Trading Alvin Kamara isn't the answer for the Saints
Trading Alvin Kamara is not the right answer for the New Orleans Saints, and it's hard to imagine that it'll get done. While it's not beyond the realms of possibility, it feels like the wrong decision to make with so little time left until Week 1's matchup against the Buccaneers. Conflicting reports are out there regarding Kamara and his mysterious absence from Saints training camp, and it's only going to lead you down a rabbit hole on who to trust.
Kamara has missed just three games in the first three seasons of his career, and two of those were due to injury. The other, which came in 2018, was due to being a healthy scratch in the season finale to rest up for a postseason run. Despite a painful MCL injury in 2019, which he played through, Kamara was still able to produce good tape during the year. Yes, he didn't look the same and his body language was off for quite some time after getting hurt in Week 6's road game against the Jaguars, but his Week 3 (at Seahawks) and Week 16 (at Titans) games are exactly what he brings to the table for Sean Payton's offense.
Kamara played hurt for his team while others could have very well sat out and not. Even missing two games, Kamara still managed to put up 1,330 total yards on 23 less touches from 2018. That yardage total was a career-low, and still some of the best stats out there. The biggest drop-off was his touchdown production, which went from 18 to 6. Despite that, the Saints still managed to have the third-highest scoring offense (458 points) in the NFL.
Kamara said in early August regarding his injury, "That was something I was dealing with the whole season, had to miss some time, which I don't like to do, came back, tried to play as best I could, (and) tried to manage it throughout the week. Our training staff did the best they could, shout out to those guys because they were working with me behind the scenes every day trying to get me as close to 100 percent or as close to AK feeling like myself as I could. I tried to put my best product out on the field and sometimes it was enough, sometimes it wasn't, but I just didn't want to let my team down."
What if the Saints did move Kamara? The price tag would be considerable, and the compensation has been there for New Orleans in the past with players like Brandin Cooks and Jimmy Graham. Latavius Murray and Ty Montgomery would easily rise up the depth chart, with Murray assuming a starting role. A recently released Leonard Fournette would be someone to keep an eye on if something happened, as he went unclaimed on waivers after his release from the Jaguars.
The bottom line is that the Saints have made players happy over the years with lucrative contracts, with the biggest being Michael Thomas. Players like Taysom Hill, Drew Brees, David Onyemata, and many others that fall in the past are other prime examples. To suggest that moves made prior to a potential Kamara extension like a Taysom Hill contract extension is simply ludicrous. New Orleans loves what Kamara brings to the table, and his future is extremely bright in the NFL, but it would look best with the Saints.
While it's a situation that will be closely monitored and under a microscope over the next however long it takes, we wait for what happens next from Airline Drive in Metairie.
