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News broke early Friday morning that the New Orleans Saints restructured their contract with running back Alvin Kamara, but it also wasn't the standard base salary-to-signing bonus conversion we've seen with other players in recent days. Normally, those restructures make it less likely the team will move on from a player. In this case, it might have made Kamara's departure more likely. Let's break it down.
There's an obscure rule written into the NFL's collective bargaining agreement that allows teams to prorate part of a current-year salary when the next year's payout is a drop of 50% or more. That allowed the Saints to convert $10.15 million of Kamara's base salary into an unguaranteed signing bonus paid out in $2.03 million increments over the next five years -- for accounting purposes. Because Kamara's contract is set to expire in 2027, he effectively has a salary cap hit of $10.44 million for 2026 and $16.26 million for 2027. Think of it as a quick fix rather than a permanent solution.
Kamara could be on his way out. This move doesn't benefit him at all. He gets thee same amount of money without more guarantees. While the Saints can't trade or release him before June 1 without undoing the salary cap maneuver they just pulled off, if they choose to move on this summer it nearly breaks even. Releasing him after June 1 would change his 2026 salary cap hit to $11.39 million and leave behind $8.06 million in dead money for 2027. Trading him after June 1 puts it at $10.05 million against the 2026 cap and $8.06 million in 2027.
You'd like to think Kamara will finish his career with the same team and maybe climb a little higher in the record books while helping to end their five-year playoffs drought. Maybe he can score a couple of touchdowns and break into the top-50 all-time (right now he's tied for 54th with Pro Football Hall of Famer Lance Alworth, at 48th). But if the Saints make a couple of high-profile moves at running back like signing Travis Etienne Jr. or drafting Jeremiyah Love, and Kamara is ready to call it a career or start over somewhere else? They're positioned to part paths. Just in case.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Alvin Kamara contract: What it means, what it doesn't mean for Saints
Continue reading...
There's an obscure rule written into the NFL's collective bargaining agreement that allows teams to prorate part of a current-year salary when the next year's payout is a drop of 50% or more. That allowed the Saints to convert $10.15 million of Kamara's base salary into an unguaranteed signing bonus paid out in $2.03 million increments over the next five years -- for accounting purposes. Because Kamara's contract is set to expire in 2027, he effectively has a salary cap hit of $10.44 million for 2026 and $16.26 million for 2027. Think of it as a quick fix rather than a permanent solution.
Kamara could be on his way out. This move doesn't benefit him at all. He gets thee same amount of money without more guarantees. While the Saints can't trade or release him before June 1 without undoing the salary cap maneuver they just pulled off, if they choose to move on this summer it nearly breaks even. Releasing him after June 1 would change his 2026 salary cap hit to $11.39 million and leave behind $8.06 million in dead money for 2027. Trading him after June 1 puts it at $10.05 million against the 2026 cap and $8.06 million in 2027.
You'd like to think Kamara will finish his career with the same team and maybe climb a little higher in the record books while helping to end their five-year playoffs drought. Maybe he can score a couple of touchdowns and break into the top-50 all-time (right now he's tied for 54th with Pro Football Hall of Famer Lance Alworth, at 48th). But if the Saints make a couple of high-profile moves at running back like signing Travis Etienne Jr. or drafting Jeremiyah Love, and Kamara is ready to call it a career or start over somewhere else? They're positioned to part paths. Just in case.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Alvin Kamara contract: What it means, what it doesn't mean for Saints
Continue reading...
