Alvin Kamara

2020 salary cap hit: $2.37 million

Projected contract: Three years, $37 million with $22.57 million guaranteed

We went into greater detail on Kamara’s situation earlier this offseason, in the wake of Christian McCaffrey’s blockbuster deal with the Carolina Panthers, which Kamara was pleased to see. But we’ll reexamine some of the major points from that article now that the draft is behind us. The Saints did not end up drafting a rookie running back, even if they reportedly considered Wisconsin superstar Jonathan Taylor (now a member of the Indianapolis Colts).

It’s possible that Kamara would laugh off this sort of offer from the Saints. His peers are easily outpacing the proposed $12.3 million salary, with other franchise faces like McCaffrey ($16 million), Ezekiel Elliott ($15 million), and Le’veon Bell ($13.12 million) each pulling in monster deals. But there’s a few cautionary tales here for both Kamara and the Saints to consider.

The next-best contract belongs to David Johnson ($13 million), who was traded to the Houston Texans after injuries cut his Arizona Cardinals career short. Bell could be in a similar tough spot with the Jets. After that top tier, each of the following runners (Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake) are playing on one-year franchise and transition tags, valued at $10.27 and $8.48 million, respectively. No other NFL running backs are earning double-digit salaries.

If Kamara turns down a multiyear offer from the Saints, they can apply the 2021 franchise tag, and he’ll be both underpaid and lack long-term security. Taking a series of short-term deals featuring heavy guarantees might be the best path forward for him and many other young talents, unless they can prove to handle a three-down workload like McCaffrey or Elliott.

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