NEW ORLEANS — You might have heard… The Dallas Cowboys and star running back Zeke Elliott agreed on a 6-year, $90 million contract extension.
The question Saints fans should be asking is how this will affect future negotiations with Alvin Kamara.
Elliott’s contract is the biggest for a running back EVER, but because it’s an extension Elliot is actually the eighth-highest paid running back this season.
According to Sportrac, his salary cap hit is $6.3 million this season. The highest paid running back in the NFL is David Johnson of the Arizona Cardinals. His cap hit will be $9.7 million this season.
Alvin Kamara’s cap hit this season: Just over $1 million, making him the 48th highest paid RB in the league.
Kamara is in year four of his rookie deal. His salary is $807,000 and his signing bonus was spread out over the length of the deal, hence the cap hit at just over $1 million.
He has just one more year to go on his rookie contract and he will definitely want a new deal next summer because running back don’t get paid well by NFL standards.
Quarterbacks make the most money (the average is $6.3 million) then offensive tackles ($3.6 million) and defensive ends ($3.3 million).
At the bottom of the scale, the average running back salary is just a bit more than punter and long snapper salaries.
But Alvin Karama’s salary this year is actually LESS than the average long snapper! Which is exactly why his contract should be the Saints next big renegotiation.