Former Saints All-Pro Ryan Ramczyk announces his retirement from the NFL

Congratulations are in order for Ryan Ramczyk. The New Orleans Saints' longtime right tackle called it a career on Thursday night, announcing his retirement via the team website. A chronic knee condition brought Ramczyk's time in the NFL to a premature end, but he left his mark on New Orleans.

Ramczyk appeared in 101 regular season games with the Saints, all starts, after being picked in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft; that's tied with former wide receiver Lance Moore, defensive back Toi Cook, and tight end Larry Hardy for the 60th-most games played in a Saints uniform. He also started seven playoff games for New Orleans and was recognized as an All-Pro three times, earning a spot on the AP first team in 2019.

This was something we saw coming. Just like Malcolm Jenkins and Drew Brees did before him, Ramczyk forfeited most of his 2025 salary earlier in the offseason to help the Saints' cap situation. And just like them, his retirement will be processed after June 1 for cap purposes. The Saints will get a $1.255 million cap credit on June 2 with about $11.08 million left behind in dead money on the 2025 cap. An addition $11.98 million will be counted towards the 2026 salary cap. Ramczyk will be off the books entirely by 2027.

This is a career Ramczyk can be proud of, even if it didn't end the way he hoped. He has a unique story in football after initially going to welding school out of high school. He excelled in Division II football at UW-Stevens Point, transferred to Wisconsin and won the Badgers' starting left tackle job in 2016. Then he flipped to the right side with the Saints just weeks into his rookie year and never looked back. He'll have a lot of fans cheering him on in whatever he pursues next.