The New Orleans Saints are reportedly close to a long-term contract extension with Alvin Kamara, but the team was apparently shopping their star running back – and several teams had interest.
Kamara is entering the final season of his rookie deal. His $2.13 million salary ranks 30th among running backs.
Ultimately, how will this contract situation unfold?
“They got to find a way to make the man happy,” former Saints offensive lineman Jermon Bushrod said on The Zach Gelb Show. “From a business standpoint, they’re trying to keep the numbers as low as possible, and the players are always trying to get the numbers as high as possible. That’s just how the NFL is. That’s just how business works. But he’s such a dynamic player. Obviously he can run it well but he’s really great when it comes to screens, he’s great as a return man – he brings a different style to your offense. You can open up that playbook a little bit more when you can have a guy that’s as elusive as he is that can get out and run some of the routes like a receiver.”
Kamara has 2,408 rushing yards, 2,068 receiving yards and 37 total touchdowns in three seasons with New Orleans. He is one of the best all-purpose backs in the NFL.
“I hope they find a way to pay him because a guy like Alvin Kamara really thrives in an offense that’s led by Drew Brees and Sean Payton,” Bushrod said. “Alvin Kamara has had a great career to this point. You got to keep a guy like that healthy. This is just such a great situation for him. He doesn’t have to take every single rep. He’d only have to take two-thirds of the reps because they have some great talent behind him like Latavius Murray. I’m hoping they can work it out because the city of New Orleans loves him, and I know he loves that city. It would mean a lot that he could be there for the next few years.”
While Bushrod wants the Saints to extend Kamara, he still thinks they could win a Super Bowl without him, mainly because of Murray.
“He’s a workhorse,” Bushrod said. “He’s not the same type of player. He’s not going to give you the shiftiness, but he’ll run you over. He’ll hit the hole, he’ll make the right reads – he’s not a guy that you can take down with one person. The great thing about Sean, they’ll have somebody in there. They’ll have a plan. Now, will you miss what Alvin does on that field? Absolutely. But the one thing that New Orleans has done and Sean has done in the past, when somebody else goes down, you got to have a next-man-up mentality. You got to find a way to get it done.”