Alvin Kamara bluntly addresses Saints future, desire for new contract

New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara isn't shying away from discussing his desire for a contract extension. He's also not holding out of training camp and absorbing the heavy fines that come along with it.

Kamara, who has two years remaining on his current deal, was on the field for the start of training camp Wednesday and addressed the current state of his contract following practice. As Luke Johnson of Nola.com revealed, the 29-year-old running back left no doubt about where he wants to play and his desire to finish his career in New Orleans.

“I want to be a Saint; I want to retire here,” Kamara said. “If I’ve got to play football somewhere else, I’ll probably be somewhere with my feet kicked up in Africa somewhere. I want to be a Saint.

More specifically, Kamara opened up about his contract situation, stating that he's not asking for anything "crazy."

“I’m not asking for nothing crazy where it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, we can’t do that.’ That’s my perception of it. Whatever the perception of it is upstairs (in the front office) with whoever makes those decisions is obviously different than what my perception of it is. So, you know, we just carry on. I’ve got to do what I do, and I’ll focus on what I’ve got to do.”

According to Johnson, the two sides have not made significant progress toward a new deal. Although Kamara is under contract through 2025, his salary next season is not guaranteed, which is undoubtedly a driving factor in his pursuit of a new deal.

Kamara had somewhat of a quiet season in the 13 games he played in 2023, carrying 180 times for 694 yards. However, his rushing touchdowns were up slightly last year compared to the two years prior, as he scored five times on the ground after doing so twice in 2022 and four times in 2021.

While the five-time Pro-Bowler hauled in his highest number of receptions in a single season (75) since 2020, he had just 466 yards and one touchdown, marking a career-low in yards per reception at 6.2.

Kamara's asking price is the big question mark. However, the Saints are surely more than satisfied with their own outlook and opportunity to make a call on the running back next offseason. Time will tell how the situation pans out, but considering there's reportedly been no movement on talks to this point, it seems unlikely that much will get done with his deal before the season.