A mini-panic ensued last week when news broke the Saints were putting Alvin Kamara on the trade block amid thorny contract talks. This development was met with considerable skepticism and quickly debunked as a negotiating ploy (and not a particularly subtle one) by Saints management, but it still left many in the football world unsure of Kamara’s long-term future in the Big Easy.
Teams have been reluctant to overspend on running backs of late, citing their inherent replaceablity, short shelf life relative to other positions and recent horror stories including the albatross contracts given to Todd Gurley and Le’Veon Bell. Kamara’s lackluster 2019, a year that saw the former Tennessee Volunteer limp to his fewest touchdowns (six) while setting career-worst marks in both fumbles (three) and yards per catch (6.6), may also have been a factor in New Orleans playing hardball with the three-time Pro Bowler.
But it seems the two sides are beginning to find a middle ground with ESPN’s Adam Schefter reporting the Saints are “extremely close” to extending Kamara with hopes of finalizing a new deal before their opener Sunday against Tampa Bay.
Kamara, who is due a modest $2.133 million in the final year of his rookie contract (30th in the league among running backs), has set the NFL ablaze with 38 touchdowns and 4,476 yards from scrimmage (99.5 per game) over his first three seasons. The former Rookie of the Year, who arrived as a third-round pick in one of the most talented running back classes in recent memory—Christian McCaffrey, Dalvin Cook, Joe Mixon, Aaron Jones, Chris Carson, Austin Ekeler, Kareem Hunt, James Conner, Marlon Mack, Leonard Fournette, Matt Breida and Tarik Cohen also debuted in 2017—reportedly turned down New Orleans’ initial offer of $12 million annually, preferring a salary closer to McCaffrey’s league-high $16 million AAV. The final figure will likely land somewhere between those two numbers.
The 25-year-old didn’t have a ton of leverage over the Saints—holdouts are extremely cost-prohibitive under the new CBA (Kamara could have incurred fines of up to $50,000 a day while potentially losing an accrued season toward free agency). But ultimately the Saints saw it in their best interest to keep their workhorse happy and well-compensated, steering clear of a locker-room distraction that could potentially derail the team’s title hopes in what figures to be Drew Brees’ final season in a New Orleans uniform.
Even if New Orleans signs Kamara as expected, next year’s free-agent running back class is still going to be an embarrassment of riches with Cook, Jones, Conner, Fournette, Mack, Todd Gurley, Kenyan Drake, James White and Phillip Lindsay all slated for the open market.
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