There’s uncertainty at left tackle for the New Orleans Saints for the first time in a decade. With three-time Pro Bowler Terron Armstead off to join the Miami Dolphins, it’s time for the Saints to test their contingency plans and see whether they’ve prepared well enough for moving on without him. At one point, it seemed that the move would be flipping All-Pro right tackle Ryan Ramczyk back to the left side, where he starred in college at Wisconsin. But now it’s looking like he’ll stay where he’s played his best football, and the Saints are instead putting Armstead’s backup James Hurst in that spot.
It makes sense. Hurst played more snaps at left tackle (557) than Armstead did last year (467). He’s a versatile player who can step in to tackle or guard on each side of the line, but the Saints found some success with him protecting their quarterbacks’ blind side. Now that he’s re-signed to start in 2022, Jameis Winston has made it clear that he’s in Hurst’s corner.
“I wish we could have gotten Terron back, but I’m excited for him (in Miami),” Winston said during his Monday media availability session, per our own Ross Jackson. Unprompted, Winston continued: “I’m excited for James Hurst to get the recognition that he deserves.”
That’s a sentiment shared by Saints head coach Dennis Allen, who also talked up Hurst while meeting with local media on Tuesday. He told NewOrleansSaints.com’s John DeShazier that he has “all the confidence in the world” that Hurst can hold down the left tackle job, though he added, “if that’s the direction the team takes.” There’s a lot of time left in the offseason to sort these things out.
Of course that could change if the right opportunity presents itself. If a highly-rated left tackle prospect is available once the Saints are on the clock in the 2022 NFL draft, they shouldn’t hesitate to draft them — possibilities include Mississippi State’s Charlie Cross, Northern Iowa’s Trevor Penning, and Central Michigan’s Bernhard Raimann. Maybe the best scenario for New Orleans would be putting one of those rookies into a training camp competition with Hurst so they know they’re starting the best player.
It’s also possible that the Saints could sign a free agent to compete for the starting gig, again, if a good opportunity is there. Maybe a veteran like Eric Fisher or Jason Peters slips through the cracks and is looking for a job in August. That’s probably a long shot, but we can’t rule anything out.
What’s certain is that Hurst is a big part of the Saints’ plans. The Athletic’s Katherine Terrell reported on March 18 that the Saints included a one-year extension in his contract restructure, tying him to New Orleans through the 2024 season (he was previously signed on a three-year deal through 2023) with a couple of void years thrown in for accounting purposes. Right now, he’s probably the favorite to start at left tackle. If they don’t add anyone else to the mix, look for second-year pro Landon Young to get some looks during training camp. He started several years at Kentucky at college and held his own as a rookie prior to a season-ending foot injury.
