From the way the Saints are talking, it seems pretty certain that if Alvin Kamara is back at all, it will only be after taking a big pay cut. They might simply be done with him.
New Orleans reloaded early at the position in the offseason, signing Travis Etienne to a four-year contract worth $48 million. Half of that money is guaranteed. When Etienne has been on his game, he’s shown signs of maybe being a Kamara-type back.
The team’s other runnin g backs are more of the speculative variety – holdovers Kendre Miller and Devin Neal, and free agent pickups Ty Chandler and Audric Estime. So some chance, perhaps, that the Saints want Kamara back – at the right price. He’s obviously a lot more experienced, particularly in the passing game.
But the Saints – both GM Mickey Loomis and coach Kellen Moore – have declined thus far to commit to Kamara being on the team. “We’re just trying to see how he’s gonna fit on our roster,” Loomis said in an article in the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “Obviously there’s a resource management element. We’ll get to that over the next week or two.”
It could be time for them to simply turn the page.
Kamara has had a great career, but he’s also closing in only 31. He’s not as explosive as he’s been in the past. Not even close. I remember his first preseason, with him blowing through the line for a 50-yard touchdown on his first carry in a game against the Chargers. He doesn’t have that kind of athleticism anymore.
Kamara averaged 6.1 yards per carry as a rookie and 5.0 in his fourth season. But in his last five, he’s averaged 3.7, 4.0, 3.9, 4.2 and 3.6 per attempt. He’s not a franchise kind of guy anymore.
Kamara had a long run last year of 17 yards, and his long in 2023 was only 18 yards. In the last three years, only three other backs have had seasons with 130-plus carries and no runs of 20 yards – Ezekiel Elliott and Kareem Hunt (and neither will likely ever start another game) and Chuba Hubbard.
Since Kamara was drafted, 23 running backs have logged at least 1,000 carries. Splitting Kamara’s career into two halves, he ranked No. 2 in yards per carry in his first four years and next-to-last in the last five. (Ahead of Jamaal Williams, whose days as a starter are also over).
I would be comfortable in a fantasy draft leaving Kamara unselected.
| YARDS PER CARRY SINCE 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Yards | Avg | TD |
| Nick Chubb | 1,462 | 7,349 | 5.03 | 54 |
| Kamara (2017-20) | 672 | 3,340 | 4.97 | 43 |
| Derrick Henry | 2,552 | 12,528 | 4.91 | 117 |
| Jonathan Taylor | 1,551 | 7,598 | 4.90 | 69 |
| Aaron Jones | 1,564 | 7,626 | 4.88 | 52 |
| Dalvin Cook | 1,357 | 6,227 | 4.59 | 47 |
| Christian McCaffrey | 1,658 | 7,589 | 4.58 | 62 |
| Saquon Barkley | 1,826 | 8,356 | 4.58 | 55 |
| Tony Pollard | 1,264 | 5,782 | 4.57 | 33 |
| D'Andre Swift | 1,069 | 4,775 | 4.47 | 38 |
| Austin Ekeler | 1,081 | 4,765 | 4.41 | 43 |
| Devin Singletary | 1,120 | 4,923 | 4.40 | 29 |
| James Conner | 1,393 | 6,065 | 4.35 | 60 |
| • Alvin Kamara | 1,674 | 7,250 | 4.33 | 61 |
| Melvin Gordon | 1,155 | 4,905 | 4.25 | 46 |
| Josh Jacobs | 1,840 | 7,803 | 4.24 | 74 |
| Latavius Murray | 1,017 | 4,274 | 4.20 | 39 |
| Kareem Hunt | 1,393 | 5,775 | 4.15 | 55 |
| David Montgomery | 1,477 | 6,115 | 4.14 | 59 |
| Ezekiel Elliott | 1,817 | 7,499 | 4.13 | 59 |
| Joe Mixon | 1,816 | 7,428 | 4.09 | 60 |
| Leonard Fournette | 1,144 | 4,518 | 3.95 | 34 |
| Najee Harris | 1,112 | 4,373 | 3.93 | 28 |
| Kamara (2021-25) | 1,002 | 3,910 | 3.90 | 18 |
| Jamaal Williams | 1,069 | 4,122 | 3.86 | 32 |
—Ian Allan
