Saints' Alvin Kamara reveals 'not stupid' reason for reporting to training camp

There are a lot of contract situations worth keeping an eye on as training camp gets underway, and for the New Orleans Saints, their biggest contract drama has come with star running back Alvin Kamara. The five-time Pro Bowler has made it clear he wants a new deal this offseason, but to this point, one has not come his way.

Despite his desire for a new contract, Kamara opted to report to training camp and not hold out as he looks for a new deal. His reasoning for doing so is quite hilarious, as Kamara admitted that it would be foolish for him to hold out and get fined when he is openly looking to make more money.

“I ain’t stupid. I ain’t going to give the money up. I’m trying to get some money…I’d be a fool to spite my teammates because of a dispute I’m having with upstairs. I wouldn’t even call it a dispute, we’re having conversations.” – Alvin Kamara, ProFootballTalk

Alvin Kamara clears the air on his extension negotiations with the Saints

If Kamara were to hold out, he'd get fined for every day of practice he were to miss, so it didn't make a bunch of sense for him to hold out. Kamara knows how his situation looks on the outside looking in, but he made it clear that he wants to spend his entire career in New Orleans, and that there's no bad blood between him and the front office.

“I want to be a Saint; I want to retire here. If I’ve got to play football somewhere else, I’ll probably be somewhere with my feet kicked up in Africa somewhere. I want to be a Saint. I’m not asking for nothing crazy where it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, we can’t do that.’ That’s my perception of it. Whatever the perception of it is upstairs (in the front office) with whoever makes those decisions is obviously different than what my perception of it is. So, you know, we just carry on. I’ve got to do what I do, and I’ll focus on what I’ve got to do.” – Alvin Kamara, Nola.com

Handing out a second extension to an aging running back isn't something that many teams across the NFL do, but Kamara hasn't shown any signs of regression as he enters the latter stages of his career. That doesn't necessarily mean he will get the deal he's looking for, but either way, this is a situation worth keeping an eye on as training camp unfolds for the Saints.