Category: Alvin Kamara

Here’s how much salary Alvin Kamara will lose while serving NFL suspension

Here’s how much salary Alvin Kamara will lose while serving his three-game NFL suspension. A spring restructure ended up saving him a lot of money:

As expected, the NFL issued a suspension to New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara that will sideline him for three games to open the 2023 season. That’s a relief for the team after the initial expectation was that Kamara would have to sit out six or more matchups. We’ve discussed which games Kamara will miss but how much is this going to hurt wallet?

After agreeing to restructure his contract earlier this year — reducing his base salary to the veteran minimum and having the difference paid out as a signing bonus — Kamara was due to receive $1,080,000 in weekly game checks over the course of the season. He’ll forfeit three of those while serving this suspension, which is a total of $180,000.

Had he not restructured his contract (which accomplished the larger goal of freeing up 2023 salary cap space for the team), Kamara would now be losing $1,560,000. So he both helped the team by agreeing to be paid in a different structure and secured his money knowing this NFL discipline was likely to be handed down.

Of course Kamara also had to pay legal fees in settling his criminal and civil court cases in Nevada and Louisiana, respectively, where he agreed to a confidential settlement out of court with the alleged victim. He’s probably also seen fewer sponsorship opportunities with this incident casting a pall on him. But as Kamara himself pointed out, he doesn’t want anyone’s pity or sympathy — he knows he made a terrible mistake and he still feels the embarrassment of it. That’s going to outweigh any dollar figures thrown around.

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These are the Saints games Alvin Kamara will miss during suspension

These are the New Orleans Saints games Alvin Kamara will miss during his NFL-mandated suspension to start the 2023 season:

This was expected, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating. The New Orleans Saints are going to be without Alvin Kamara for the first three games of their 2023 season now that the NFL has suspended him, citing a violation of the league’s personal conduct policy. Kamara was allegedly involved in a Las Vegas beating last year, recently agreeing to a plea deal in Nevada criminal court while settling a Louisiana civil suit out of court. Now that the legal process has played out, the NFL is issuing its own discipline.

It’s going to be challenging for the Saints to start their 2023 season strong without one of their best playmakers, but they’ve made a point to restock at running back this offseason. Adding a proven veteran like Jamaal Williams and an exciting rookie in Kendre Miller should help tide them over while Kamara is unavailable. They also have backups Eno Benjamin, Ellis Merriweather, and Kirk Merritt on the depth chart.

Here are the games New Orleans is set to kick off with Kamara watching from home, and each team’s ranking in 2022 run defense stats:

NFL suspends Alvin Kamara 3 games for violating personal conduct policy

The NFL suspended Alvin Kamara for the New Orleans Saints’ first three games, citing violation of the league’s personal conduct policy:

As expected, the NFL has handed down discipline to New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara after his recent legal proceedings concluded. Kamara was allegedly involved in a beating outside a Las Vegas nightclub in Feb. 2022 which led to criminal charges in Nevada and a civil suit in New Orleans — both of which he wrapped up by agreeing to a plea deal and undisclosed settlement. ESPN’s Adam Schefter was first to report news of Kamara’s suspension.

In following its usual precedent to wait for a legal conclusion before issuing its own discipline, the league office in New York has suspended Kamara for the first three games of the Saints’ season. Kamara has the right to appeal this discipline, which could reduce the length of his suspension though it’s unlikely to be overturned altogether.

It’s all but certain the Saints will be without one of their most important players for their season-opening home game with the Tennessee Titans and subsequent road trips to face the Carolina Panthers and Green Bay Packers. If Kamara’s suspension is upheld, he will return until in time for Week 4’s matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Caesars Superdome. He’ll continue to practice with New Orleans throughout training camp and the preseason, but he won’t be allowed back at the facility until Monday, Sept. 25 after that Packers contest.

It’s a good thing the Saints made the running back position a priority this offseason. Signing the reigning rushing touchdowns leader (Jamaal Williams) and drafting a hungry young runner eager to prove himself (Kendre Miller) should pay off in a big way. But they may not be finished yet. If the Saints aren’t content with the depth chart behind those players — made up of incumbent backup Eno Benjamin, undrafted rookie Ellis Merriweather, and wide receiver-convert Kirk Merritt — they could look to the free agent market for reinforcements. But they’ll likely want to evaluate the players already on the roster in training camp before looking outside the building for more help.

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Alvin Kamara addresses Las Vegas incident: ‘Not looking for any pity’

Alvin Kamara addressed last year’s Las Vegas incident, taking full responsibility and pledging to learn from his mistakes: ‘Not looking for any pity’

A lot of the conversations surrounding Alvin Kamara this offseason have centered on what he’s done away from the field — settling cases in Nevada and Louisiana courts after his arrest a year ago, and sitting down with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to get in front of a likely suspension stemming from the incident.

Now that the cases are settled and his conversation with Goodell “went very well,” Kamara spoke with local media at New Orleans Saints training camp. And his opening statement was a lengthy acknowledgement to his mistakes and pledge to learn from them.

“Poor judgment on my end, definitely a bad decision,” Kamara admitted, “But I’m a man, everything I’ve ever done in my life, I’ve stood on it. I can take accountability for it and say when I’m wrong. I was completely wrong, I embarrassed the Saints, my family and my mother. Embarrassed myself. Embarrassed the city. And the Shield, obviously, I embarrassed the NFL.”

Kamara said that he’s lost a lot here — not just monetarily, but in friendships and the support of some fans. He knows he’s made mistakes, and now he’s working to do the best he can moving forward: “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t tough. I’ve lost a lot throughout this ordeal. Definitely not looking for any pity, not looking for somebody to give me a pat on the back and say it’s okay. I know what I did, I know what I was involved in, and I definitely take responsibility in it. That’s part of being a man and growing. From here, I’ve just got to make the right decisions and make the right choices.”

Quoting Tony Dungy’s old line (“Nothing good happens after 12, after midnight”) and acknowledged that he needs to do a better job of making the right decisions to stay out of trouble. Kamara drummed his hands on the podium and grinned, “That’s all I’ve got to say about that. So now, let’s talk about football.”

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Ian Rapoport shares perspective on Alvin Kamara-Roger Goodell meeting

Ian Rapoport shared perspective on Wednesday’s Alvin Kamara-Roger Goodell meeting and what a suspension might mean for the Saints’ season:

The NFL world is waiting to see what comes out of Alvin Kamara’s sit-down conversation with league commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday, where Kamara is expected to share his side of the story from an incident that led to his arrest last year. The New Orleans Saints running back was excused from training camp practice so he could take the owner’s private jet to New York and do what he could to limit the length of a potential suspension from the NFL home office.

And here’s NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport sharing some perspective on Kamara’s motivation for the meeting and what he seeks to accomplish. Rapoport discussed the issue with his colleague Mike Garafolo, who anticipates a suspension for Kamara to start the season.

“I’m with you Mike, I’m kind of on the same page here,” Rapoport began. “I would expect a suspension for Alvin Kamara but what’s going to determine whether it’s two games, four games, six games; potentially what was behind it; why did Alvin Kamara do what he appears to have done; the altercation that he was in in that video. Is there something he can talk to with Goodell to make him at least have some understanding and realize what led to that altercation. Obviously the background there in that conversation will be key.”

We’ll soon see whether Kamara found much sympathy from Goodell in this meeting, so stay tuned for updates. The Saints open the 2023 regular season at home against the Tennessee Titans on Sept. 10.

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Alvin Kamara receives sit-down audience with Roger Goodell

Alvin Kamara received his sit-down audience with Roger Goodell to share his side of the story and, hopefully, appeal a potential suspension:

Here we go: Alvin Kamara will be in New York City on Wednesday meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, having been granted the face-to-face meeting he hoped for. Kamara hopes to share his side of the story after last year’s arrest in Las Vegas, in which he was allegedly involved in a brawl outside a nightclub. It was previously reported that Kamara wanted this meeting (and that Saints team officials encouraged him to seek it out), but ESPN’s Adam Schefter was the first to report it’s happening.

Kamara agreed to a plea deal on misdemeanor charges in Nevada and settled a civil suit out of court in Louisiana earlier this summer. Now that the legal process has concluded, the league office is likely to hand down its own discipline. Kamara is trying to get out in front of that and soften the blow as best he can.

We’ll see whether it works out for him. Nola.com’s Jeff Duncan reports that Kamara has sought counsel from members of the Saints organization including general manager Mickey Loomis as he prepares his arguments, and that team owner Gayle Benson is giving him use of her private jet to get him to New York promptly.

Saints head coach Dennis Allen shared his perspective on the situation after the team’s training camp practice earlier this week: “I think Alvin really wants to get out ahead of this and have a chance to visit with Roger and kind of give him his side of the story. And look, at the end of the day, I think part of it is, ‘Let’s get some resolution with where we’re at and move forward.’ I think Alvin is looking forward to putting this behind him and focusing in on what he has to do to be the best he can for our team this season.”

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Alvin Kamara plans to tell his side of the story to Roger Goodell before suspension

Alvin Kamara plans to tell his side of the story to Roger Goodell before a suspension that could disrupt the Saints’ 2023 season| @DillySanders

There has been a lot of talk surrounding New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara’s legal situation this offseason and how many games he will have to miss because of it due to an NFL suspension. It does not appear that Kamara intends to go down without a fight, though, as, per NOLA.com’s Jeff Duncan, he plans to meet with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and share his side of the story.

Duncan added a quote from Kamara from earlier this week, “I’ll talk to you all on Aug. 2 after I talk to (Goodell).” That would suggest that this planned meeting with Goodell will happen in the coming days.

This comes after Kamara agreed to plea no contest to a misdemeanor charge earlier in July for his role in the Las Vegas fight, avoiding any felony charges that many believed were on the way. Now, Kamara will head to Goodell to try and lessen whatever suspension is on the way.

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Alvin Kamara missed the cut for NFL Network’s Top 100 Players list for first time

Alvin Kamara won’t be included in this year’s NFL Network Top 100 list. As voted on by his fellow players, Kamara missed the cut for the first time | @DillySanders

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With NFL Network releasing their Top 100 players of 2023 list, they also announced those who just missed the cut. Among those players is New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara, who comes in at No. 103. That’s behind his new teammate Jamaal Williams, who ranks at No. 95.

That is a large drop from last season where Kamara came in at No. 51. This will be the first time that Kamara has missed the top 100. He debuted at No. 20 as a rookie and has two finishes at No. 14, for 2019 and 2021.

Kamara missing the cut comes after a career-low of just four total touchdowns last season. I would say that it is fair to see him drop off of the list after a year where it felt like there was a disconnect between him and the offensive staff for a lot of the season, especially in the red zone.

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NFL’s depressed RB market sets uncertain future for Alvin Kamara

Did you know Alvin Kamara is the NFL’s second-highest paid running back? A depressed free agent market looks grim if he and the Saints split in a year or two:

Did you know Alvin Kamara is the NFL’s second-highest paid running back? The New Orleans Saints star is currently playing on a deal averaging $15 million per year. Only San Francisco 49ers dynamo Christian McCaffrey earns more, at more than $16 million. There’s a gulf developing between McCaffrey, Kamara, and their peers around the league, and it’s growing wider by the day.

The NFL running back market has depressed as teams invest more dollars in what they perceive as higher-priority positions, with mediocre quarterbacks and wide receivers carving out larger and larger slices of the pie as the league puts a premium on the passing game. Great running backs are seeing their wages suppressed while duds like 21-31-1 New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones ($40 million per year) and 57-yards-per-game Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson ($18.3 million) are overpaid. So are has-beens like Deshaun Watson ($46 million) and Odell Beckham Jr. ($15 million).

To be clear, we aren’t blaming those players for getting paid. Teams aren’t doing a good job of valuing the players who do the most to help their offenses. Good running backs take pressure off the quarterbacks and receivers and force the defense to stay honest and consider all venues of attack. The Steelers offense doesn’t work if Najee Harris isn’t powering them. Neither is the Giants offense without Saquon Barkley. It sure doesn’t help that Barkley was all talk and no action in his recent contract dispute, agreeing to return on the franchise tag in exchange for less than $1 million in incentives, all of which is tied to a postseason berth.

Accomplished runners like Dalvin Cook are still looking for an agreeable offer, while the 25-year-old rushing champ Josh Jacobs is embroiled in his own franchise tag dispute. So is Indianapolis Colts stud Jonathan Taylor. The players with the shortest careers and greatest exposure to injury aren’t being rewarded for their efforts, instead they’re being treated as disposable.

Back to Kamara. Right now, he is set to carry a salary cap hit north of $18.8 million into 2024 — with more than $7 million of it coming from his prorated signing bonus. He’ll have another $1 million roster bonus trigger on March 22, per Over The Cap, but the bulk of his payout comes from a $10.2 million base salary.

Moving Kamara before June 1, 2024 (either in a trade or release) saves the Saints just $1.6 million. Designating him a post-June 1 cut would bring $11.8 million in savings, but not until after that date. Waiting to trade him would do the same. But for the Saints to do that they’d still need to carry his $18.8 million cap hit on the books through free agency, the draft, and early-summer team practices.

So odds are that Kamara will agree to another restructure in 2024. That saves the team $8.1 million against the cap and guarantees him his roster spot. The big decision on his future with the team is still set for 2025, when his cap hit swells to a staggering $29 million (this restructure we’re proposing would put him over $30 million). At that point the Saints would need to choose whether to sign him to a new extension and create cap relief or cut bait altogether and save as much as $25 million in unguaranteed cash.

But none of this matters if Kamara doesn’t return to form. If he continues to decline they’ll move on from him without a second thought. Kamara peaked with 112.5 scrimmage yards per game in 2020 but that number has fallen in each of the subsequent years, to 102.8 in 2021 and just 92.5 in 2022. An upgrade at quarterback should help him become more of a threat on passing downs, and improved blocking will help him as a rusher, but at the end of the day Kamara needs to look more like his old self. The Saints drafted Kendre Miller this year as a long-term option in case Kamara isn’t on the team in a year or two. Hopefully it won’t come to that, but you never know. All that’s certain is that there are slim pickings on the open market for even star running backs. If all goes well, maybe Kamara can work something out with the Saints so he never has to experience it for himself.

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Where NFL execs, coaches, and scouts ranked Alvin Kamara

Here’s where NFL execs, coaches, and scouts ranked Alvin Kamara — and what they had to say about the standout Saints RB:

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One of the more intriguing projects we’ll see each summer is what ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler found in asking NFL executives, coaches, scouts, and players to rank the best players at each position group — an annual exercise that always leads to spirited discussion and maybe some changing perspectives.

On Friday Fowler shared his takeaways for the league’s top running backs, having ranked New Orleans Saints standout Alvin Kamara at No. 7 overall. The highest ballot from Fowler’s survey put Kamara at No. 3, while at least one voter didn’t rank him top-10 at all. So why are opinions so split on him?

“Losing Sean Payton and Drew Brees really hurt him,” one AFC scout told Fowler. “But the skill set is still one of the best. I haven’t seen a dropoff there.”

Fowler noted that Kamara has racked up 463 rushing attempts the last two years without reaching 900 rushing yards in either season. His production as a receiver has dovetailed, too, with both of Kamara’s Brees-less seasons seeing him post fewer than 500 receiving yards (after posting more than 700 yards through the air in each of the three previous years). But maybe the arrival of Derek Carr will be good for him.

ESPN quoted an anonymous NFL personnel director, who said: “Still has very good feet, agility and change-of-direction skills. Has good initial burst as a runner on feel on both outside and inside runs. Still has some of the best contact balance, though he’s not an elite power guy, doesn’t have elite top-end speed and will eventually lose a half-step. Still a matchup problem as a route runner.”

There have been two major problems for Kamara’s usage in recent years: an overabundance of carries running up the middle and into the teeth of the defense (behind an interior offensive line often missing starters due to injury) and a scarcity of the screen plays that Kamara ran so well. Whether the Saints haven’t trusted their linemen to get out in front and execute those plays or their quarterbacks haven’t shown enough touch and timing on their passes in practices to pull them off, it’s been a serious issue. Hopefully Carr can help clean up at least one of those areas.

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