The New Orleans Saints have by far the worst financial situation in the NFL. After years of “kicking the can down the road”, it has finally come time for the maturation of the large contracts that are on their books, and they are projected to be $30 million more over the salary cap than the next highest team with their current number of -$81,954,847. This could mean some cap casualties this summer, and running back Alvin Kamara is a prime candidate.
NFL: Saints Can Save Nearly $12 Million By Cutting Kamara
NFC cut candidates: Alvin Kamara, Aaron Jones among potential cap casualties of free agency frenzy (via @MattOkada)https://t.co/xr3khLB2me pic.twitter.com/qmFLbpHPyx
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) February 19, 2024
Kamara parlayed being one of the most explosive backs in the NFL into a nice pay day for himself a few years back. He amassed over 1,500 scrimmage yards in three of his first four seasons in the league (1,330 in the other), scoring 31 total touchdowns in his rookie and sophomore seasons and then leading the league with 21 in 2020.
That is when the Saints decided to pay him. After heavily outperforming his rookie contract, Kamara received a 5-year extension with $75 million, which has made him one of the highest paid backs over the last few years. For the 2024 season, he is projected to have the highest cap hit of any running back in the league at $18.8 million.
Getting rid of that contract at this point would be key for New Orleans. While Kamara still went over 1,100 total yards in 2023, he has become less effective as he approaches the latter portion of his 20s, and the production certainly no longer matches the compensation.
Saints Have Huge Cap Numbers All Across The Board
New Orleans Saints Taysom Hill is the only player in the Super Bowl era to have 10+ passing, rushing, and receiving TDs in his career.
Hill has a $15.7M cap number. pic.twitter.com/sEZYr7re0i
— NFL Rumors (@nflrums) February 18, 2024
The decision will be made in good timing. Kamara’s dead cap number decreases heavily after the June 1st designation, and the team can open up $11.7 million in cap space if he is released after that date. They will still have to eat the $7 million in dead cap, but that is a far cry from the higher number that followed him in previous years.
Also on New Orleans’ payroll is Derek Carr’s 4-year, $150 million contract, and four different offensive linemen will be making north of $10 million in 2024. If the Saints do happen to hold on to Kamara for another year, then they will be looking at en enormous $29 million price tag for 2025.
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