One of the most interesting times on the NFL calendar is the trade deadline, and that becomes magnified for teams who may be on the selling side of things, or are at least struggling. The New Orleans Saints were certainly struggling at the deadline this year, and there were plenty of discussions on the potential for players to get moved throughout that period. While Rashid Shaheed did go, there were discussions around the media landscape about Alvin Kamara and if he would be a good fit elsewhere.
Kamara made it clear in a social media post that he would find it difficult to play football elsewhere, noting he would “go drink a piña colada somewhere” if that occurred. Initially, it was taken by some as a leverage play, forcing the Saints not to deal him, per se. Recently, on Terron Armstead’s show, The Set, Kamara cleared things up for fans.
“I saw a lot of people looking at that and saying, like, I was holding the Saints hostage by saying that if they traded me, that I would retire. Which is not at all what I was saying,” Kamara said. “What I was saying was the same thing that I’ve said my whole career. I want to be in New Orleans, right? Period. In the simplest of forms. I want to be in New Orleans. If I were to have to play football somewhere else, then I don’t want to play football, that’s all I was saying.”
This was frankly what many had believed was the case, but others took it another way, and hearing from the man himself what he meant was positive. It is clear that his home is in New Orleans, and he wants to do whatever he can to retire a Saint, as he should, given how many historic moments he has had with the franchise over the years. He is one of the last remaining pieces of that final roster around Drew Brees, and his success over the years has earned him the ability to be a one-team-for-life player.