It’s a busy week for New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara, who is in Miami making the rounds on “Radio Row” for a gauntlet of media appearances. Some of these conversations are mundane; others are intriguing. During an interview with NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on the Rapsheet+Friends Podcast, Kamara addressed the elephant in the room: his looming contract extension. While he’s still under contract through 2020, it would behoove the Saints to get a deal hammered out early, as they did last year with all-star wideout Michael Thomas.
“I’ve thought about my situation. We’ll see what gets done,” Kamara said. “I’m obviously in my third year of my rookie contract, so we’ll see. There might be something going on.”
Kamara is one of several big-name running backs headed for the open market, along with Carolina Panthers workhorse Christian McCaffrey, Tennessee Titans battering ram Derrick Henry, and NFC North mainstays Dalvin Cook (with the Minnesota Vikings) and Aaron Jones (on the Green Bay Packers). Any one of them could raise the bar higher after Ezekiel Elliott agreed to a six-year, $90 million contract extension with the Dallas Cowboys last summer.
And for his part, Kamara is appreciative of what Elliott accomplished. “It was great to see that number and see a guy that has obviously worked hard and deserves it actually get it at a position that usually doesn’t get the recognition it deserves,” Kamara told Mackenzie Salmon of USA Today Sports. “Zeke set a bar, so we’ll see what happens.”
