3 Saints players who won’t be back for 2023 season
The New Orleans Saints are poorly equipped for a rebuild, yet they are squarely staring down that barrel. At least, fans should hope the front office is.
With a record of 5-9 they are somehow just a game out from tying the Bucs for the best record in the NFC South, yet being so bad in the worst division in the NFL has only hidden the fact that the Saints are not a good football team and need to tear it down to the studs and start over.
Any thought that there is hope to be had and a way forward with the team as currently constructed is an illusion.
Before the season, this team convinced us that they were a Super Bowl candidate. Sure, injuries have played a part in that not coming to fruition, but this team is far away from where we thought it would be. They’re 20th in points scored per game and 16th in points allowed. There is a complete lack of identity and the coaching leaves so much to be desired in year one without Sean Payton.
The Saints don’t have a first-round draft pick in 2023. As such, fans should prepare for the team to rid themselves of fan-favorite players to improve the future prospects of the team. So, some of the players on this list may be painful.
Saints who won’t be back next year: Marcus Davenport
Marcus Davenport is going to have to move on after this year. The defensive end is in the final year of the four-year contract he signed with the Saints, but injuries have held him back and have plenty thinking the team was right to not agree on an extension.
Davenport logged 9.0 sacks and 16 QB hits last season but has logged just half a sack this year and eight QB hits, despite already appearing in more games this year than last. He has a measly two tackles for loss in the entire year. Not exactly the kind of contract year you’d hope to see from a former first-round draft pick.
Some team will pay Davenport on the hope that he’ll get healthy and produce somewhere near his 2021 season, but it shouldn’t be the Saints.
Saints injury update raises worries of looming catastrophe
Saints injury update raises worries of looming catastrophe
The New Orleans Saints haven’t exactly gotten their offense to click in 2023. Quarterback Derek Carr has been injured and ineffective. Offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael has looked out of his depth. The former should be back in 2024. The latter may not be. But whoever is running the show in New Orleans will certainly want All-Pro right tackle Ryan Ramczyk anchoring the offensive line.
Unfortunately, there’s a question around that.
Ramczyk has missed games against the Giants and Rams because of a nagging knee injury that could ultimately end his career, according to
Katherine Terrell of ESPN.
Ryan Ramczyk hoping for solution to career-threatening injury
The offensive lineman has a defect with the cartilage in his knee. Apparently, there isn’t much left, leaving him to deal with serious pain. It got to the point he could no longer play through it and he’s set to miss a third game against the Bucs this weekend. Now he’s planning to speak with doctors about fixing the issue this offseason.
As to whether a fix is even possible? “I don’t know,” Ramczyk said. “…I’ll talk with surgeons, doctors, get as much as information as I can and then just make the best decision.”
The decision Ramczyk has to make is about retiring or continuing to play. He told ESPN he wants to play. That’s not the issue. But if a solution can’t be found for his knee it may not be possible for the 29-year-old to continue.
For the Saints, that’s a problem. First and foremost, Ramczyk is a key piece on their offensive line. He’s also got three years left on his current deal with a cap hit of $27 million in 2024. And his dead cap number for 2024 if the Saints were to release him would be $35 million.
So if the doctors don’t come up with a solution, New Orleans will have to find a way to restructure Ramczyk’s deal to spread the money out in a more cap-friendly configuration. Either way, it would be a hit for the team on the field and in the finances.
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