Alvin Kamara skips Saints' final minicamp practice over contract - ESPN

METAIRIE, La. — Running back Alvin Kamara was absent from the New Orleans Saints' final practice of mandatory minicamp Thursday. Kamara's agent, Brad Cicala, told NFL Network that Kamara's absence was contract-related.

Kamara was at the facility on Thursday for the Saints' walk-through but left right before the Saints opened practice to the media later that morning.

«He was here for the walk-through this morning and then we went in, and I haven't had a chance to talk to him, so I'm not sure why he wasn't out there,» Saints coach Dennis Allen said.

Kamara has two years left on the five-year, $77 million deal he signed in September 2020. Kamara missed five practices at the end of August 2020 before signing the new contract that year, but he maintained that he never held out for a new deal.

Kamara is one of the last remaining contracts the Saints have not touched this year after they restructured quarterback Taysom Hill's deal earlier in the week. Kamara's 2024 cap number of $18.55 million is the highest on the team, and he has no guaranteed money remaining on his deal in 2025.

Kamara did not go to OTAs this year, which has been his routine for the past several offseasons. He returned for the first two practices of mandatory minicamp and said on Tuesday after practice that he has been doing the same things he has done in years past.

«I've got access to all [the practice film],» Kamara said Tuesday after practice «It's not like I'm just not in the building and nothing is happening. I talk to these dudes and some of my teammates. I talk to some of the coaches. I don't know, I think it's like a weird little narrative going on, I don't know.»

He added: «I understand what, kind of, the word has been, doing something different