Should the New Orleans Saints pay Alvin Kamara?
Alvin Kamara, the New Orleans Saints starting running back, has been holding out and now may even be traded. Should the team just pay him what he wants?
Things have heated to the point that the New Orleans Saints are reportedly considering trading Alvin Kamara over the current hold out per ESPN’s Josina Anderson.
I'm told the Saints are open to trading RB Alvin Kamara, per source.
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) September 1, 2020
Kamara is in the last year of his rookie contract and may demand a contract between $12-15M per year. Given Josina Anderson’s sources, the Saints are prepared to move on from the 4th year running back.
Other notable Saints players’ contracts up after the 2020 NFL season: Demario Davis, Jared Cook, Sheldon Rankins, and Marcus Williams. The team just doesn’t have the resources to pay everyone, and the Saints may be willing to let go of one of its stars to save the rest of the haul.
So, should the Saints pay him?
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The answer is harder than it looks. Fans love Kamara, and he brings a lot to the organization. It would be a huge offensive loss to the team in the short term. However, there are some things that justify parting.
- Kamara is not an every-down back. While he is a star in this league because of his ability to get downfield through the line and by catching passes, he’s never proven to do it alone.
- We would have to let at least two of the needed players listed above go in the off-season to pay for him. This would be a hefty price for a running back, a position with a short shelf life.
- Starting running back by committee has proven to work to win. The Patriots have mastered this. We can too.
The Saints would not be judged harshly by keeping Kamara and paying him what he deserves, and he certainly deserves what’s due for him. With that being said, they have too many mouths to feed, and he may end up being a casualty of this.
At the end of the day, both sides know it’s just business.
The fact we know is that he will get paid.
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What we don’t know, is who will be writing that check.