is just the start of the annual tradition of salary cap gymnastics for the Saints, but it signals the end of a career for a very good player.
Ryan Ramczyk basically just retired on paper https://t.co/Vf7zvs4kG2
— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) January 8, 2025
Saints make way for Ryan Ramczyk to retire in 2025 offseason
Ramczyk was a part of the all-time great 2017 Draft class in New Orleans, selected 32nd-overall by the Saints. He was a day-one starter at right tackle, and immediately emerged as a force of consistency for the Saints. In seven seasons, he started 101 of the 101 games he played, making three All-Pro teams, one first-team, and two second-team.
In 2023, however, he only played in 12 games, before going public about a knee issue that he admitted could be career ending. Entering the offseason, Ramczyk had a procedure that the franchise hoped would allow him to play again, but his knee didn’t respond to the surgery like they wanted. From that point, he was placed on the PUP list, ending his season before it started.
Now, it’s clear that his career is also over. He spent his entire career in New Orleans, and carved out a legacy as one of the best right tackles during his era. He also makes up one of the best draft classes in Saints history, that now only leaves Alvin Kamara with the team.