Scrambling to be salary cap compliant before the start of the NFL league year next month, the New Orleans Saints adjusted the contracts of offensive tackle Ryan Ramczyk and kicker Wil Lutz.
New Orleans began the offseason with the second-worst salary cap situation as tracked by ESPN and NFL Network at nearly $48 million over the 2023 cap.
The combined savings on the 2023 salary cap of $11.836 million gets New Orleans closer to being under the salary cap and ready for the business of free agency, but further alterations to existing deals and other roster moves are expected from the Saints.
A right tackle drafted with the 32nd pick in 2017, Ramczykm 29, has spent his entire career with the Saints.
NFL Network reported the Saints shifted $12.92 million of Ramczyk’s 2023 base salary to a bonus, creating $10.336 million in cap space. He signed a five-year, $96 million deal in July 2021 that included high salaries in 2023 and beyond, including $17 million in 2024, $18 million in 2025 and $19 million in 2026.
Lutz was offered a lower cap number — reduced by $1.5 million — in exchange for attainable incentives, ESPN reported.
The 28-year-old Lutz has been with the Saints since 2016 and has a career field-goal percentage of 84.6.
–Field Level Media