The New Orleans Saints’ salary cap situation has been ugly for years. They were able to make it work enough this year to create room to sign quarterback Derek Carr, but some more difficult decisions will have to be made.
One of the decisions that New Orleans will wrestle with in the coming weeks is whether or not to exercise the fifth-year option for Cesar Ruiz. The No. 24 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft has a fifth-year option worth $14,175,000, which was bumped up because of playing time escalators.
Finding success in the trenches is integral to the offense. Ruiz is a versatile player that can fill in along the interior of the offensive line, which is a plus. He has settled into the right guard spot, but is capable of playing the center spot and left guard as well.
Before being placed on injured reserve on December 20th, 2022, Ruiz had started 46 consecutive games for the Saints. The Lisfranc-injury that he suffered could play a major part in the decision to exercise his option or decline it.
There are certainly reasons to exercise it. Continuity along the offensive line is important and Ruiz has been locked into the lineup when healthy. However, that fifth-year option would put Ruiz among the highest-paid right guards in the NFL in terms of annual pay.
Only three players in the NFL would make more than the $14,175,000 that the fifth-year option is worth in 2023. Given the injury that he suffered and his sometimes underwhelming performance, it is understandable why PFF believes the Saints will ultimately decline Ruiz’s option.
While Ruiz certainly isn’t a liability for the offensive line, he isn’t a must-have asset either. He has yet to record a pass-blocking or run-blocking grade of at least 65 in his career and his 57.1 grade in the last three seasons is ranked 90th out of 150 players. His -0.19 WAR shows that Ruiz has been slightly below average and is ranked 228th.
Given the history of how interior linemen normally develop, there is certainly concern that Ruiz will never take that leap you would hope to see from a first-round pick. Pouring more money into something that isn’t a sure thing isn’t something that the Saints can afford to do in their current position.
Declining the option does make the most sense for the Saints at this time. Committing that kind of money to a player that hasn’t approached the top of the market production is bad for business. If Ruiz outperforms expectations during the 2023 season, the team can still re-sign him to a long-term deal during free agency next offseason.
