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Devin Neal

Saints RB Alvin Kamara Has MCL Sprain, Out For Week 13

November 29th, 2025 at 12:46pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Saints running back Alvin Kamara suffered a sprained MCL in Week 12 and will miss at least one game.

Kamara went down early in last week’s loss to the Falcons. An MRI revealed he avoided a serious injury, per Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football, but he was still ruled out for the Saints’ Week 13 matchup with the Dolphins. The nine-year veteran should still have a chance to return this season.

2025 has been a down year for Kamara. The five-time Pro Bowler is putting up career-lows across the board with 3.6 yards per carry, 5.6 yards per reception, and 59.7 scrimmage yards per game.

Kendre Miller‘s season-ending injury in October will put rookie Devin Neal atop the Saints’ depth chart in Kamara’s absence. The sixth-round pick has only appeared in seven games this season with 29 total touches for 125 yards. In his last three years at Kansas, Neal averaged 6.0 yards per carry and scored 44 total touchdowns.

Kamara’s injury will also get Audric Estime invovled after just one appearance and three offensive snaps this year. The 2024 fifth-rounder recorded 310 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 76 carries as a rookie in Denver.

The Saints’ only other running back is Ian Wheeler, a 2023 UDFA who has yet to appear in an NFL game. He will be elevated from the practice squad for Sunday’s game and could have a game day role until Kamara’s return. New Orleans may also add a veteran to their inexperience, unproven backfield.

Saints Sign Round 1 T Kelvin Banks Jr., Five Other Draftees

May 9th, 2025 at 5:57pm CST by Sam Robinson

With rookie minicamp season upon us, a flood of draft signings has naturally followed. In its 15th year, the rookie-scale contract system has removed most of the drama — save for maybe some offset language buffs — associated with signing first-round picks. Many have put pen to paper over the past two days, and the Saints now have their top draftee under contract.

Kelvin Banks Jr. signed his rookie deal Friday, the team announced. Chosen ninth overall, Banks will be tied to a fully guaranteed deal worth $27.7MM. Banks will be expected to start immediately in New Orleans, which has used first-round picks on tackles in each of the past two years, having added Taliese Fuaga in 2024.

Making that could be interpreted as a late rise during the pre-draft process, Banks appeared to command a bit more respect from within the league compared to outside draft experts. The Saints made the Texas product the third tackle taken. The Raiders and Jets had been linked to Banks, with Las Vegas appearing ready to pull the trigger in the event Ashton Jeanty had gone in the top five. Instead, Banks will make his way to Louisiana to block for a team that features a muddled quarterback situation.

The Saints have made premium investments to update their tackle situation, having also used a first-round pick (in 2022) on Trevor Penning. The contract-year blocker, thanks to the Saints declining his fifth-year option, appears set for a demotion from his right tackle spot.

As most high-end tackle prospects do, Banks operated as a left tackle in college. The Longhorns used the first-team All-American as a three-year LT starter. This could make for an interesting New Orleans O-line configuration, as the team had moved Fuaga — a college RT — to the left side before his rookie season.

Banks will step as the team’s highest-drafted lineman since Kyle Turley (No. 7 overall, 1998). New Orleans, however, has regularly gone to this well in Round 1 under Mickey Loomis. Dating back to their Andrus Peat pick in 2015, the Saints have used six first-round picks on O-linemen. Their 2025 roster will house four of them, with Cesar Ruiz still manning the team’s right guard post. While Derek Carr‘s 2025 status remains murky, he or Tyler Shough (or Spencer Rattler, perhaps) will take snaps behind a reloaded O-line.

The Saints also signed linebacker Danny Stutsman (Round 4, No. 112), cornerback Quincy Riley (Round 4, No. 131), running back Devin Neal (Round 6, No. 184), tight end Moliki Matavao (Round 7, No. 248) and defensive end Fadil Diggs (Round 7, No. 254) to rookie deals. Only the team’s three Day 2 draftees — Shough, Vernon Broughton, Jonas Sanker — remain unsigned from this draft class.