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Ryan Ramczyk

Details On Saints’ Recent Restructures

February 25th, 2023 at 12:10pm CST by Ely Allen

We reported a bit this week on some of the Saints’ recent cap-clearing moves as they reworked the contracts of offensive linemen Ryan Ramczyk and Erik McCoy, as well as kicker Wil Lutz. We’ve been provided a bit more detail on the financial moves New Orleans has made this week and how it will impact them in the future.

In regard to Ramczyk’s new deal, the Saints reportedly added a voidable year to his contract, according to Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.football. Ramczyk’s cap hit for this year is now at $11.1MM, a reduction of about $10MM, but with cap hits from 2024-27 of $27.03MM, $28.03MM, $25.26MM, and $2.58MM (dead money), the team will likely have to restructure his contract more in the future. His base salaries from 2024-26 are $17MM, $18MM, and $19MM, respectively, giving the Saints some flexibility to restructure. His contract makes him very difficult to trade in the near future, as well, as New Orleans would be facing about $43MM in dead money to have him dealt.

Underhill also provided some details about Lutz’s new deal. His contract now has a base salary of $1.25MM, freeing up $1.5MM of cap space. He will receive a per game active bonus of $26K for a potential season total of $450K, and he can earn $750K in incentives based on field goal percentage and total points.

Additionally, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported yesterday that the team has also restructured safety Tyrann Mathieu‘s contract in order to clear another $4.67MM in cap space for next season. Underhill added that they have also added a voidable year to the veteran’s contract. His cap numbers will now stand at $4.23MM in 2023, $12.07MM in 2024, and $7.30MM of dead money in 2025.

There’s lots to speculate about where this cap space could be going. They could be attempting to make room to accommodate taking on the contract of quarterback Derek Carr, as they were once viewed as frontrunners to land his services, or they could be gearing up to make a run at cornerback Jalen Ramsey. Regardless, the Saints are building some room as they deal with their annual troubles with cap space.

Saints Rework Ryan Ramczyk, Erik McCoy, Wil Lutz Contracts

February 23rd, 2023 at 11:37am CST by Sam Robinson

The Saints have begun their annual midwinter trudge toward cap compliance. They reworked two of their starting offensive linemen’s contracts, along with Wil Lutz‘s, in recent days to create a chunk of cap space.

New Orleans adjusted Ryan Ramczyk‘s contract to create $10.4MM in cap room, per Tom Pelissero of NFL.com, doing so not long after they adjusted Erik McCoy‘s deal (Twitter link). The McCoy restructure created $8MM in space, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.

This business-as-usual effort from the NFC South team also included Lutz lowering his cap number by $1.5MM, Yates adds (on Twitter). Altogether, the Saints have created just more than $20MM in cap space. As of Thursday morning, OverTheCap slots New Orleans as being just more than $35MM over the 2023 salary ceiling. More work is coming, but GM Mickey Loomis certainly has extensive experience in making these climbs.

The latest batch of restructures involved moving $12.92MM of Ramczyk’s base salary into a signing bonus, per Yates. Ramczyk signed a five-year, $96MM deal back in 2021; that contract will now produce higher cap numbers after 2023. From 2024-26, the acclaimed right tackle’s three cap figures ($27MM, $28MM, $25.2MM) will be in the top 10 for non-quarterbacks, Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap passes along (via Twitter). Though, various deals around the league this year will likely change that. McCoy’s through-2027 extension will feature a cap spike from $4.7MM this year to $13.7MM in 2024.

While Loomis’ 2021 restructure project involved moving from more than $100MM over the cap to a place where the team could use its franchise tag on Marcus Williams, displaying the veteran GM’s acumen here, the team is among those pursuing Derek Carr. The Saints were the only team to host Carr during the Raiders’ brief (and strictly controlled) trade sweepstakes, but the Saints would have needed to rework his contract to greenlight a trade. Carr refused to waive his no-trade clause and is now a free agent, having made the Jets his first FA visit. The Saints will need to fire up more of their February-March cap craftsmanship to create room for a Carr contract, in the event they are still in the running when the quarterback prepares to make his final call.

Saints Create $26MM+ In Cap Space Via Restructures

February 26th, 2022 at 9:42am CST by Ben Levine

The Saints entered the offseason significantly over the cap, but they’re already starting to create some breathing room. According to ESPN’s Field Yates (via Twitter), the Saints created $26.217MM in cap space by reworking the contracts of wideout Michael Thomas and offensive tackle Ryan Ramczyk.

Specifically, they converted $14.56MM of Thomas’ 2022 compensation and $18.20MM of Ramczyk‘s upcoming compensation into signing bonuses. The Saints entered the offseason a projected $74MM over the cap, but they have the ability to open a significant chunk of money (with some estimates saying they could save $100M via restructures). In other words, this is surely just the beginning for New Orleans’ front office.

Thomas led the league in receptions in 2018 and ’19, but following a disappointing 2020 campaign, the veteran receiver missed the entire 2021 season. Despite Thomas upsetting Saints brass by delaying an offseason ankle surgery last year, he remains in the team’s 2022 plans. While this does not necessarily guarantee the veteran pass catcher will be with the Saints next season, the team could certainly use him following an underwhelming season from the team’s other non-Alvin Kamara pass catchers.

Ramczyk was a first-round pick by the Saints in 2017, and he’s started all 73 of his games through his first five years in the NFL. The Saints inked the lineman to a five-year, $96MM deal (including $60MM in guaranteed money) last offseason.

NFL COVID-19 List Updates: 1/4/22-1/5/22

January 5th, 2022 at 11:32pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are Tuesday and Wednesday’s activations from and placements on the reserve/COVID-19 lists:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: TE Jared Cook, LB Damon Lloyd (remains on IR)

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Saints’ COVID Surge

December 24th, 2021 at 9:27pm CST by Ely Allen

Yesterday, the Saints saw 9 players hit the reserve/COVID-19 list including quarterbacks Taysom Hill and Trevor Siemian who were expected to handle the duties behind center for the rest of the year with Jameis Winston on IR with a torn ACL. In addition to those two, guard James Carpenter, linebacker Kaden Elliss, defensive back Jeff Heath, defensive end Jalyn Holmes, defensive back Malcolm Jenkins, defensive tackle Christian Ringo, and tackle Jordan Mills all found themselves on the COVID list. Besides the quarterbacks and full-time starter Jenkins, the other six players have a combined 8 starts between them.

With three quarterbacks currently unavailable for Monday Night’s matchup with the Dolphins, the Saints are expected to start the rookie fourth-round pick out of Notre Dame, Ian Book. As we reported earlier this morning, New Orleans also made the move of signing Blake Bortles as a contingency plan behind Book.

Well, despite the addition, the Saints didn’t fair any better today, losing full-time starters Ryan Ramczyk at tackle and Demario Davis at linebacker to the reserve/COVID-19 list, as well as reserves running back Dwayne Washington and safety J.T. Gray.

With the losses, the Saints will continue to operate with a depleted roster, like every other NFL team this year. The Saints’ lineup now lacks the likes of regular starters like Winston, Hill, Jenkins, Ramczyk, Davis, kicker Wil Lutz, tackle Andrus Peat, tight end Adam Trautman, and wide receiver Michael Thomas. Although they look like a shell of the team they could be at full strength, the Saints, along with the rest of the NFL, will continue to work to make the most of a bad situation as they currently sit only two spots outside of the final Wild Card spot with a 7-7 record, losing the tiebreakers to current 7-seed Minnesota and 8-seed Philadelphia.

NFL COVID List Updates: 12/24/21

December 24th, 2021 at 6:14pm CST by Ely Allen

We’ve compiled a list of players who were placed on or activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list today. In some instances, players activated from the list remain on IR:

Baltimore Ravens

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: S Chuck Clark, C Trystan Colon
  • Activated from practice squad/COVID-19 list: RB Nate McCrary
  • Placed on practice squad/COVID-19 list: QB Chris Streveler

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: DB Jordan Fuller, TE Tyler Higbee
  • Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: OL Cole Williamson

Miami Dolphins

  • Activated from practice squad/COVID-19 list: RB Gerrid Doaks

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: RB Travis Homer
  • Activated from practice squad/COVID-19 list: OL Pier-Olivier Lestage

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Saints Rework Ryan Ramczyk’s Deal

December 3rd, 2021 at 10:08am CST by Zachary Links

The Saints have restructured Ryan Ramczyk‘s contract (Twitter link via Field Yates of ESPN.com). Now, the right tackle will have a portion of his base salary converted into a fully guaranteed roster bonus for 2022. The move will provide the Saints with an extra $242K in cap room for this year.

[RELATED: Saints Place Kpassagnon On IR]

Ramczyk inked a five-year, $96MM extension with the Saints over the Summer, a mega-deal with $60MM in guarantees. The original agreement also gave the Saints some sorely needed breathing room — his fifth-year option would have carried a hit of $11MM for 2021; the extension tamped it down to $5.5MM. The restructure lowers the hit even further, allowing the Saints to bring in outside help if even more injuries arise.

Ramczyk’s $19.2MM AAV positions him as the NFL’s highest-paid right tackle. It was something of a no-brainer for the Saints — Ramczyk won’t turn 28 until April and he’s performed as one of the best blockers in the league throughout his career.

Unfortunately, Ramczyk has been sidetracked by injuries this year — both he and Alvin Kamara were held out of last night’s game to the Cowboys, a 27-17 loss that dropped the Saints to 5-7 on the year.

Saints’ Alvin Kamara To Miss Week 13

December 2nd, 2021 at 9:11am CST by Sam Robinson

Alvin Kamara managed three limited practices for the Saints this week, but the Pro Bowl running back is not set to return for Thursday night’s game against the Cowboys.

The Saints are planning to rule out Kamara and tackles Terron Armstead and Ryan Ramczyk for another game, Ian Rapoport and Jane Slater of NFL.com note (on Twitter). This will be Kamara’s fourth straight absence.

New Orleans did not put Kamara on IR, keeping him on its active roster in hopes he would not need a three-week absence. The knee injury the fifth-year back suffered in early November, however, has resulted in by far the longest absence of his career. Prior to being held out of the Saints’ Week 10 game, Kamara had only missed four games in four seasons.

Without Kamara, the Saints are 0-3 this season. They have lost four consecutive games. Although Taysom Hill is in line to replace Trevor Siemian as the Saints’ starter, the dual-threat quarterback will be without essential personnel against the Cowboys. Armstead and Ramczyk, who have formed a top-tier tackle tandem since 2017, are also battling knee injuries. Armstead is a free agent at season’s end, while the Saints have locked up Ramczyk and Kamara long-term.

Kamara led the NFL with 21 touchdowns last season, helping the Saints stay in gear despite Michael Thomas missing extensive time. Thomas will not play at all this season, and after Kamara’s 840 scrimmage yards had him on pace to set a new career-high, the latter Saints playmaker will fall well short of that mark this season. Although Drew Brees‘ retirement was going to make an impact regardless, injuries have limited the Saints considerably this season. They rank 18th in scoring offense and are looking likely to finish outside the top 10 in points for the first time since 2010.

Details On Ryan Ramczyk’s Saints Extension

July 2nd, 2021 at 9:59am CST by Sam Robinson

The Saints now have a third offensive lineman signed to a high-end extension, with Ryan Ramczyk joining Terron Armstead and Andrus Peat as well-paid starters on a team with five first-rounders on its starting O-line. Multiple interesting details surfaced about Ramczyk’s deal Friday.

This five-year, $96MM pact will reduce Ramczyk’s 2021 cap number by $5.55MM, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter). Previously set to play on a fifth-year option salary worth just more than $11MM, Ramczyk’s cap number is down to $5.5MM. The Saints now have $11.4MM in cap space, according to OverTheCap, putting them 15th in the NFL in early July. They have come a long way from being more than $100MM over the cap earlier this year.

[RELATED: Saints Likely To Extend Either Marshon Lattimore Or Marcus Williams]

One component of Ramczyk’s deal generates intrigue about New Orleans’ future at the tackle position. The contract includes a $1MM bonus should Ramczyk be named a first- or second-team All-Pro at left tackle, Yates tweets. If Ramczyk earns this bonus, his salary balloons by $1MM in each subsequent year. He has earned first- or second-team All-Pro honors three times in four seasons at right tackle. While $6MM in incentives would be available, it would seem Ramczyk would not have a chance to trigger this escalator until at least 2022. Armstead is a free agent next year.

The Saints drafted Ramczyk in the 2017 first round, after he started 14 games at left tackle for Wisconsin. The former Division III recruit played one season of Division I football and has started all 63 games of his career at right tackle. Although the Saints invest highly in O-linemen and have consistently found ways to skirt salary cap trouble, having both Ramczyk and Armstead on top-tier tackle contracts would be an interesting scenario.

Armstead’s $13MM-per-year deal voids in March 2022, making him a free agent. The longtime Saints left tackle will turn 30 later this month, but Trent Williams just set a tackle record with a $23MM-per-year deal just ahead of his 33rd birthday. A Pro Bowler in each of the past three years, Armstead will be aiming high on his third contract. Williams is one of four left tackles whose deals surpass Ramczyk’s.

Regardless of which tackle position Ramczyk will settle at long-term, he is tied to the Saints through 2026. A $19MM signing bonus is part of Ramczyk’s $60MM in guarantees, and Yates adds the first two salaries on this backloaded deal will be $1.7MM (2021) and $10.5MM (’22). Ramczyk will make $14MM in base salary in 2023, with the rest of his salaries being north of $17MM. The deal’s final two years are non-guaranteed, with Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk noting the 2023 and ’24 seasons feature partial guarantees.

Saints Likely To Extend At Least One Of Marshon Lattimore, Marcus Williams

June 30th, 2021 at 9:03pm CST by Rory Parks

The Saints crossed a key item off their 2021 agenda earlier today by agreeing to a massive extension with right tackle Ryan Ramczyk. With that deal done, New Orleans can now turn its attention to the contract situations of several of its other high-profile talents.

Katherine Terrell of The Athletic writes that the Saints are likely to extend at least one of CB Marshon Lattimore and S Marcus Williams this summer. As Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com tweets, the Ramczyk extension cleared roughly $5.5MM off the club’s books for the 2021 season, so a Lattimore or Williams extension isn’t necessarily vital for cap purposes (plus, since Lattimore’s fifth-year option for this season was already restructured, an extension for him wouldn’t create more cap room anyway). But both players are integral pieces of DC Dennis Allen‘s defense, and the Saints would certainly like to keep them for the long haul if they can.

The problem is that New Orleans is already projected to be over the 2022 cap of $208.2MM, and GM Mickey Loomis might not be able to re-sign both of his young defenders. Terrell says Lattimore has always seemed like the higher priority, and as he plays a premium position and has three Pro Bowls to his credit, he will certainly be more expensive. On the other hand, he does not always play up to his potential, and Pro Football Focus’ metrics considered him the 70th-best corner out of 121 qualifiers last year. A March arrest could also complicate matters.

Loomis, though, has more time to talk contract with Lattimore than he does with Williams. As a franchise-tagged player, Williams cannot sign a multi-year deal after July 15. Given the Saints’ cap crunch, there was a belief that the team would not be able to retain the Utah product this year, let alone hit him with a franchise tag that carries a $10.6MM cap charge. The fact that Loomis made the financials work might be an indication of the team’s long-term outlook for Williams, who did well to clean up his one glaring weakness (his tackling abilities) in 2020.

In addition to Lattimore and Williams, left tackle Terron Armstead is also entering a contract year (his deal automatically voids in 2022). Terrell says it’s unclear what the Saints have in mind for their longtime blindside protector, but he will not come cheap either. We just saw soon-to-be 33-year-old Trent Williams pull down a $23MM/year deal, and Terrell suggests that Armstead — who will turn 30 in a few weeks — could shoot for a similar figure. With Ramcyzk now carrying a $19.2MM AAV and left guard Andrus Peat working on a $15MM/year pact, that would be a ton of money invested into the O-line.

We heard earlier this year that the Saints could let Armstead walk next offseason and shift Ramczyk to left tackle, and Terrell says that remains a possibility. Still, one would think that New Orleans will at least have serious discussions with Armstead about continuing what has been a very fruitful partnership.

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