Tag: news

UFC on ESPN+ 35: Kevin Croom post-fight interview

Kevin Croom talks to media after a victory at UFC on ESPN+ 35 in Las Vegas

Kevin Croom talks to media after a victory at UFC on ESPN+ 35 in Las Vegas

UFC on ESPN+ 35: Bryan Barberena post-fight interview

Bryan Barberena talks to media after a victory at UFC on ESPN+ 35 in Las Vegas

Bryan Barberena talks to media after a victory at UFC on ESPN+ 35 in Las Vegas

Twitter erupts after Saints, Alvin Kamara reach $75M deal

The New Orleans Saints reached an agreement with Alvin Kamara on a huge contract extension, earning mixed reactions from NFL fans on Twitter

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Is the salary cap real? Maybe not in the sense most NFL fans think of it. Certainly not in the context of what it means to the New Orleans Saints, who view it as a problem worth solving rather than a box to work within.

That was proven when they reached an agreement with running back Alvin Kamara on a five-year, $75 million contract extension, earning a wave of reactions from across experts and fans on Twitter. Here’s the latest chatter:

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Saints-Alvin Kamara contract extension is a big step towards a new era

The New Orleans Saints are set to kick off the Taysom Hill era in 2021, with Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas becoming his new best friends.

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Don’t look now, but the New Orleans Saints are changing before our eyes. Last summer, they inked superstar wide receiver Michael Thomas to a five-year contract extension. Now they’ve repeated the stunt with running back Alvin Kamara, tying him to the team through 2025.

It sets the stage for life after Drew Brees; signs point to the franchise quarterback hanging up his cleats after the 2020 season, making Taysom Hill (who has a $16.159 million cap hit next year) the favorite to start in 2021. And now Hill knows that he’ll have Thomas and Kamara on hand to make his life a little easier.

That puts Hill in a terrific position to succeed. There aren’t many first-year starting quarterbacks around the NFL who can boast a pair of pass-catchers as talented as Thomas and Kamara, whose presence will take a lot of pressure off Hill’s shoulders. Kamara in particular has benefited from working with Hill on option plays in the past, and it’ll be exciting to see what sort of playbook Sean Payton is cooking up for them.

Let’s not lose sight of what this means for Kamara. He’s now earning top dollar, which is just as much a reward for his past production as an expectation of how he’ll perform moving forwards. Now that he’s recovered from his 2019 knee injury, he figures to be just as explosive and versatile a weapon as ever. He’s poised for a great dubt against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday — his numbers as a runner (54.8) and receiver (67.5) are stronger against them than any other NFC South rival.

In Brees’ heyday, the Saints rarely paid out market-setting contracts to their top receiving weapons. Marques Colston never ranked among the highest-paid receivers. Jimmy Graham was traded a year into his big extension. Kenny Stills and Brandin Cooks were traded before the Saints ever sat them down to talk shop.

But Kamara and Thomas are both viewed differently than any pass-catchers to come before them in Payton’s tenure; that’s clear from the contracts they’ve received. Those two players are going to be the pillar of the Saints offense for years to come. If Hill’s 2021 season goes as well as hoped, he’ll join them.

Who else will still be around for the next phase of Saints football? Kamara is the first big-name 2021 free agent to re-sign with the team, but they have an inventory full of contributors. Defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins (whose restructure helped facilitate Kamara’s new deal), free safety Marcus Williams, tight end Jared Cook, cornerback P.J. Williams, quarterback Jameis Winston, and linebackers Demario Davis, Alex Anzalone, and Craig Robertson all headline next summer’s list of players needing new contracts.

It’s great that the Saints got Kamara’s extension out of the way. Now they have to shift gears and decide which free agent-to-be to tackle next.

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Saints, Alvin Kamara reach agreement on 5-year, $75 million contract extension

The New Orelans Saints reached an agreement with running back Alvin Kamara on a contract extension that will keep him in black and gold.

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Here’s some big news for any New Orleans Saints holding onto their No. 41 jerseys: Alvin Kamara has agreed to a five-year, $75 million contract extension with the Saints, keeping him in black and gold through at least 2025. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport first reported that the deal is done.

Having Kamara in the fold for the foreseeable future is a huge win for the Saints offense, especially once it’s forced to move on into life without Drew Brees at quarterback. Kamara and superstar wide receiver Michael Thomas figure to make life easy for any passer, making the inevitable transition a little easier — whether it’s Taysom Hill, Jameis Winston, or someone else entirely leading the offense from under center.

And he’s already earned it, if the second leg of Kamara’s Saints career resembles the first part. Just 25 years old, Kamara has already tied the sixth-most touchdown runs (27) in Saints history, while ranking twelfth in total rushing yards (2,408). He’s also climbing the list of career receiving leaders in yards (2,068) and touchdown catches (10). If he keeps it up, there’s no telling just how high he might soar.

Someday we’ll find out, once pens are put to paper on this contract extension.

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Buccaneers upgrade WR Mike Evans to questionable vs. Saints

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers upgraded wide receiver Mike Evans to questionable, not doubtful, for Sunday’s game with the New Orleans Saints.

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This will surely stun everyone: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have upgraded wide receiver Mike Evans from doubtful to questionable for Sunday’s game with the New Orleans Saints. Evans was a limited participant in Friday’s practice session after resting a hamstring injury throughout the week, but he must have shown enough confidence in his leg during Saturday’s walkthrough to earn this optimism.

He will still have to go through pregame warmups and a final check by the Buccaneers medical staff, but Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians has said all along that Evans playing would end up being a gametime decision. At this stage, the Saints should probably plan on Evans lining up against them.

If he does play, expect top Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore to run against him for most of the day. Lattimore and Evans have traded big games against each other before, with Evans winning the 2018 season opener off of 7 receptions for 147 yards and a score, while Lattimore didn’t allow him to catch a single pass in their most recent meeting.

That decision could also be informed by Evans’ success against the No. 2 Saints cornerback, Janoris Jenkins, when he played the New York Giants last year. Evans drew Jenkins in coverage for much of the game and won that matchup handily, totaling 8 receptions for 150 yards and 3 touchdown catches. Jenkins should be assigned to cover Chris Godwin this time around, but the Buccaneers may get creative and move their receivers around more often to take advantage of a mismatch.

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Saints free up $4M in cap space through Sheldon Rankins contract restructure

The New Orleans Saints created $4 million in salary cap space by restructuring their contract with DT Sheldon Rankins, a 2021 free agent.

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We’ve got a live one: the New Orleans Saints shuffled some salary cap resources early Saturday morning, with NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reporting that they modified their contract with defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins. Rankins was set to earn almost $7.69 million while playing on his fifth-year option in 2020, and that’s still the case. But the Saints got creative to clear $4 million this season.

They added two voidable years onto Rankins’ contract, which was set to expire at the end of the fiscal year next March. New Orleans also converted $6 million of Rankins’ guaranteed salary into a signing bonus, which he’ll receive immediately rather than in incremental game checks over the next few months.

The end result: Rankins has a 2020 salary cap figure of just $3.69 million in 2020, and a dead money hit of $4 million in 2021 should he leave in free agency. If the Saints are able to re-sign him to a long-term contract, he’ll be due at least $2 million in both 2021 and 2022.

So how much salary cap space do the Saints now have to work with? The analysts at Over The Cap estimate $6.08 million in available funds, while the team at Spotrac puts them at $5.1 million. Our in-house spreadsheet has the Saints at $5.4 million below the salary cap.

The Saints could simply be looking to add more resources as they move into the season; they’ll need this cap space to sign free agents after tryouts and maybe make a move at the NFL trade deadline in October. On the other hand, this could be a prelude to a contract extension with Alvin Kamara, which has been expected for several days now per the latest reports.

As for Rankins: this doesn’t change his standing with the team in any way. He already had a reputation as a team-first player, and he’s performed like one of their best playmakers on defense — when healthy. His name did reportedly come up in trade talks at the roster cuts deadline, but nothing came of it. If he can string together 16 productive games in 2020, he could end up back at the negotiating table before free agency next year.

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Saints to face Bucs in Week 1 without either of their recent 1st round picks

The New Orleans Saints will play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers without first-round picks Cesar Ruiz and Marcus Davenport, ruled out with injuries

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Beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers may be an uphill battle for the New Orleans Saints in Week 1: they’ve ruled out defensive end Marcus Davenport and rookie guard/center Cesar Ruiz on the final injury report. Davenport is managing an elbow issue, while Ruiz is still recovering from an injured ankle after getting rolled up in practice two weeks ago.

It’s a disappointing return on the most recent Saints first-round draft picks. There’s no polishing that message: the greatest ability in the NFL is availability, and right now the Saints are preparing to open the season without two of the more valuable players on their roster.

Now, that’s not the same thing as saying either of them are on track to be a draft bust. They’ve put in the work to be great, unlike other players the Saints have invested draft assets in. Injuries are hard to predict and prepare for, so chalk this up to bad luck for the youngsters. Davenport does have a history of foot issues (his rookie season was derailed by turf toe, and his second year ended with a Lisfranc injury), but this elbow problem isn’t related.

In their place, expect the Saints to plug veteran backup Nick Easton at right guard. Easton has started games in that spot before, and should be able to hold his own between second-year center Erik McCoy and star right tackle Ryan Ramczyk.

On the other side of the ball, Cameron Jordan should still command the lion’s share of reps at his defensive end spot while occasionally moving over to Davenport’s side of the line. The Saints figure to platoon backups Trey Hendrickson and Carl Granderson opposite Jordan, but they might also call up 95-game veteran Margus Hunt from the practice squad. NFL teams are allowed to promote two practice squad players this season.

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