NEW ORLEANS — The Saints arrive at organized team activities after a winter of notable turnover. The lockers of longtime players Cameron Jordan and Taysom Hill are empty, captain Demario Davis is gone, and veteran receivers have been replaced by draft picks such as Jordyn Tyson. Running back Travis Etienne Jr., who signed in March, joins the backfield as a potential successor to Alvin Kamara.
The club presents a different look from the start of OTAs a year ago, when Kellen Moore was in his first season as coach, Derek Carr had just retired and Tyrann Mathieu was months from an unexpected retirement. New Orleans finished the 2025 season on a high note, winning four of its final five games under rookie quarterback Tyler Shough, and the team begins OTAs on Thursday feeling more settled.
One key question is whether Kamara will be on the roster in 2026. On a podcast appearance in early May the veteran running back spoke in inclusive terms about the team, welcomed Etienne’s arrival and said Etienne looked “explosive,” comparing a possible tandem to the backfield Kamara formed with Mark Ingram. Kamara added that moves like this should be viewed as help in the backfield and that “one person can’t do it by themselves.”
General manager Mickey Loomis said May 18 that Kamara’s status involves contract and salary-cap considerations. Loomis said the team is trying to determine how Kamara fits the roster and pointed to a resource-management element that the club planned to address over “the next week or two,” adding that OTAs represented a deadline of sorts but not a hard cutoff. The Saints reworked Kamara’s contract in March for cap purposes without securing a pay cut; he is owed $11.5 million in cash this year, with $3 million guaranteed, and is in the final season of the two-year extension signed in mid-2024. Kamara typically does not attend offseason programs until mandatory minicamp, so clarity on his status could stretch into June.
Tyler Shough enters Year 2 after being a 2025 second-round pick (No. 40) who started nine games once Spencer Rattler was benched. Kamara said he and Shough spoke late in the season about expectations and told the young quarterback the work would get harder, noting that the Week 1 starter role makes the offseason “for real.”
