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METAIRIE, LA – Max Unger, three-time Pro Bowl champion, has decided to retire after 10 seasons, leaving a big gap in the middle of the New Orleans Saints' offensive line.
It's unclear how long the Saints have known about Unger's retirement plan, but they visited at least one agent / guardian free agent this week at Nick Easton.
Unger, who turns 33 next month, was officially placed on the NFL Reserve / Retiree list on Saturday. He had one year of contract left.
The Saints will save $ 6.95 million in cash and have a salary space it was to receive in 2019. They will still have to count $ 1.75 million "dead money" in relation to the ceiling of his previous signing bonus.
None of these candidates, however, can easily replace Unger, which has become the Saints' most successful trade award with the Seattle Seahawks with Jimmy Graham in 2015.
The free agency is running. Here's what you need to know:
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Unger quickly imposed himself as captain and leader of one of the NFL's best offensive lines. The athletic 6-foot-5, 305-pound, has missed only one game in the last four years for New Orleans, starting the other 67, including the playoffs. He made his first Pro Bowl as a member of the Saints last season while they were 13-3 and earned the No. 1 seed of the NFC before losing a game before the Super Bowl.
The previous two nods of the Unger Pro Bowl came with the Seahawks, who drafted him at the second round of Oregon in 2009.
Unger is now the second veteran of the Saints to retire this year, after Benjamin Watson. The Saints also lost two free Pro Bowlers this week after replacing veteran midfielder Mark Ingram with veteran Latavius Murray. New Orleans also lost defenseman Alex Okafor in attack, adding defensive tackle Malcom Brown and defensive lineman Mario Edwards.
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