From young potential building blocks like Chris Olave to veterans like Demario Davis and Cameron Jordan, the New Orleans Saints seen multiple key contributors included in hypothetical moves at the trade deadline. Maybe no player has been in the mix more than Alvin Kamara. Let the record reflect, he has no desire to leave
The Saints are in the midst of the rebuild, so their top players are always going to be subject of trade conversations. For Kamara, this is nothing new. He's been the topic of conversation since the offseason. He made his thoughts clear at that time. Kamara's desire is to be a Saints lifer.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport's latest report doubles down on this stance. Kamara reportedly told Mickey Loomis that he'd like to finish his career in the same place he started it.
If Alvin Kamara genuinely wants to stay, the Saints shouldn't force him out
At Kamara's age, the return likely won't be undeniable. If a team is willing to hand out a Day 2 pick, maybe we revisit this conversation. Realistically, you are probably getting a fifth or lower. He's a running back who just 30 years old and has one of the highest contracts at his position. Those two factors together will likely make his value as a trade piece lower.
While the argument could be made to simply accumulate draft capital in all rounds, Kamara is still valuable to this team. If he wants to stick around, you don't deal him for scraps. As previously mentioned, a strong enough offer may force the Saints hand. However, you don't trade a key part of your team who wants to be around for just anything.
Most fans already don't want to trade Kamara, even with the understanding of stacking draft picks. He's been a fan favorite since he joined the team. He means a lot to fans, and saying he wants to stay in New Orleans will only endear him more to the fan base.
A playoff team, like the Los Angeles Chargers, is the type of squad that will try to trade for Kamara. Sometimes you'll deal a veteran to get him in a better situation as a sign of good faith. That route givens a player a chance to be competitive in his latter years. No reason to take that route because he'd rather stay where he is, however. You have to respect that.