Mickey Loomis: Trying to see how Alvin Kamara fits on Saints' roster

Will Alvin Kamara be on the New Orleans Saints when their regular season starts in September? That's a question even general manager Mickey Loomis can't answer. The Saints used a unique CBA rule to restructure their contract with Kamara earlier this offseason that both saved themselves salary cap space and made it easier to trade Kamara, if that's the direction they choose to go. Loomis addressed the Kamara question and several other uncertainties at Monday's Saints Hall of Fame golf tournament.

“We’re just trying to see how he’s gonna fit on our roster," Loomis said, per the Times-Picayune's Luke Johnson. "Obviously there’s a resource management element. We’ll get to that over the next week or two.”

For his part, Kamara has made his stance clear -- he's excited to work with the team's newly-signed running back Travis Etienne Jr. and help Tyler Shough take the next step in his own career. He wants to be a Saint. But it sure looks like Loomis has some buyer's remorse on the extension he signed Kamara to in 2024. That deal was aimed at setting up Kamara to retire in black and gold, but now his $10.4 million cap hit ranks third-highest on the team. From the team's perspective, that's untenable for their second-best running back.

It's not like the Saints can't afford to pay it. They signed their rookie draft class and still have more than $8 million to cover their in-season expenses. And that number could go up by extending wideout Chris Olave. They don't have to touch Kamara's contract. It's something they're choosing to, or at least choosing whether it's worth doing. As Loomis said, it's something that could be resolved, one way or another, in a week or two.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints GM Mickey Loomis addresses Alvin Kamara contract rumors