The Saints have restructured Alvin Kamara‘s contract (Twitter link via Field Yates of ESPN.com). The revision will shift $10.465M of the running back’s 2022 salary into a signing bonus, carving out another $8.372M in cap space for the Saints. In turn, the Saints will have another $8M+ plus on their 2023 books.
It’s another step forward for the cap-crunched Saints, who previously reworked the deals of defensive ends Cameron Jordan and Tanoh Kpassagnon. All together, that’s another $22M in breathing room for New Orleans, though they still have roughly $10M to go between now and the start of the league year.
Kamara led the NFL with 21 touchdowns in 2020, helping the Saints stay afloat while Michael Thomas was out. Last year, as Thomas missed the entire year, Kamara’s production slipped. In 13 games, Kamara rushed for just 898 yards and four touchdowns off of 240 carries, resulting in a career-low 3.7 yards per tote average. He also added 47 catches for 439 yards and five touchdowns — a significant drop from his past four years.
The Saints still have some more cap magic on the agenda, as well as a potential long-term deal for standout safety Marcus Williams. They’re also said to be interested in big-ticket free agent Tyrann Mathieu, but it’s not clear if they’ll be able to afford him.
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