Pro Football Rumors
While the franchise tag deadline did not produce any drama this year, the Saints are making some news today. Despite signing Travis Etienne in March, New Orleans intends to retain Alvin Kamara for at least one more season.
Kamara is positioned to stay with the Saints for a 10th year, with NewOrleans.football’s Nick Underhill reporting the sides are finalizing a reworked contract. One season remained on Kamara’s two-year Saints extension, which he had signed during the 2024 season, but Etienne’s arrival clouded the former Pro Bowler’s status. Kamara indeed will accept a pay cut, Underhill adds, though it is unclear how much of a trim will take place.
The Saints gave Etienne a four-year, $48MM free agency accord that included $24MM guaranteed at signing. Benefiting to a degree from Breece Hall not being available (via the franchise tag), the five-year Jaguar is poised to supplant Kamara as the Saints’ top back. The Etienne signing brought more Kamara trade rumors, but months passed without a resolution.
In May, GM Mickey Loomis said Kamara did not have a decision to make regarding a pay cut. A week later, a report indicated no pay cut had been discussed. The details of Kamara’s latest Saints agreement are not known, but he will collect a reduced figure from the $11MM he was to earn this year. Kamara, 31 next week, signed a two-year deal worth $24.5MM; the Saints guaranteed him $19.23MM at signing in October 2024.
Kamara’s contract included a $3MM guarantee for 2026. He had carried a cap number of $8.12MM, but that came after the Saints utilized the CBA’s 50% rule — which stipulates a player’s salary and bonuses need to come in above the remaining prorated amount of that year’s signing bonus. As a result of that offseason adjustment, New Orleans already dropped Kamara’s 2026 cap number to $10.45MM. It appears the team is proceeding with a simpler resolution here, with this pay cut set to form an Etienne-Kamara duo for at least one season.
Starting his career 5-for-5 in Pro Bowl nods, Kamara has done well for himself financially in the NFL. The former Sean Payton chess piece agreed to a five-year, $75MM extension before the 2020 season and played four-plus years on on that contract. Although Kamara was heavily rumored to become a 2025 Saints cap casualty, the sides agreed on an extension that brought a hefty guarantee for the then-29-year-old RB. Kamara has made more than $67MM in his career, per OverTheCap.
More to come.
