Saints RB outlook
By: Jake Rajala
Let’s face it: Alvin Kamara is on his last legs and he will likely be out the door in 2026 or 2027. Kamara is ranked as the worst NFL RB by PFF right now. He blatantly doesn’t have the same juice that he once had. He is only averaging 3.6 YPC, which is a career low. He also only has one rushing touchdown, which is also a career low. It shouldn’t be a surprise that he also has 186 receiving yards, which just happens to be a career low.
Devin Neal, who was a sixth round pick in 2025, showed more promise than Kamara in his game last Sunday. All he did was record 70 rushing yards and a touchdown. Neal was electric in space and reeled in a fine 20+ yard run.
The Saints are also in luck. There are free agent RBs in 2026 that are quite young, such as Kenneth Walker (25), Breece Hall (24), and Travis Etienne (26). It would be worth prioritizing a RB to sign. If they bring in a young, FA RB, they can focus on drafting a MLB or DE to replace Cameron Jordan and Demario Davis.
Taysom Hill will most likely retire in a year or two, as well. He has been a big part of their rushing attack in his time that he’s been here. Tyler Shough can be a threat with his legs, but we can’t expect him to have a pair of rushing touchdowns in every game.
I still can’t imagine that the Saints don’t draft a RB in 2026, despite the class not having cream of the crop RB talent. At the very least, they should have a late round pick at RB. They have had success with mid-round RBs and UDFA running backs, but that was back in the Sean Payton days. Kamara was a third round pick, himself. They had Pierre Thomas, Chris Ivory, and Khiry Robinson, who were UDFA studs.
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