Report: Saints contract talks with Alvin Kamara have ‘begun in earnest’

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that the New Orleans Saints have kickstarted negotiations with Pro Bowl RB Alvin Kamara on a contract extension

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Money isn’t really on Alvin Kamara’s mind right now. The New Orleans Saints running back said early in training camp that he’s not worried about his contract situation; that’s despite him entering the final year of his rookie deal, with a possible franchise tag on the horizon in 2021.

It makes sense. Kamara has a lot to prove after his hobbled 2019 season, in which his performance slumped following an early-season knee injury. He’s kicking any questions about his contract upstairs, where his agent and Saints management may or may not be hashing things out. For his part, general manager Mickey Loomis shot down any questions about it earlier this month.

Kamara addressed the situation himself back on Aug. 10, making his stance on the subject very clear: “Me and my agent talked briefly about it and I said, ‘Don’t tell me anything about a contract until it’s like something where it’s happening or if it’s something that I need to know,’ other than that, like if I was my own agent then I’d have everything to tell you guys about a contract, but I’m not. I don’t talk upstairs about contracts, I don’t talk to coaches about contracts. I’m just here to do my job.”

But that doesn’t mean nothing is happening. According to the latest report from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Saints have finally gotten the ball rolling with Kamara, though it doesn’t appear anyone is ready to put pens to paper just yet.

“Kamara and the New Orleans Saints have begun contract negotiations in earnest,” Fowler said on ESPN. “Now there is nothing imminent but the team has made clear with their proposal that they value him, and they know he played hurt last year, and they believe he is elite.”

Now, Fowler was careful to couch his report by saying sides are not close to a deal — it just means that the team has put an offer on the table, and now they’re in wait-and-see mode.

But things could develop in a hurry. Fowler also pointed out that three different big-name running backs are in talks with their teams around the league: Dalvin Cook and the Minnesota Vikings, Joe Mixon and the Cincinnati Bengals, and of course, Kamara and the Saints. It’s a bit of a race to see who signs first.

New contract extensions for superstar running backs Christian McCaffrey and Derrick Henry have already been signed earlier this year, raising the cost for players at the position across the board. If the Saints put this deal off much longer, Kamara’s market value will only increase.

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