The New Orleans Saints are playing wait-and-see for Ryan Ramczyk's availability the rest of the 2023 season, but persistent knee issues are a clear source of frustration and concern.
The 29-year-old Ramczyk has missed the past two games due to the issue that he described as "wear and tear." The issue has been something he's been managing for multiple seasons, and his goal is to get to the offseason before making a decision on the next steps.
"Probably," Ramczyk said Thursday when asked if surgery could be coming in the offseason, "but I just don't know for sure yet."
The most immediate question is whether the issue can be managed enough for a return to the field this season. The current route is to mitigate pain as best as possible and to try to get back on the field, but that hasn't happened yet. Ramczyk has missed the first two days of practice ahead of a Week 17 showdown against the Bucs that could end the division race with a Tampa win. It's a frustrating scenario.
“Yea, I mean, it’s frustrating," Ramczyk said. "You want to be out there and when your body kind of just shuts down and you’re not able to perform, you’re not able to do what you need to do, it’s really frustrating. So, like I said, we’ll see what happens here and just go from there.”
If the veteran can't go, it'll be third-year pro Landon Young in the starting lineup for the third consecutive week. The swing tackle has been the backup for multiple seasons and stepped in well in a Week 15 win over the Giants. The group as a whole struggled in a loss to the Rams the following week.
Related
“I thought he’s played well," Ramczyk said. "You know, he was thrown in there and I think he prepares well. He’s a good player and I think the last couple weeks he’s done well.”
The long-term question the Saints and Ramczyk will have to answer this offseason is just how much tread there is left on the tires for a player that's appeared in 101 games since he was drafted in the first round in 2017. Ramczyk is in the third year of a 5-year, $96 million extension signed in 2020 that made him the NFL's highest-paid right tackle at the time.
Ramczyk made it clear he'd like to keep playing beyond this season. But life after football is something he's been considering, and this offseason is where those determinations will have to be made.
"I think this offseason I’m going to try to get a lot of questions answered and talk to a lot of people and get a lot of opinions and go from there," he said.
If Ramczyk did have to call it a career, his deal would be a significant burden to get out from under for a few reasons, one being a potential $35 million dead cap charge if he's a pre-June 1 release. The more practical issue will come in the Saints' typical structure of cap management, which relies on restructures to high-paid veteran contracts that push money out into the future while freeing up money for the present. It's a strategy that works as long as that player is expected to be around for a while, and Ramczyk's current situation makes that future cloudy at best. If the Saints don't restructure his deal (to open up about $11 million in 2024), Ramczyk would register a $27 million cap hit in 2024, compared to just over $11 million this past season. The Saints are already projected to be $98 million over the cap, but with $125 million available to be restructured.
But that's a question for the offseason. The Saints now turn their attention to the Bucs, needing a win to keep their season alive.