As the first day of New Orleans Saints training camp kicked off, all eyes were on running back Alvin Kamara. He and the team have had ongoing contract negotiations. While it does not sound like that conversations have ever turned contentious, it did lead to Kamara making a statement by departing early from the final day of mandatory minicamp. But Kamara made his intentions clear in his first trianing camp media availability following the first day of trianing camp.
“I want to be a Saint,” Kamara said. “I want to retire here.” He proved that Wednesday by not only reporting to training camp practices but full participating in everything from individual to team drills. “If I’m here,” he said. “I’m playing.”
Kamara also laid out that his desire is less about his current contract, which includes at $10.2 million base salary, and more about the future. The seventh-year running back has no guaranteed salary in 2025 as his deal currently stands. Kamara wants to finish his career as a Saint, and the Saints will have to decide if that is what they want on their end.
Football is fun. The relationships forged between players, teams and fans are meaningful. But the league is also a business. All of these things can be true. Which is something Kamara is very comfortable with. He said that he holds no hostility toward the team, coaches and certainly not his teammates. He gets that business is business.
He even mentioned that his production in recent years, which has been below his own standard, could be leveraged against him in such negotiations. An observation like that coming from the very player that is searching for future commitment gives an undeniably valuable glimpse into the realistic outlook he has.
Kamara also said that a timeline was not important to him, or at least that he does not have any expectations around setting one. He plans to be on the field with his teammates and showing that he deserves the deal he is looking for. That work started when he made his way to Irvine, Calif. for training camp.
Yet again, Kamara has made it clear that he wants to be a “lifer”, much like teammate and defensive end Cameron Jordan. The desire is there, the next question is whether or not the money will be.