Running Back Alvin Kamara May Look To Leave New Orleans Saints This Offseason
When the New Orleans Saints handed Travis Etienne a four-year, $52 million deal on Monday, they weren’t exactly sending Alvin Kamara a “we love you, stay forever” card. They were sending a message. And that message? It was loud, clear, and written in green ink.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, teams around the NFL are now keeping a close eye on Kamara’s situation in New Orleans. The question circulating league-wide isn’t subtle: Will the Saints trade him? And honestly, given everything that’s happened in the last 48 hours, it’s a fair question to ask.
Kamara and the Saints: A Relationship On the Rocks
Kamara has been a Saint since 2017. He was the third-round steal out of Tennessee that nobody saw coming. A do-everything back who racked up yards after contact, caught passes out of the backfield like a wide receiver, and made defenders look absolutely foolish every week.
Five straight Pro Bowl appearances. Over 12,000 yards from scrimmage and 86 total touchdowns. The résumé speaks for itself. But NFL careers don’t run on résumés. They run on production. And lately, Kamara’s production has fallen off a cliff.
Last season, Kamara appeared in just 11 games and managed 471 rushing yards and a single rushing touchdown. His yards per carry dropped to a career-low 3.6. Injuries have become a recurring theme, with a nagging knee issue doing him no favors. For a team trying to build something in 2026, those numbers are hard to ignore.
What the Etienne Signing Really Means For Kamara
Travis Etienne is 27 years old, fresh off a 1,107-yard, 7-touchdown season for the Jacksonville Jaguars, and just signed a massive deal with New Orleans. That’s not a backup. That’s not a committee back. That’s a team saying, “This is our guy going forward.”
And when your team makes that kind of financial commitment to someone else at your position, you don’t need a translator to figure out what it means for you. Kamara is heading into the final year of his restructured contract with a cap hit of $10.5 million. That’s not an outrageous number, but it’s also not a throwaway figure for a team that may already be pivoting to a new direction in the backfield.
Kamara On Trade Rumors: Piña Coladas and Honesty
To his credit, Kamara has never pretended the situation is something it isn’t. When trade rumors swirled last season, he kept it remarkably real.
“I just got to keep my head down,” Kamara told ESPN’s Katherine Terrell. “And I don’t know, if I was a GM, I guess I would go to the player and be like, ‘Hey, we’re trading you. Just so you know.’ So, if Mickey come downstairs and says that, then I’m going to go drink a piña colada somewhere.”
That quote is equal parts self-aware and heartbreaking. This is a guy who gave everything to one franchise, and he knows better than most that the NFL is a business first, a loyalty contest second.
Could Kamara Actually Retire?
It’s not out of the question. Kamara has hinted more than once that he isn’t interested in going through a rebuilding process somewhere else, fighting for carries in a new system. At 30, with a Hall of Fame-worthy résumé already in hand, retirement is a real option if New Orleans decides to move on.
The problem? A team somewhere out there might offer him exactly the right situation — a contender needing a versatile, experienced back who still has something left in the tank. And Kamara, healthy and motivated in the right environment, could absolutely still contribute at a high level.
What Happens Next For Kamara
The NFL offseason has a way of moving fast and slow at the exact same time. Right now, teams are monitoring Kamara’s availability. Whether Kamara ends his career in New Orleans or suits up for a new team in 2026, one thing is certain: his legacy as a Saint is already cemented. The highlight reels are timeless. The Christmas Day six-touchdown game against the Vikings in 2020 will live forever. The memories won’t disappear just because a contract restructure and a free agency signing changed the math.
But legacies don’t pay the bills. And right now, the Saints have a new face in their backfield. Kamara’s next move is the storyline to watch as the offseason heats up.
