Broncos Again Urged to Trade for Saints RB Alvin Kamara

The J.K. Dobbins addition earlier this month underlined how determined Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton is to get game-changing players around second-year quarterback Bo Nix. 

The NFL draft also brought fellow running back RJ Harvey to the Broncos in the second round. However, the tinkering might not be over yet if there's a move that Payton feels could really push the Broncos over the top. 

Payton is hardly one to stand pat with what he's got; his determination to assemble elite players on the Broncos' 2025 roster has been insatiable, with the likes of Pro Bowl tight end Evan Engram and third-round wideout Pat Bryant also joining Dobbins and Harvey.

CBS Sports' Cody Benjamin has gone so far as to suggest that Payton might be prepared to pony up even further, and place his former New Orleans Saints joker Alvin Kamara squarely into the mix in Denver, sketching out a blockbuster 'NFL summer trade proposal.'

Here's why Benjamin says it makes sense.

"Kamara may be a Saints mainstay, but he's approaching 30 with an annual injury history, and New Orleans isn't necessarily geared to compete for meaningful wins in 2025 with a rookie coach and quarterback in Kellen Moore and Tyler Shough, respectively. The Broncos, meanwhile, could still use additional big-play weapons for Bo Nix," Benjamin wrote. "And their coach, Sean Payton, was responsible for drafting and unleashing Kamara during his time with the Saints. So what if Denver signed J.K. Dobbins and drafted RJ Harvey? Payton wants depth to win on the ground, and besides, Kamara's best attribute is collecting passes out of the backfield; he could be Nix's top safety valve."

Nothing against Kamara, but the Broncos' youth movement in the backfield might conflict with acquiring the Saints' soon-to-be 30-year-old running back. Injury issues have become increasingly part-and-parcel of the aging process for the consistently productive Kamara over recent times, and that would always raise some degree of red flags. 

Payton would have to seriously counterbalance his familiarity with his former Pro Bowl playmaker against his relative age and recent injury history. As Benjamin points out, Kamara is due to make a hefty $18.5 million from the rebuilding Saints if he sticks around for the 2026 season.

"Moore has talked about wanting to center the Saints offense around Kamara in 2025, which could help ease the burden on Shough," Benjamin wrote. "Kamara, meanwhile, has successfully navigated several contract disputes with New Orleans, inking a contract extension as recently as last October; he's probably content standing pat, with $18.5 million due from the Saints in 2026."

It all adds up to make the acquisition of Kamara particularly tricky for Broncos GM George Paton, especially when it comes to kicking the fiscal salary-cap can further down the road. Conversely, if Payton truly believed that Kamara would give him a more proven pass-catching running back to open up the Broncos' offense more fully, he might roll the dice.

Let's be perfectly honest; the Broncos relinquishing the draft picks and cap dollars to get hold of Kamara is a fanciful suggestion for Benjamin to float at this juncture, especially in the wake of the improvements this team has already made to the running back position.

It's not the first time we've heard media murmurs about a Kamara-to-Denver trade. And it probably won't be the last.