The New Orleans Saints can now add another depth question to their offensive line concerns with veteran James Hurst announcing his retirement on the eve of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Hurst, 32, announced the decision on Instagram Wednesday.
"Every year playing this sport has been a blessing from God," Hurst wrote. "Football, and the people around it, have played a huge part in shaping me into the man I am today. Twenty-four of the thirty-two years of life have been spent training for and playing this game and retiring will be a huge, yet exciting, change in my life."
Hurst signed with the Ravens as an undrafted free agent out of North Carolina in 2014, spending five seasons there before joining the Saints in 2020. The veteran has been an integral depth piece for the team throughout that time, spending the 2022 season as a full-time starter at left tackle. Hurst appeared in 60 games for the Saints, starting 51 while taking snaps at both guard and tackle positions over that span. Hurst also served as a veteran leader in the locker room.
The retirement means the Saints now have even bigger depth questions in an offseason with both tackle spots seemingly up for grabs. Trevor Penning is expected to compete to be the starting left tackle, a position he was benched from a season ago after going in as the Week 1 starter. The team also will have to wait and see on veteran Ryan Ramczyk, who is dealing with knee issues that ended his 2023 season early. The Saints' lone OL signing is Oli Udoh, who could factor into the mix at the tackle spot. The team also has Landon Young as depth tackle, and returns starters Erik McCoy at center and Cesar Ruiz at right guard.
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"There are some musts on our board, some tags we haven’t filled," Loomis said this week, "just like there’s some needs and there are a few wants – but I’d rather not get into anything specific.”
The state of the OL is a major factor in why analysts uniformly see the No. 14 pick as a prime position to select a tackle to help mend some of those holes. Popular options include Penn State's Olu Fashanu, Oregon State's Taliese Fuaga, Washington's Troy Fautanu and Alabama's JC Latham.
The 2024 NFL Draft kicks off in Detroit on Thursday.