Field Yates reports that Saints veteran C Max Unger is retiring from the NFL.
The Saints will place Unger on the reserve/retired list in the coming days to ensure they hold his rights should he unretire at some point.
This leaves the Saints with Cameron Tom and Will Clapp as in-house center options.
Should they look to the free agent market, the best available options for New Orleans include Nick Easton, Travis Swanson, John Sullivan, Brett Jones, John Greco, and Ryan Groy, among others.
Unger, 32, is a former second-round pick of the Seahawks back in 2009. After six years in Seattle, he was traded to the Saints in return for TE Jimmy Graham and a first-round pick that eventually became LB Stephone Anthony.
Unger signed a three-year, $23.3 million contract with the Saints that included $14.3 million guaranteed in 2016. He was entering the final year of his deal and set to earn a base salary of $5,100,000 this season while carrying a cap hit of $8,700,000.
For his career, Unger appeared in 130 games and played 10 seasons for the Seahawks and Saints. He as three-time Pro Bowl selection and a first-team All-Pro in 2012.
In 2018, Pro Football Focus had Unger rated as the No. 19 center out of 38 qualifying players.
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