The career of one of the NFL’s best tackles may be coming to an end.
The New Orleans Saints announced Thursday that right tackle Ryan Ramczyk has been placed on the reserve/physically unable to play list and will miss the rest of the season.
“Any entitled veterans who were assigned to reserve/PUP prior to final roster cuts will miss the season,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said. I wrote to X“Players placed on Reserve/PUP upon final roster reductions will miss a minimum of four games.”
Rapoport noted that this could mean Ramczyk’s career is over.
The 30-year-old underwent knee surgery this offseason and did not practice at OTAs or mandatory minicamp.
Ramczyk missed the Saints’ final four games of the 2023 season with aggravated cartilage in his knee and was officially placed on injured reserve on Dec. 30.
The Saints seemed to think Ramczyk would make a full recovery after minor surgery, but that optimism has faded dramatically.
“He’s not where I expected him to be and, quite frankly, he’s not where he expected himself to be,” head coach Dennis Allen said. He said in March.
With rumors swirling that Ramczyk might never play again, the Saints prepared for the contingency and drafted Oregon State tackle/guard Talese Fuaga with the 14th overall pick.
Now, that possibility seems to have become a reality.
Ramczyk entered the NFL in 2017 and quickly became an anchor on the right side for New Orleans.
The former Wisconsin Badger never allowed more than four sacks or more than 25 pressures in a season and earned a Pro Football Focus overall offensive rating of 73.5 or higher in all seven of his seasons.
In Ramczyk’s absence, the Saints deployed Landon Young at right tackle, but he finished with a dismal 49.4 overall rating.
In Allen’s second year as head coach, New Orleans finished the season with a 9-8 record but missed the postseason.
Now without one of their best offensive players, the Saints are counting on the return of Derek Carr and Alvin Kamara to try to make the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
The team is scheduled to be fully reunited at training camp in Irvine, California on July 23rd.
