Saints, Alvin Kamara still working on a deal

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Last week, there has been hope that the Saints and running back Alvin Kamara would have a new deal in place by Monday. Monday is almost over, and there’s no deal yet.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Saints and Kamara are still working on a getting a deal done.

Earlier in the day, coach Sean Payton declined to talk specifics about the negotiations during a session with reporters, but he finished his answer with this, via Luke Johnson of the New Orleans Times-Picayune: “I’m confident that at some point we’ll get this done, and we’ll let you know when that happens.”

Kamara, during a session with reporters, denied that any of his practice absences were related to his contract.

Kamara is entering the final year of his rookie contract; he became eligible for a second contract upon conclusion of the 2019 regular season. It’s important for running backs to do whatever they can do to get paid when the window for a second contract opens; otherwise, the player ends up trying to get paid for what he’s already done and not for what he’ll be doing in future years.