Saints place OT Ryan Ramczyk on PUP for 2024 season due to knee injury

The New Orleans Saints revealed on Thursday that they’ve placed right tackle Ryan Ramczyk on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list for the 2024 season. The move effectively ends Ramczyk’s season before it starts because a veteran placed on PUP before final roster cuts must remain on reserve for the year. Saints training camp begins on July 24 in Irvine, California, and the team will begin the process of solidifying a new starting right tackle.

New Orleans begins the preseason with games against the Cardinals, the 49ers and the Titans. The regular season starts with a bang as the team hosts the Carolina Panthers in Week 1 for a divisional matchup.

The knee injury that required surgery sidelined Ramczyk for five games during the 2023 season. Though there was hope at one point that the tackle could return in time for the season, the Saints had a decent heads-up that they’d need a backup plan. Saints head coach Dennis Allen discussed Ramczyk’s status openly this spring.

“A few weeks ago, I was feeling a lot better about it, and yet I don’t know that I’m seeing as much progress as I was hoping to see at this point,” Allen said. “We got plenty of time. … We’re just going to have to wait and see how that all goes as we go through all the offseason and as we get into the training camp aspect.”

“There’s [a] long time before we kick the ball off,” Allen added. “I wouldn’t jump to any conclusions right now, but we’ll see how it goes over the next three, four, five, six months — whatever it is — before we get to the season.”

During OTAs and minicamp, the Saints shifted first-round draft pick Taliese Fuaga to left tackle and former first-rounder Trevor Penning to right tackle to make up for Ramczyk’s absence.

Ramczyk enters eighth season in NFL

Ramczyk was the Saints’ first-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. They snagged him No. 32 overall out of Wisconsin.

The right tackle last signed a five-year contract extension with New Orleans in 2021. It was a deal for $96 million. The new contract made him the third-highest-paid right tackle in the league, making $19.2 million per year on average. For the 2024 season, Ramczyk is due to receive $6.5 million in fully guaranteed money even with injury.

Ramczyk has earned Associated Press All-Pro team honors in three consecutive years from 2018-20. He joined William Roaf as only the second Saints tackle to be named AP All-Pro three times. At Wisconsin, he was a first-team All-American in 2016.