Will Alvin Kamara video leak speed up suspension decision?

Video of the incident that resulted in Alvin Kamara receiving a battery charge has been leaked. Here’s what it means for a possible suspension.

New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara has avoided a suspension thus far related to a battery charge that came from an incident on Pro Bowl weekend in Las Vegas in early 2022.

So far, the NFL has avoided handing down a suspension quite possibly because the court proceedings have been repeatedly delayed by the courts in order to allow both sides to gather more evidence.

A video of the incident was leaked by TMZ over the weekend, though, which could very well speed up the timeline. We’ve seen the league avoid handing out punishment when court proceedings are in progress but speed things up when clear-cut video evidence comes to light.

Ray Rice was suspended indefinitely after an initially lighter suspension related to a domestic abuse incident. Kareem Hunt was cut by the Chiefs after video of a known incident was released. More recently, though, Davante Adams is unsuspended until court proceedings play out despite video of an incident where he pushed a credentialed camera operator to the ground happening on national television.

Timing of Alvin Kamara video couldn’t be worse for Saints playoff hopes

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk previously indicated the suspension for Kamara was likely to be at least six games. If you’re the Saints, you might have hoped for that suspension to kick off the 2022 season, and in hindsight, you definitely wish that could have been the case.

The Saints, 3-5 through eight games, have not had the season they hoped for, but finally seemed to find their stride last week, winning 24-0 over the Las Vegas Raiders at home. The NFC South is also remarkably bad, the Saints sitting just a game behind the Falcons who are 4-4 and leading the division.

Losing Kamara now would stunt all of its momentum and be the nail in the coffin of a playoff push. Assuming Kamara plays on Monday night, if he were to go out six games, the Saints would be without him until Week 16 since the Saints have yet to have their bye. He would come back with three regular season games left.

Again, that’s if the suspension is just for six games and if it kicks in starting in Week 10. That timeline could change completely depending on how the NFL decides to proceed.

To make matters worse, Mark Ingram went out last week with an injury. Might be the Taysom Hill show in the rushing game if the worst-case scenario comes true.