Alvin Kamara’s Ankle Injury Puts Trade Talks in Limbo as Saints Prepare for Week 7

The New Orleans Saints are one of the worst teams in the league this season and it's led to a lot of trade rumors surrounding their team. Players like Chris Olave and Alvin Kamara are the top names being thrown around at the trade deadline, but it's unclear if the Saints will move either of them.

Kamara makes the most sense as a trade chip because he's a veteran and likely won't be a star running back by the time the Saints are ready to contend again. With that in mind, trading him for a late round pick makes a lot of sense.

But the injury bug has thrown a bit of a wrench in these plans.

Ahead of Week 7, Kamara missed practice with an ankle injury. An injury designation like this could slam the brakes on any potential trade. It could stop teams from reaching out to acquire him because an injured veteran running back isn't very valuable to contenders.

Saints' Alvin Kamara battling ankle injury in Week 7

But Saints insider Katherine Terrell recently added some insight to this injury designation. Terrell reported that Kamara is on a bit of a maintenance schedule with his ankle, which means it shouldn't come as a surprise if he misses practices on Wednesdays. As Kamara continues to play on his ankle injury, it'll be a very intriguing storyline to follow at the trade deadline.

But Kamara wasn't the only Saints star on the injury report. In fact, the aforementioned Olave popped up on the injury report as a limited participant in practice with a hip injury. Olave's reportedly hip injury could hurt his trade value a bit, too. It could also cripple the Saints' offense a bit if he misses any time.

Cornerback Isaac Yiadom was also missing from practice with a hamstring injury. Yiadom's availability isn't looking good for Week 7. Fellow cornerback Alontae Taylor was a limited participant with a knee injury. If the Saints are missing one or both of these cornerbacks, their defense could struggle this week.

Spencer Rattler: Getting benched for Caleb Williams at Oklahoma was a blessing in disguise

In 2021, Spencer Rattler was in his third season at Oklahoma and was the Sooners’ starting quarterback. But in the middle of the season he was benched for true freshman Caleb Williams. At the time, it was disappointing. Now, Rattler is happy with how things worked out.

As Rattler plans to quarterback the Saints against Williams and the Bears on Sunday, he says he thinks the benching, which led him to transfer to South Carolina, was good for him.

“We all have our own paths and we’ve got to do our best with our own paths,” Rattler said. “It is what it is. The past is the past. We’re focused on the present and the future, but I would say, yeah, that definitely led me to South Carolina. It was a blessing in disguise that I got to play with the Gamecocks and develop there, get ready to the league after that.”

Williams also ended up transferring the next year, to USC, and their paths diverged from there. Asked what kind of relationship he has with Williams now, Rattler answered, “Cordial.”

“I’ll say what’s up to him at the game. I’ve got respect for him. Good player,” Rattler said.

But despite his respect for Williams, it would surely feel good for Rattler to beat him and the Bears on Sunday.

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