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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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