With the Saints adding running back Travis Etienne on a reported four-year, $52 million deal, Alvin Kamara’s nine-year run with the team could be ending.
Kamara’s recent restructuring didn’t come with a signing bonus, and the final year of his contract carries only $3 million in injury guarantees. He could be traded; he also could be released.
The 31-year-old Kamara was a third-round pick in 2017. In 2025, he had a career-low 471 rushing yards and a career-low 186 receiving yards in 11 games.
Kamara has been a fixture in New Orleans for nine seasons. The investment made on Monday in Etienne could lead to an end of the road for Kamara with the Saints.
If/when he goes, it’ll be interesting to see whether Sean Payton, who became smitten with Kamara during the 2017 pre-draft process, makes a play for a reunion with Kamara.
As expected, the war in the Middle East has forced the Saudi Arabian flag football event out of Saudi Arabia.
Via Sports Business Journal, Fanatics Studios has announced that the March 21 three-team tournament will relocate to Los Angeles. The games will be played at BMO Stadium, a 22,000-seat soccer venue that will host flag football games during the 2028 Olympics.
The latest announcement has a new twist. Two teams will consist of current and former NFL players. The third team will be the U.S. men’s national team.
As initially described, the tournament consisted of three teams coached by Kyle Shanahan, Sean Payton, and Pete Carroll. Now, the coaches with NFL ties will be Shanahan and Payton, with Robert Saleh serving as the defensive specialist for both of the teams made up of non-flag players.
On March 18, the two teams will pick players from a pool that is expected to include Saquon Barkley, Myles Garrett, Odell Beckham Jr., Rob Gronkowski, and Logan Paul (with Paul there, Le’Veon Bell could make an unscheduled appearance).
The involvement of the U.S. men’s team will indeed make it a real competition. USA Football will eventually determine the identity of the U.S. men’s team for the Olympics. The existing flag football players will want to show that they deserve fair consideration. And the flag players know the flag game far better than the non-flag players do.
That alone makes the tournament far more compelling. And it underscores that the active NFL players who will be participating will be assuming a risk of injury that is less than playing tackle football but greater than not playing flag football against a team of flag-football experts with something to prove.
The Broncos are keeping their quarterback room intact.
Third-string quarterback Sam Ehlinger, who was slated to hit free agency this week, has agreed to a new contract to remain with the Broncos, the Denver Post reports.
It’s a one-year deal that will pay Ehlinger $2 million for the 2026 season.
Ehlinger seems to like it in Denver; he reportedly turned down multiple offers to sign with other teams’ active rosters when he was on the Broncos’ practice squad last season. Both Broncos head coach Sean Payton and offensive coordinator David Webb have spoken highly of Ehlinger and said they believe Denver is a place where he’ll continue to develop as a quarterback.
Broncos starting quarterback Bo Nix is heading into the third year of his rookie contract and backup Jarrett Stidham is in the second year of a two-year he signed last offseason.
Tight end Nate Adkins is returning to the Broncos on a one-year deal, Parker Gabriel of The Denver Post reports.
Adkins was a restricted free agent.
Denver now has Evan Engram, Adam Trautman, Adkins and Caleb Lohner under contract at the position for 2026. Trautman agreed to a three-year deal earlier Sunday.
Adkins, 26, played only nine games in 2025, undergoing tight-rope surgery for a high-ankle sprain in training camp and then straining his posterior cruciate ligament in an Oct. 26 game against the Jaguars.
Adkins is used on offense for his blocking ability, and he played 33 percent of the offensive snaps in the games he appeared last season. He has only 24 receptions for185 yards and four touchdowns in his three seasons.
In 2024, Adkins played 420 offensive snaps and 280 on special teams.
Broncos tight end Adam Trautman won’t test free agency.
Trautman has agreed to a new three-year contract to remain in Denver.
According to Mike Klis of 9 News, it’s a three-year, $17 million contract for Trautman, who has an important role as a blocking tight end in Sean Payton’s offense and also caught 20 passes for 195 yards last season.
Trautman was a 2020 third-round pick of the Saints and played two seasons for Payton in New Orleans, and when Payton became the head coach in Denver, the Broncos traded for Trautman. Although Trautman could have hit free agency this week, he’s a good fit for what Payton likes to do on offense, and it’s no surprise that he’ll be staying in Denver.
Trautman is the second impending free agent the Broncos re-signed to a three year deal today; Broncos linebacker Justin Strnad also agreed to a three-year deal.
