Alvin Kamara is coming back for a 10th season. He and the Saints have worked out a revised contract. But expectations should be modest (with Kamara going undrafted in leagues with smaller rosters).
Under the revised agreement, Kamara is guaranteed to make $6 million this year, with a chance for another $2.5 million in incentives. That puts to rest the question of how the Saints would handle him. He was entering the final year for a two-year contract worth $24.5 million, which is way above his value.
Earlier in the season, the Saints started the process of transitioning to Travis Etienne, signing him to a four-year deal worth $48 million. That one is structured so that they’ll need to keep him around for at least two years and $24 million – he’s supposed to be their guy.
Kamara, it seems, should be their second-string back, but it’s not really a given at this point that he’s better than their lightly regarded youngsters – Devin Neal, Audric Estime, Kendre Miller. Entering his 10th season, Kamara has lost some speed and athleticism. He ran for only 471 yards in 11 games last year, averaging a career-low 3.6 yards per carry and a career-low 5.6 yards per reception. He also scored only one touchdown.
Back in his rookie season, Kamara was more of a Jahmyr Gibbs kind of guy, averaging 6.1 yards per carry and 10.2 yards per reception. He’s had seasons with 21 and 18 touchdowns, but those are six and eight years in the rearview mirror.
Ultimately, Kamara is 31, and it’s unusual for a back to put up good numbers at that age. A couple of the other notable backs from Kamara’s 2017 draft class aren’t even on rosters anymore – Dalvin Cook and Joe Mixon.
In the last 10 years, only two 31-year-old running backs have finished with top-10 numbers – Derrick Henry (who’s hardly human) and Raheem Mostert in a RB-friendly offense. Only five others have ranked higher than 40th. (And this is using PPR scoring).
To me, Kamara looks like an average No. 2 back at best. For me, I don’t know that he’d be one of the first 20 backup running backs I would take in a draft (my gut tells me no).
| BEST 31-YEAR-OLD RUNNING BACKS (2016-) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | G | Rushing | Receiving | PPR | Rk |
| 2023 | Raheem Mostert-Mia. | 15 | 209-1012-18 | 25-175-3 | 269.7 | 5 |
| 2025 | Derrick Henry-Balt. | 17 | 307-1595-16 | 15-150-0 | 285.5 | 7 |
| 2016 | Matt Forte, NYJ | 14 | 218-813-7 | 30-263-1 | 185.6 | 21 |
| 2017 | Marshawn Lynch-Oak. | 15 | 207-891-7 | 20-151-0 | 166.2 | 23 |
| 2022 | Cordarrelle Patterson-Atl. | 13 | 144-695-8 | 21-122-0 | 156.7 | 31 |
| 2016 | Rashad Jennings, NYG | 13 | 181-593-3 | 35-201-1 | 138.4 | 36 |
| 2024 | Ameer Abdullah-L.V. | 16 | 66-311-2 | 40-261-3 | 127.2 | 37 |
| 2019 | LeSean McCoy-K.C. | 13 | 101-465-4 | 28-181-1 | 122.6 | 40 |
| 2025 | Aaron Jones-Min. | 12 | 132-548-2 | 28-199-1 | 120.7 | 41 |
| 2021 | Brandon Bolden-N.E. | 17 | 44-226-1 | 41-405-2 | 124.1 | 41 |
| 2017 | LeGarrette Blount-Phil. | 16 | 173-766-2 | 8-50-1 | 109.6 | 45 |
| 2021 | Rex Burkhead-Hou. | 16 | 122-427-3 | 25-186-0 | 104.3 | 52 |
| 2023 | Jerick McKinnon-K.C. | 12 | 21-60-1 | 25-192-4 | 84.4 | 53 |
| 2021 | Latavius Murray-Balt. | 14 | 119-501-6 | 10-75-0 | 103.6 | 54 |
| 2016 | Justin Forsett, 3 tms | 9 | 87-291-1 | 20-85-0 | 63.6 | 66 |
| 2017 | Jamaal Charles-Den. | 14 | 69-296-1 | 23-129-0 | 71.5 | 69 |
| 2022 | Kyle Juszczyk-S.F. | 16 | 7-26-1 | 19-200-1 | 53.6 | 71 |
| 2020 | Mark Ingram-Balt. | 11 | 72-299-2 | 6-50-0 | 52.9 | 76 |
| 2021 | Carlos Hyde-Jac. | 12 | 72-253-1 | 12-65-0 | 49.8 | 84 |
| 2025 | Dare Ogunbowale-Hou. | 17 | 11-25-1 | 10-76-0 | 26.1 | 86 |
| 2019 | Bilal Powell-NYJ | 13 | 59-229-0 | 7-33-0 | 33.2 | 86 |
| 2016 | Mike Tolbert, Car. | 16 | 35-114-0 | 10-72-1 | 34.6 | 88 |
| 2016 | Danny Woodhead, S.D. | 2 | 19-116-0 | 6-35-1 | 27.1 | 97 |
| 2016 | Reggie Bush, Buff. | 13 | 12--3-1 | 7-90-0 | 23.7 | 100 |
—Ian Allan
