Sources: The #Saints and guard Cesar Ruiz have a deal! He gets a 4-year, $44M contract extension with a max value of $46M. The deal also includes $30M guaranteed. Another starter locked in.
Buy Saints Tickets— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 9, 2023
This is good to see: NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that the New Orleans Saints cut a last-minute deal with right guard Cesar Ruiz on a four-year contract extension valued at up to $46 million, carrying $30 million in guarantees. It’s a well-earned reward for a young player who broke out last season and built on that momentum throughout the summer.
Ruiz will be the sixth-highest paid right guard in the NFL at $11.5 million in average per year pay, which tells us the Saints are expecting him to continue to develop into a quality player for them up front. Here are the right guards earning more per year than him:
- Chris Lindstrom (Atlanta Falcons): $20.5 million
- Zack Martin (Dallas Cowboys): $18.4 million
- Brandon Scherff (Jacksonville Jaguars): $16.5 million
- Wyatt Teller (Cleveland Browns): $14.2 million
- Shaquille Mason (Houston Texans): $11.6 million
Ruiz only allowed 3 sacks and 14 total pressures last season during 14 starts, drawing just 3 penalty flags — with 2 fouls coming when he was lined up at center instead of right guard. If he can stay healthy and continue to improve this could turn out to be a great investment for the Saints. Ruiz was also one of the team’s top pending free agents for 2024, so it made sense to get this deal done now and take him off the board.
It’s also the second last-minute extension they’ve hammered out with an offensive lineman in as many years. Last September the Saints and Erik McCoy agreed on a five-year, $60 million extension that made him the league’s sixth-highest paid center in average per year pay ($12 million). Now both interior linemen are signed through 2028.
