Category: Alvin Kamara

ESPN bold predictions forecast an Alvin Kamara contract holdout

A survey of ESPN’s NFL Nation suggested New Orleans Saints star running back Alvin Kamara may hold out in search of a contract extension.

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What is going to happen between the New Orleans Saints and star running back Alvin Kamara? Kamara is headed for the final year of his rookie contract, having earned a performance-based pay raise that boosts his 2020 base salary to $2.147 million, or a hair shy of $126,300 per game.

While Kamara’s total touchdowns scored dropped in his third season (7 in 15 games, including the playoffs) from his first two years (34 in 35 games), his yards from scrimmage gained per game remained steady at 92.3 (compared to 100.0 in the first two seasons combined). Rumors of his demise have been greatly exaggerated.

It all sets up for difficult contract negotiations between Kamara’s agents and the Saints. He’s now eligible for an extension even though he’s under contract for one more year, and it’s very possible that he chooses to hold out and pressure the Saints into signing him to a new deal. In a survey of the ESPN NFL Nation network, Saints writer Mike Triplett looked to Kamara as the inspiration behind his bold prediction for the 2020 offseason:

Kamara has not announced any plans to do this. But it feels like a no-brainer since he is heading into the final year of a supremely discounted rookie contract (he was a third-round pick). Perhaps the Saints will pay Kamara quickly, like they did with wide receiver Michael Thomas last summer. But agreeing on Kamara’s market value could prove more difficult since there aren’t many perfect comparisons for him and since all NFL teams wrestle with how much to pay their backs.

That point about every NFL team struggling to budget for running backs is prescient — the same bold predictions survey has writers covering the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals each suggesting their teams will try to get out of contracts with Todd Gurley and David Johnson. It’s a grueling position to play, with a very uncertain shelf life.

So what is Kamara’s value? If he hadn’t been set back by injuries and received more touches in scoring position last year, he’d probably have grounds for an argument to displace Ezekiel Elliott as the NFL’s highest-paid running back. However, because there was a slight dip in his production and a big drop in scoring plays, the Saints probably won’t be eager to reset the market.

To be fair, some of the differences in 2019 weren’t within Kamara’s control. He was given just 33 combined carries and targets inside the opposing 20-yard line, an average of 2.2 per game, compared to 110 such plays in 2017 and 2018 (which averages out to 3.1 per game). He wasn’t touching the ball in scoring position as often, and also ran a different route tree. How many times did he get matched up one-on-one against a linebacker on a route deep downfield?

And that may suggest something about where the Saints stand on Kamara. If they don’t think he can continue to win on those routes and make those plays, or hold up to the physically-demanding battle in a phone booth when opposing defenses are backed up deep in their own territory, they may not want to tie up significant salary cap resources to him. Maybe Kamara’s future doesn’t lie in the New Orleans.

Or maybe this is all just idle speculation. Kamara hinted at dialogue between his camp and the Saints just last week, saying, “there might be something going on” with contract discussions. Would it really surprise anyone if he sat out a few days of training camp before signing a four-year, $42 million extension?

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Alvin Kamara earns proven performance pay raise for 2020 season

New Orleans Saints RB Alvin Kamara earned a 2020 salary proven performance escalator after playing so well and often early in his career.

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New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara took the league by storm back in 2017, and he hasn’t looked back. Even in 2019 — by all accounts a down year for the electrifying runner, plagued by injuries — he still finished second on the team in yards from scrimmage per game (1,330), a blistering clip of 95 yards per game. His participation was key for the Saints offense, and it’s resulted in a bump to his 2020 salary.

The NFL’s collective bargaining agreement ensures proven performance escalators for players who were drafted between rounds three and seven and signed to typical four-year rookie contracts. If those players log snap counts of 35% or better in at least two of their first three years in the NFL (or play 35% or more of total snaps during those three years), they qualify for an increased base salary in their fourth season.

For Kamara, that means a jump in pay from $977,500 to $2,147,000. That number is fully guaranteed, meaning it will cost the Saints an additional $1,169,500 when the 2020 salary cap comes into effect this March. Estimates suggest the cap will reach $200 million for the first time in 2020, so this shouldn’t be a big hurdle for the Saints to maneuver around.

A full list of players whose fourth-year salaries have increased thanks to this CBA provision has been put together at Over The Cap; as it explains, Kamara’s percentage of snaps played has surpassed the 35% mark each year he’s been in the league, with a three-year average of 55.3%. He’s averaged 99.5 yards from scrimmage per game and scored 38 combined touchdowns during that time, so there isn’t much to complain about despite his slowed-down 2019 season.

The same can’t be said for Saints wideout Tre’Quan Smith, who has already qualified for an increased salary in 2021 by surpassing the 35% threshold in his first two years (54.1% in 2018, and 39.3% in 2019). Smith has played a lot of empty snaps for New Orleans, drawing just 69 targets in his first 26 games (a rate of 2.7 targets per game). While he has already scored 10 touchdowns, he has to start producing more consistently to justify his roster spot.

Alternatively, the only other Saints player on the path to qualifying for a proven performance bonus (so far) is second-year defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson. He played often as a rookie and was impossible to take off the field late in the 2019 season, totaling 51.0% of snaps played in his debut. With both of the players ahead of him on the depth chart headed for free agency (in slot corner P.J. Williams and safety Vonn Bell), his role should only continue to increase, and his future payouts with it.

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Alvin Kamara reminisces on Sean Payton’s most-bizarre motivational tactic

New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara recalled the strangest, but maybe most effective, motivational tactic Sean Payton has pulled.

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New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton is known for his sometimes-bizarre motivational tactics. Whether he’s posting corny cartoons on the bulletin board or hanging gas masks in the locker room (cautioning players not to get “gassed up” by media power rankings and their own overconfidence), he’s always looking for ways to fire up his players while keeping them focused on the task at hand. Sometimes that’s resulted in pointedly placing empty gas cans next to older players’ lockers.

Last season, that meant flying in college mascots like “Purdue Pete” and the Michigan State Spartan to celebrate upset wins over his players’ alma maters. During an appearance on Pro Football Talk from Miami ahead of Super Bowl 54, Alvin Kamara recalled one of Payton’s most-bizarre maneuvers yet.

“One week he brought in some fish,” Kamara said, “He was throwing dead fish in the team meeting room. It was for Seattle, with their fish market. I’m talking about, he’s throwing fish in the team meeting room, it smelled like fish for two days. People were catching them, but they were slippery.”

The famous Pike Place Fish Market is one of Seattle’s most iconic tourist draws, and Payton obviously took notice of what winning the important early-season road game could mean to his team. And lighthearted as it is, the move paid off: that Week 3 win over the Seattle Seahawks was arguably the most-complete game the Saints played all year, featuring a huge scoop-and-score defensive touchdown by Vonn Bell, a long punt returned for a touchdown by Deonte Harris (who went on to receive first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl recognition), and the best performance in recent memory from Kamara, who scored several touchdowns while shredding the vaunted Seahawks defense through the air and on the ground. Maybe Payton should toss some dead fish around the team meeting room more often.

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Alvin Kamara says ‘there might be something going on’ with contract extension

Alvin Kamara is due a New Orleans Saints contract extension, and he’s thankful for Ezekiel Elliott raising the bar with the Dallas Cowboys.

It’s a busy week for New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara, who is in Miami making the rounds on “Radio Row” for a gauntlet of media appearances. Some of these conversations are mundane; others are intriguing. During an interview with NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on the Rapsheet+Friends Podcast, Kamara addressed the elephant in the room: his looming contract extension. While he’s still under contract through 2020, it would behoove the Saints to get a deal hammered out early, as they did last year with all-star wideout Michael Thomas.

“I’ve thought about my situation. We’ll see what gets done,” Kamara said. “I’m obviously in my third year of my rookie contract, so we’ll see. There might be something going on.”

Kamara is one of several big-name running backs headed for the open market, along with Carolina Panthers workhorse Christian McCaffrey, Tennessee Titans battering ram Derrick Henry, and NFC North mainstays Dalvin Cook (with the Minnesota Vikings) and Aaron Jones (on the Green Bay Packers). Any one of them could raise the bar higher after Ezekiel Elliott agreed to a six-year, $90 million contract extension with the Dallas Cowboys last summer.

And for his part, Kamara is appreciative of what Elliott accomplished. “It was great to see that number and see a guy that has obviously worked hard and deserves it actually get it at a position that usually doesn’t get the recognition it deserves,” Kamara told Mackenzie Salmon of USA Today Sports. “Zeke set a bar, so we’ll see what happens.”

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Two Saints make list of Top 50 in merchandise sales, both in Top 20

New Orleans Saints superstars Drew Brees and Alvin Kamara ranked high among their peers in the latest NFLPA merchandise sales report.

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The NFL Players Association released its list of the top 50 players in 2019 merchandise sales from March 1 to November 30, and two members of the New Orleans Saints ranked high among their peers: quarterback Drew Brees and running back Alvin Kamara. While each player carries unique name recognition in their own right, the success the Saints have experienced in recent years (winning 27 of their last 35 games, including the playoffs) has to have given them a well-deserved boost.

Brees ranked No. 11 in the NFL, while Kamara placed at No. 17. They were not joined by other notable teammates like wide receiver Michael Thomas, which is a bit puzzling given his rapid rise to the top in prominence. Maybe he’ll catch on in the next fiscal year after shattering the all-time record for catches in a single season.

As for who outpaced them: Brees was pushed out of the top-10 by rising stars Saquon Barkley and JuJu Smith-Schuster, each of whom have supplemented their NFL exploits with avid social media and video game streaming support. Kamara missed out on the No. 15 spots with two young quarterbacks ahead of him in Jimmy Garoppolo and Mitchell Trubisky.

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Alvin Kamara’s agent joins Klutch Sports; Lakers trade request imminent?

New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara will be up for a new contract extension, and his agent Demarius Bilbo just joined Klutch Sports

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New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara is under contract with the team through the 2020 season, but he’ll soon be eligible to negotiate an extension. That’s dramatic enough as it is; before the 2019 season, Kamara looked to be in position to join Dallas Cowboys star Ezekiel Elliott as one of the top-paid young runners in football, thanks to his sky-high efficiency numbers and impressive knack for scoring touchdowns.

Instead, his production trailed off a bit in an injury-plagued campaign, and it’s fair to wonder if he figures into New Orleans’ long-term plans. Considering that other former Saints skills position talent such as Jimmy Graham and Brandin Cooks have been shipped out of town, it’s not impossible to imagine a trade developing should the Saints think they’re getting back fair value.

On Wednesday, Kamara’s looming contract talks with the team took an unexpected turn when NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Kamara’s agent, Damarius Bilbo of Revolution Sports, would be joining Klutch Sports. Bilbo will now head Klutch’s football division and bring his roster of agency partners and clients with him beneath Klutch’s banner.

This is noteworthy because of Klutch’s role as antagonists in the Anthony Davis trade saga experienced by New Orleans Pelicans fans last year. Klutch is headed by Davis’s agent Rich Paul, who also represents LeBron James and angled to get both of his top clients together with the Los Angeles Lakers. His heavy-handed negotiating tactics sat poorly with Pelicans fans, though a deal was eventually worked out. So now we’re left asking, tongue very firmly in cheek, whether Paul will try to wrest away another icon from the New Orleans sports scene. Hey, it almost happened in HBO’s “Ballers,” didn’t it?

All jokes aside: this likely means next to nothing for Kamara’s future with the Saints. We’ll find out in just a few months whether the team intends to take a proactive approach with his contract (as they did last summer with Michael Thomas, Cameron Jordan, and Wil Lutz) or if they would rather let him play out his low-cost rookie deal before opening negotiations. All that’s certain right now is how the offseason never seems to pass by quietly in New Orleans.

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Watch: Alvin Kamara’s two touchdown runs build big lead for Saints

The New Orleans Saints took an early lead over the reeling Carolina Panthers, thanks to Alvin Kamara’s two trips into the end zone.

Don’t look now, but New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara is making up for lost time. Kamara has made four trips into the end zone in his last two games, and there’s still more than a half of football yet to play on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.

Kamara scored two touchdown runs against the Tennessee Titans a week ago. He’s already matched that total this week, granting the Saints their easiest opening-drive score of the year at Carolina. The Saints converted three first downs on their first three plays of the game, and capped it all off with Kamara’s 15-yard run through the heart of the Panthers defense. See it for yourself:

Later on, Kamara again found himself set up in scoring position. The Saints snapped the ball at the goal-line and Kamara followed the play design to take the handoff and cut upfield, following the left tackle. He bounced off of a Panthers defender — his signature move — to hit paydirt, extending New Orleans’ lead. Yeah, he’s back, and just in time for the playoffs.

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