The New Orleans Saints entered the 2026 offseason with some of the least cap space in the league and have quickly worked around by restructuring the contracts of Alvin Kamara, Justin Reid, Chase Young and Juwan Johnson. Their most recent move has some believing the Saints could part ways with their longtime running back.
After converting Young, Reid and Johnson, New Orleans converted over $10 million of Kamara's salary on Friday morning, but not in the traditional “salary-to-bonus” format. The move would give the team even more cap space if it trades or releases him in the coming days, making it a “situation to monitor,” NFL insider Mike Garafolo analyzed.
“The Saints and Alvin Kamara have adjusted his contract, lowering his cap number for 2026 by $8 million,” Garofolo tweeted. “But as [Nick Underhill] notes, it's not a standard base salary-to-bonus conversion. Provides cap flexibility if he's not with the team. A situation to monitor…”
The Saints converted $10.155 million of Kamara's base salary into a signing bonus, saving them $8.124 million in cap space, per NFL insider Tom Pelissero.
Kamara, 30, is coming off the worst year of his career, posting just 471 rushing yards on 3.6 yards per carry and 186 receiving yards in 2025. Those numbers came on the heels of a surprising career-high 950-yard season in 2024.
The beloved running back is one of the longest-tenured players on the team, but his value is quickly declining as he continues to be phased out by second-year head coach Kellen Moore. Kamara has already hit the dreaded 30-year-old benchmark for running backs and turns 31 in July.
The Saints' potential release of Kamara would make them one of the most running-back-needy teams entering free agency. Kendre Miller, Audric Estime and Devin Neal will all remain under contract in 2026, but none have impressed enough to warrant Week 1 starting consideration.
