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We’ve seen some significant movement in Alvin Kamara’s legal proceedings — the New Orleans Saints running back agreed to a plea deal in the Nevada criminal case stemming from his alleged involvement in last year’s beating at a Las Vegas nightclub while reaching an out-of-court settlement with the victim in a Louisiana civil case.
The end of the legal process opens the door for potential NFL discipline, and it sounds like that could come swiftly. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero shared a statement from the league’s vice president of communications Brian McCarthy, who said “We have been closely monitoring all developments in the matter which remains under review.”
If Kamara had been charged with a felony, as was initially the case, he would be facing a six-game suspension as per the NFL’s personal conduct policy. Because he instead agreed to plead no-contest to a lesser misdemeanor charge, he could be suspended for fewer games. The Saints will hit the road for four of their first six matchups, so they could use his help in hostile environments:
- Week 1 vs. Tennessee Titans
- Week 2 at Carolina Panthers
- Week 3 at Green Bay Packers
- Week 4 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Week 5 at New England Patriots
- Week 6 at Houston Texans
Kamara is scheduled to join his teammates for training camp in just two weeks, so hopefully this can get resolved before then. The sooner the Saints know exactly how many games Kamara will be unavailable the more easily they can plan for life without him. They’ve already made significant investments at running back by signing veteran free agent Jamaal Williams and drafting third-round rookie Kendre Miller, but if Kamara is going to be out of action for extensive time they might need to make another move to maintain the depth chart. Stay tuned.
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