It had been looking like for a while now that New Orleans Saints All-Pro tackle Ryan Ramczyk’s future with the team was in doubt.
Thursday’s announcement confirmed just this.
The Saints shared that Ramczyk was placed on the reserve/physically unable to perform (PUP) list as he’s battling what’s been reported to be a degenerative knee issue. This will officially sideline him for the first four games of the season. If there were any chance Ramczyk could return sooner he wouldn’t be going on PUP.
With Ramczyk being placed on the list, he’s technically eligible to be activated to the roster the Monday after Week 4’s game against the Atlanta Falcons (Sept. 30). But according to NOF’s Nick Underhill, this is unlikely. He writes that “the expectation is that (Ramczyk) is not particularly close and his absence will extend well beyond the first four games. He’s unlikely to play this season.”
From the talk many of us heard this offseason from the Saints front office and coaching staff, this doesn’t come as a surprise. Head coach Dennis Allen made this statement earlier this offseason which gave us our first indication that Ramzyck’s future was uncertain: “We’ve got a plan for him. Certainly we don’t have to make any decisions now, but I haven’t seen the progress that I was hoping to see.”
If it is the end of the road for Ramczyk, he’s enjoyed a heck of a career. The former first-round pick started in all 101 games that he’s appeared in over seven years while also earning three All-Pro selections. That he went on to become one of the NFL’s most dominant right tackles in his prime after playing just a single season of Division I football at Wisconsin, at left tackle, is incredibly impressive.
