New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara left June's mandatory minicamp early while in a contract dispute but reported for training camp this week.
On Wednesday, Kamara did his best Marshawn Lynch impression, admitting he arrived to avoid getting fined $50,000 per day.
"I ain't stupid. I ain't gonna give the money up," Kamara said. "I'm trying to get some money, right? I was gonna be here. It's no one that has a jersey on, I wouldn't even blame any coaches [with] what's going on with contract issues right now. This happens all across the league. It's happened here. It's happened everywhere. People trying to get contracts, trying to get paid. I'll 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 just having conversations about compensation. … I'm not that guy. I'm for the team. So I'm here, I'm doing what I've got to do. I'm working."
Karmara admitted his early departure from minicamp last month came after he got no traction on his contract concerns.
"Trying to get a contract done, and it just ain't been nothing happening," he said. "Ain't been no real conversations or, I would say, worthy conversations of contract. So that last day was just me saying… I think there was a misconception about 'Oh well, Alvin didn't say anything about a contract,' which I never do really. It's just you know it's time. We've been talking about it a little bit. It hasn't been anything really meaningful. It's been kinda one side where they at, and I'm kinda like, 'Eh, nah.' So I went to the crib."
Turning 29 on Thursday, Kamara is set to earn $10.2 million in base salary this season, with just $1 million guaranteed. His 2025 base salary of $22.4 million with no guaranteed dollars is an inflated figure he's unlikely ever to see.
Kamara reiterated that his goal is to play his entire career in New Orleans.
"I've said it before: I want to be a Saint," he added. "You know what I'm saying? I want to retire here. If I gotta play football somewhere else, I'll probably be somewhere with my feet kicked up in Africa somewhere, or something like that."
The biggest leverage move a player can make to get a new deal is withholding services, but for veterans like Kamara, that comes with a hefty gamble via unwaivable fines and missed potential game checks. The running back doesn't sound like he plans on going that route to get a new deal.
“I’m here, I’m playing," Kamara said when asked if he'd play this season without a new deal. "I planned on playing. If there’s no commitment to years after this, then s---, I mean, I feel like y’all pay attention to football more than me, y’all know what that mean.”
The question is whether that will come with an extension or a reworked contract in 2024.