Alvin Kamara startled Saints teammates on Wednesday when he showed up at voluntary OTAs after taking a red-eye flight from Miami to New Orleans overnight, a spur-of-the-moment decision that put the five-time Pro Bowler back in the middle of the offseason conversation around the club. The 30-year-old did not tell teammates or staff he was coming, and he said the reaction was exactly what he expected when he walked through the door.

“I walked in this morning and I was just talking s--- to some dudes and they looked up, like, 'Man … who the f---?'” Kamara said, adding that the room quickly turned into surprise and recognition. “They were like, 'Oh s---, AK!'”

That kind of appearance is not Kamara’s usual routine. He generally skips voluntary workouts and prefers to train on his own, which is why Saints coach Kellen Moore called the veteran’s reporting “obviously a little bit unexpected.” The timing matters because Kamara is in the final year of his contract, and every offseason move around him has been read as a clue about whether New Orleans plans to keep him or eventually move on.

The Saints already restructured Kamara’s contract earlier this offseason, and they also signed Travis Etienne in free agency, moves that only sharpened the focus on Kamara’s future. He has spent his entire nine-year career in New Orleans, but rumors of a potential trade or release have swirled around him while the team has repeatedly declined to spell out its plans. Even so, Kamara brushed aside the idea that there is any widening gap between him and the organization.

“On my side, I feel no pressure. There’s no beef or bad blood, I don’t think. I’m just doing what I do every year, working. Whatever decisions have got to be made, they’ll be made,” he said. He also said he has not had any conversations about taking a pay cut to stay in New Orleans, though he made clear he would answer if that discussion ever comes up: “I think there’s a time and a place for everything. If that conversation comes up, then I’ll have an answer for you when it comes up.”

For now, Kamara’s surprise arrival does not resolve the bigger question hanging over the Saints. It does show that he is willing to show up, and that he still wants to be seen as part of the room. What happens next will depend on whether New Orleans treats the 30-year-old as a player for the final year of his deal, or as a veteran whose long run in the city is nearing its end.