Easily, James Hurst was the New Orleans Saints' most versatile offensive lineman after joining the franchise in 2020. Arguably, he was its most valuable offensive lineman during that period.

Wednesday, he undoubtedly left behind a sizable void on the Saints' offensive line when he retired from the NFL after 10 seasons (six with Baltimore) and 150 games, including 60 (with 51 starts) for New Orleans.

Hurst announced his retirement on Instagram, in part writing, "Twenty-four of my thirty-two years of life have been spent training for and playing this game and retiring will be a huge, yet exciting, change in my life."

For his teammates, Hurst wrote, "Thank you for the laughs and the memories. Thank you for your effort and risking your bodies alongside me because I can't talk football without recognizing the dangers of the sport and the sacrifices that each of you make. You gave everything to help accomplish our mutual goals and I hope that you all felt the same of me. Many of you became some of my best friends off the field and I'll always cherish our time together."

Hurst, a free agent rookie in 2014 after playing four collegiate seasons at North Carolina, played every offensive line position except center during his Saints tenure. Last year, he opened games left tackle (one), left guard (13) and right guard (one) and in 2021, Hurst started at four positions during the season – left (eight) and right (three) tackle, left guard (two) and as an extra lineman (two).

After starting five of 12 games in 2020, his initial season in New Orleans, Hurst then started 46 of his final 48 games with the Saints, including his last 31.

Prior to joining New Orleans, he started 44 of 90 games in six seasons with the Ravens, playing left tackle, left guard and right tackle.

"A huge thank you to both the Ravens and Saints organizations for giving me a chance to pursue my dream in the NFL," he wrote. "Thank you for your time in shaping me into the man and player I became. As I've grown older, I've realized the incredible amount of sacrifice you've made for myself and all of my teammates."

Hurst's retirement wasn't unexpected but adds to the positions that New Orleans must address.

Andrus Peat, who started the final 11 games at left tackle last season, is an unrestricted free agent. Trevor Penning, a first-round pick in 2022, who started the first five games of 2023 at left tackle, was replaced as a starter due to ineffectiveness. Hurst primarily started at left guard when Peat and Penning were at left tackle.

Also, the Saints are monitoring the progress and availability of right tackle Ryan Ramczyk, who underwent offseason knee surgery.