"He wants to be with the Saints… I want him to play for us, and I think eventually this will just work out." @Saints GM Mickey Loomis on RB Alvin Kamara.
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— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) July 27, 2024
New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis joined Sirius XM NFL Radio recently to review his team’s offseason and the first week of training camp, but the hottest topic of discussion focused on one of his team’s best players: Alvin Kamara. The star running back is expected to take point in new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s attack, on the ground and through the air, and there’s a ton of speculation surrounding his ongoing contract talks with Loomis and the New Orleans front office.
Kamara is seeking more guaranteed money in 2025 to avoid becoming a potential salary cap casualty in the future, but both sides need to find a number that makes sense for each of them when deciding things like per-year salary. So what’s the latest news on this front?
“Generally I don’t answer questions like you just asked me,” Loomis laughed. “Generally I don’t like talking about player’s contracts in a public forum.”
Loomis said that he’s hesitant to make these kinds of public comments because he believes contract discussions are highly personal, and the more confidential and intimate those talks are, the better.
“Because you take offense when,” Loomis added, pausing for thought. “Here’s the thing, part of our job (as the team) is to get the deal right. And sometimes you have tell the player he’s not as good as he thinks he is. Or you tell the agent that, right? And that’s what I mean, by ‘How does that get communicated?’ That’s a hard thing to do because these guys are valuable players.”
Still, he acknowledged that Kamara’s camp has negotiated in good faith, and he expressed optimism that the two sides can eventually shake hands on a new deal. Loomis spoke highly of Kamara as having been a great contributor to the team’s success and a great representative of the organization in the community, but threading that needle between the financial considerations and personal respect is difficult. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t think they’ll be stuck at this impasse forever.
Loomis continued: “I thought Alvin did a great job the other day, he wants to be with the Saints, that’s who he wants to play for. And I appreciate that and I want him to play for us. I think eventually this will just work out.”
These contract talks didn’t bear fruit before the start of training camp, but Kamara still chose to report for work (avoiding what would have been a costly holdout). In-season extensions are rare for the Saints, so there is a clock ticking here, but there’s still time left to reach an agreement. Extensions for veteran players have been signed in the opening weeks of recent seasons; Demario Davis inked his extension on Sept. 12, 2020, the night before their season opener with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers while Carl Granderson’s deal last year was announced on Sept. 23, the day before their third regular season game. Maybe Kamara’s pursuit of a new contract extends into September, too.
