What could a Saints-Ryan Ramczyk contract extension look like?

Ryan Ramczyk is going to see a couple of commas added to his savings account. The New Orleans Saints right tackle is one of the best in the NFL today, and he’s also entering the final year of his rookie contract. Both he and the Saints are incentivized to get a new deal done to keep the 27-year old in black and gold for years to come, between the payday and job security he would enjoy and the stability New Orleans could secure up front on offense.

And from the sounds of reports coming from the Athletic’s Jeff Duncan and NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill, negotiations are already ongoing. But what could an extension for Ramczyk look like?

It’s complicated, but I’ll give it a shot. The closest comparison to Ramczyk among the league’s right tackles is Lane Johnson, who like him has earned All-Pro recognition (along with three Pro Bowl nods. Playing in a bigger market with the Philadelphia Eagles has its perks). And Johnson set the market with an $18 million per-year extension with Philly in 2019.

That doesn’t make it a perfect one-to-one match, though. Johnson’s $72 million extension followed a 2015 re-up that paid out (comparatively) just $11 million per year, with the idea being that he would eventually move to left tackle after franchise icon Jason Peters retired, justifying the jump in salary. That hasn’t happened with other options emerging to take over on the left side, so Johnson has remained at right tackle earning $4 million more per-year than his next two highest-paid peers.

The Saints could have a similar plan for Ramczyk if they can’t re-sign Terron Armstead when his own deal expires next offseason: pay above the market price now to keep him at right tackle for a year, then slide him to the left side, his college position, in 2022. It’s not the worst idea if the Saints aren’t confident they can retain Armstead as the salary cap slowly catches up to pre-pandemic levels.

Additionally, Johnson was two years older at the time he signed than Ramczyk is now. All of these issues factor in to make for one of the more complicated contract talks New Orleans has to sit down for this summer. It makes sense to get a jump on the situation.

So with all that said, here’s my proposal: a five-year, $90.5 million contract averaging $18.1 million per year, with $35.7 million in guarantees. That’s guaranteeing 39% of his contract, which lines up with the guarantees Andrus Peat receiving (40%) and the average of what Armstead (58%), Michael Thomas (37.4%), and Alvin Kamara (23%) got on their own ahead-of-schedule big-money deals. That annual salary ensures he’s the highest paid right tackle in the game while ranking among the top left tackles should the Saints ask him to change positions down the road.

It’s likely Ramczyk’s agents point to Armstead’s higher percentage of guarantees and pushes to get the same, but the Saints have more leverage with him now than when they inked Armstead, lacking a quick replacement. If push comes to shove, they can (theoretically) let Ramczyk walk in free agency next year while re-signing Armstead instead and letting backups like James Hurst and Landon Young compete to start on the right side. New Orleans also doesn’t need Ramczyk to do this so they can facilitate other roster moves, but that would be a nice side effect.

Hopefully it doesn’t come down to that. The Saints are showing some good faith now by initiating contract talks before they really need to, and so long as Ramczyk’s health and quality of play endure he’ll earn every penny on a new contract.

A big signing bonus would help make the deal more palatable. Lowering Ramczyk’s $11.064 million salary for 2021 (from his fifth year option) to just over the veteran’s minimum at $1 million and converting the remainder into a signing bonus gives him some money now while spreading the cap accounting over the life of his new contract (plus a couple of void years, maybe), in addition to the new money he’d be receiving anyway. Both parties benefit.

We’ll see if I’m off the mark before too long. With talks already underway, it’s only a matter of time until the Saints settle this situation and turn their attention elsewhere — either to a new deal with franchise tagged free safety Marcus Williams (who has until July 15 to put pen to paper on an extension, or else play on the tag) or a true extension with Marshon Lattimore after his recent restructure. If nothing else, it’s obvious that business is booming in New Orleans.