The New Orleans Saints wrapped up their veteran minicamp this week, and that meant several key veterans were back on the field after missing most or all of the optional OTA sessions.
Among that group was Alvin Kamara, who has been one of the biggest topics of the offseason as he heads into the final year of his contract and after the Saints spent big in free agency to bring in Travis Etienne. WWL Radio's Deuce McAllister said he doesn't expect friction in the RB room to be an issue, but Kamara does have to embrace an adjusted role.
"You don’t need to be the top dog. At some point, Etienne is going to have to come out of the game. What are you gonna do? He gets nicked up for a play or two, what are you gonna do? What do you want to be able to do,?" McAllister said. "If you’re truly being honest is help your young quarterback. Well, we both know you’d better be able to run the football … and so if I’ve got at least one or two guys that I know I can depend on to do that, then I'm helping my young quarterback."
Hear the full interview with WWL Radio's Deuce McAllister in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
To this stage the other players in the mix are Devin Neal, Audric Estime, Kendre Miller, Ty Chandler and UDFA CJ Donaldson. The first three names on that list saw significant run last year, though Neal was out this week nursing an injury and Miller is still working back from last year's season-ending ACL tear. Kamara, still in ramp-up mode, was held out of team drills, meaning the biggest workload went to Estime, who served as the team's lead back for the final two games last year.
The ideal scenario would still seem to be some kind of a tandem backfield with Kamara and Etienne, a plan both players have endorsed while lauding the other. Kamara is coming off a down year that ended early due to injury, but a lighter workload could help keep him fresh. It also remains possible that a pay cut is discussed prior to the season. However that works out, Deuce sees the RB tandem idea as the winning scenario. Kamara has worked in that type of situation successfully before, most notably early in his career alongside Mark Ingram.
"There’s no conflict there. … Etienne is still trying to learn his way around the building. … Yes, the Saints have to be concerned with the production standpoint. That has to be a concern," Deuce continued, "and I think the other part of it is, he said the right things publicly, but, you know, going out and proving it, showing it and saying hey, I don’t think he’s ever been a bad teammate. So, I don’t think that that’s going to make the running back room bad all of a sudden, I mean, because he wants to win."
The Saints closed out their minicamp on Wednesday and how have a little over a month before they're back for the full training camp. If there was ever going to be something done with Kamara's contract, it'd likely occur in that span.
More from Deuce
On Jaylan Ford
“I thought for him, we’ve seen him be able to make some plays, some splash plays as far as on special teams, but not a lot on defense, and so is this the opportunity for him, since Demario [Davis] and some other guys are gone, to finally be able to showcase some of the speed ... and so for him to have just a punchout and cause a fumble, I thought that was pretty good for him. He’s a guy that’s battled some injuries, but when he’s been out there, he’s been able to flash and make a play or two for you, but you just haven’t seen him be able to do anything even on the defense in some of the packages that they’ve been able to put out.”
On cornerback depth
“I think you’re always concerned. You know, particularly with overall depth and you want both of those guys to take another leap. I think they were very, very pleased with [Quincy] Riley and you can kind of see with some of the moves they didn’t make in the first round or even in the draft overall. One guy I am intrigued by … was [Martin Emerson Jr.], and that’s just because you look at him, he’s a big corner, and I know that he’s battled some injuries and, you know, he did pretty good … early in his career. … But before the injuries, I think that you were really, really excited about him and so I don’t know health-wise what it looks like, you know, if he’s close to 100 or he feels like he’s close to 100, but I would be very, very intrigued with him, and then I wouldn’t be surprised as well, I know right around the draft or right after it they brought in some veteran guys, and you’re always monitoring, but they want those top two guys, Quincy and Kool-Aid, they want them to work. They want those guys to be long-term answers.”
