NFL teams have wasted no time moving big names ahead of this year’s in-season trade deadline, with Davante Adams and Amari Cooper both finding new homes in recent days. Now, the New Orleans Saints should waste no time shopping one of their most accomplished players: star running back Alvin Kamara.
Thursday always had a chance to be ugly for New Orleans, with a severely battered lineup pitted against old friend Sean Payton’s defensively sound Denver Broncos — and it was. The Saints lost 33-10. What the Saints’ helpless showing suggested, however, is that things may only get worse. Quarterback Derek Carr is still ailing alongside countless others. Rookie Spencer Rattler has no cohesive supporting cast on which to lean.
And Kamara, once a standard-setter for dual-threat playmakers, and a surprisingly central piece of the club’s now-forgotten surge to start the 2024 season, has no role in the midst of the chaos.
The five-time Pro Bowler only hit a half-dozen carries in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s blowout. Cameras caught him visibly frustrated with the Saints’ sideline earlier in the game. And he’s now averaged fewer than 3.5 yards per carry in four of his last five matchups, gasping for air behind a beleaguered front. As if that weren’t enough, the Saints kept him on the field deep into the fourth quarter against Denver, trailing 23 points as rehabbing starters like Carr, Taysom Hill, etc. watched comfortably from the side.
When operating at full speed in a healthy lineup, Kamara remains capable of splash plays. But if ever the Saints were going to buck their own stubborn trend, confront reality and embrace rather than resist a longer-term rebuild, they’d sell that home run talent to the rest of the NFL. The return wouldn’t necessarily be rich for a 29-year-old running back with an injury history and lofty 2025 price tag; Kamara is due a whopping $29 million in the final year of a contract…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2024-nfl-trade-deadline-why-saints-should-deal-alvin-kamara-plus-potential-landing-spots-for-veteran-rb/
Author : Cody Benjamin
Publish date : 2024-10-18 03:53:37
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