Alvin Kamara is off to an excellent start to the 2024 season, which is ideal for the New Orleans Saints and the running back’s future contract prospects.

“My understanding is that if he continues to play like this, the contract will take care of itself,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Sunday. “He can secure a huge payday in 2025.”

Under his current contract, Kamara is set to earn a base salary of $22.4 million in the 2025 season and become a free agent the following offseason. However, there is a belief that the 2024 season will be the last under this contract.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk stated that Kamara is “on track to be released after the season” regardless of how well he plays.

“The problem lies in the $25 million compensation package he is supposed to get next year,” Florio wrote. “That was never a real number; the goal was to pump his APY to $15 million with new money. And that worked, as did the fake final year in Tyreek Hill’s original Dolphins contract that drove the APY to $30 million.”

Kamara made it clear during the offseason that he wanted a new contract and even left the Saints’ final minicamp practice because of the contract dispute.

New Orleans may have missed the window to agree on a new contract, as the running back told reporters earlier this month it was “too late for contract talks. … I’m kind of at the point where I’m not even talking about it until the end of the season.”

Perhaps motivated by the whole situation, the 29-year-old has started the 2024 season excellently. He ran for 83 yards and scored a touchdown in the opening win against the Carolina Panthers and then exploded with 115 rushing yards, 65 receiving yards and four touchdowns in the Week 2 win against the Dallas Cowboys.

It was the kind of versatile performance that made Kamara one of the best running backs of his generation, with five Pro Bowl nominations and Offensive Rookie of the Year honors on his resume.

The 2023 season was a bit of a disappointment for him, as he was limited to 13 games and rushed for 694 yards. But he looks like the peak version of himself in 2024 and could be paid accordingly next offseason.

Even if it’s not the Saints who are paying him.