Alvin

Kamara

Underhill outlined his thoughts on the run game in a lengthy piece, exploring how run game coordinator T.J. Paganetti plans to build the run game around his players’ strengths. With RB Travis Etienne set to operate as the lead back, the team can use Kamara selectively in space, running routes, on screens and by exploiting matchups. It remains to be seen whether Kamara, 30, will remain in New Orleans, but it sounds like he could end up with a PPR-friendly FLEX role if he does.

Kamara showed up for practice while his 2026 contract situation is very much in flux. Several reports over the past couple weeks have suggested Kamara, entering his age-31 season, won’t return to the Saints for the 2026 season after the team signed Travis Etienne during free agency. Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said in mid-May that he’s “trying to see” how Kamara might fit on the team’s roster. Kamara carries a $10.4 million cap hit coming into the 2026 season if the Saints keep him on the team in the coming weeks. Kamara, who had 471 rushing yards over 11 games last season, ranked 32nd out of 75 qualifying running backs in missed tackles forced per carry. He ranked 70th in yards after contact per carry.

Fowler adds that “there is some interest in potentially coming back there,” and suggests the two sides might be able to agree to a revised deal. Fowler’s commentary — SportsCenter bits are quick and sometimes rushed — was a bit convoluted to follow. New Orleans Football’s Nick Underhill points out that Fowler may have misinterpreted Kamara’s current contract numbers as well. Regardless, we believe Fowler is saying that Kamara would like to remain a Saint, but the team has not been interested in the suggested resolutions coming from Kamara’s camp. Per Over The Cap, the team would save only $376,000 by releasing him after June 1. Beat reporters have recently opined that releasing Kamara would create the need for outside help at the RB2 spot. Retaining Kamara on a revised deal could benefit both sides.

For the time being, Kamara remains a Saint. It is entirely unclear how long that will remain the case. Early last week, general manager Mickey Loomis said the team is trying to figure out Kamara’s fit on the roster. A few days later, New Orleans Football’s Mike Triplett said he thinks the team would “go shopping” for an RB2 candidate if Kamara leaves the team via trade or release. If that’s the case, it suggests the Saints still see a talent gap between Kamara and his backups. Perhaps, keeping Kamara in New Orleans ends up making sense for both sides.

Triplett and his colleague, Nick Underhill, joked about how RB Kendre Miller (knee) will likely once again dazzle at organized team activities, before things fizzle for him. It’s a brutal take on the 23-year-old Miller, who has dealt with ankle, hamstring and knee injuries, plus one concussion, in his short career. Miller is currently rehabbing a torn ACL suffered in October 2025, but it sounds like he is expected to participate next week. If Kamara is released, Miller should at least get a chance to compete for the No. 2 role. Triplett believes the team has one A-back in RB Travis Etienne, and two B-backs in Miller and, presumably, RB Devin Neal.

Speaking with Luke Johnson of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Loomis declined to commit to keeping Kamara on the roster for this upcoming season. Kamara, who will turn 31 in July, is expected to lose significant work to free agent signee Travis Etienne, and the Saints are reportedly interested in adjusting his $10.4 million cap number if they do opt to keep him. Kamara is in the final year of his deal and has missed 13 games over the last three years. He had one of his worst seasons as a pro in 2025, totaling 657 yards from scrimmage and one touchdown while averaging a career-low 4.0 yards per touch. It sounds like there’s still a lot to be figured out here, but it’s worth noting that Kamara is on record saying he “couldn’t be happier” about having Etienne on the roster. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him and the Saints come to an agreement that satisfies both sides for this upcoming season, but those discussions don’t appear to have taken place.

Kamara said he “couldn’t be happier” that the Saints signed Etienne and referenced his success splitting the Saints’ backfield with Mark Ingram. He also noted that he’s been training and has even watched film on Saints first-round rookie Jordyn Tyson. As NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill put it, “It’s incredibly clear that Alvin Kamara wants to be here and be part of the Saints.” The team may still want to adjust his contract. Kamara has a $10.4 million cap figure for 2026 with several void years in the future. Even if some accounting needs to be done, all signs point to Kamara playing football in New Orleans this year.

In other words, the Saints want Kamara to take a paycut after a down and injury-riddled year as he enters his age-31 season. The Saints could also still release him or trade him, per Paras. Kellen Moore said Kamara is “certainly on the roster” on Monday, but it sounds like that might not be the case much longer.

If we’re reading between the lines, Moore didn’t exactly give a “yes” or “no” answer, but he did say that Kamara is “part of the running back room” and added that the combination of Kamara and Travis Etienne is “a great situation” for the team. Moore was evasive about Kamara’s future with the team when asked about it earlier this month, and there have been rumors that the soon-to-be 31-year-old back may opt to retire this offseason. Kamara’s opportunities are expected to drop significantly with Etienne now in the building, but he could still see plenty of usage as a third-down option if he remains on the team in 2026. For now, Kamara is a Saint, but Moore’s quote didn’t exactly instill confidence that he’ll remain with the team this season.

“We’d like to go through that process, certainly,” Moore said, rather unhelpfully. “And so we feel, obviously we know Alvin means a lot to us. Again, we’re three days into this thing, we signed Travis (Etienne) and we’ll go through that process.” Alrighty then. Moore also declined comment completely on rumors Kamara might retire. That kind of cagey language certainly suggests Moore does not expect Kamara back with the squad for 2026, either via release or retirement. Fully entrenched with the Saints for the better part of a decade, it’s an open question whether Kamara would be willing to play elsewhere, especially for what would undoubtedly be a low guaranteed base salary.