Alvin Kamara was busy practicing at New Orleans Saints training camp on Monday while attorneys representing him and three other defendants were asking for a 60-day delay in Las Vegas court, stemming from his arrest at the Pro Bowl early this year. 8 News Now’s David Charns reported the delay from Las Vegas.
It’s the third time the case has been pushed back — Kamara’s first court date occurred back in February, and was moved to April. At that point the defense requested more time to review their case, delaying it until August.
With this request granted, Kamara’s next court date will be scheduled for either late September or early October — well past the start of the 2022 regular season either way. The NFL won’t hand down any discipline until after the legal process is resolved, so if he does serve a suspension (and that isn’t guaranteed) it’s unlikely to happen this year. There’s a good chance this drags on further into 2023. That’s the case for his teammate Marcus Maye, who is waiting on a resolution to his Feb. 2021 DUI arrest in Florida.
So that’s good for the Saints in the short term. They’ll have one of their best players leading the team when they kick off with the Atlanta Falcons in a month, and for a tough opening stretch featuring several divisional rivalry games. The bad news is that they may have a tough choice late in the season should Kamara’s case wrap up in, say, December with the NFL issuing a multi-game suspension. Would it be better to serve the punishment with his team in the playoffs hunt or wait and hit the bench to start 2023? Thankfully that’s a question for another day, and if things go his way Kamara won’t have to ponder it at all.
Still, it’s a mess that could have been avoided by not putting paws on someone in the first place. Let’s hope he’s learned his lesson and will avoid situations like this in the future.
