Fantasy Football Impact: Saints Sign Travis Etienne

Former Jaguars RB Travis Etienne is signing a four-year, $52 million contract with the New Orleans Saints, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz.

NFL Free Agency: Saints Sign Travis Etienne

With Alvin Kamara turning 31 in July and coming off a season abbreviated by injury, the Saints are bolstering their backfield with the signing of Etienne, who had 1,399 yards from scrimmage and 13 touchdowns for Jacksonville last year.

Etienne has topped 1,000 rushing yards in three of his four NFL seasons. After a down year in 2024, when he had only 558 rushing yards and two touchdowns in Doug Pederson’s final year as the Jaguars’ head coach, Etienne had a strong rebound year in 2025. He had 260-1,107-7 rushing and 36-292-6 receiving in Liam Coen’s first season as Jacksonville’s head coach and playcaller. Etienne finished RB10 in PPR fantasy scoring last season and RB14 in PPR points per game.

Coen has a reputation for being a rainmaker for running backs, with Bucky Irving having a big season for the Buccaneers in 2024, when Coen was the offensive coordinator in Tampa, and Etienne thriving in 2025.

But Saints head coach and playcaller Kellen Moore has been pretty RB-friendly, too. Ezekiel Elliott had a pair of 1,000-yard rushing seasons during Moore’s four-year run as the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator from 2019 to 2022, and in Moore’s final season in Dallas, Elliott and Tony Pollard combined for 2,784 scrimmage yards and 21 touchdowns. With Moore as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator in 2024, Saquon Barkley ran for 2,005 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Moore’s offenses play at a brisk pace, which should help bolster the fantasy value of Etienne and other Saints. The New Orleans offense operated at the fastest pace in the NFL, averaging a league-low 25 seconds between offensive snaps, per FTN. That was 1.1 seconds less than the next fastest-paced offense. The Jaguars ranked 19th in offensive pace last season.

If the Saints keep Kamara, who has one year left on his contract, he might continue to be the Saints’ primary passing-down back. That could drain some of the fantasy value from Etienne, who’s averaged 42 receptions a year since coming into the league. But Kamara is unlikely to be a threat to Etienne’s primacy on early downs.

The Etienne signing obviously tanks the fantasy value of Kamara, who becomes little more than a late-round dart throw. The Etienne signing also nukes the speculative appeal of young Saints RBs Devin Neal and Kendre Miller.

With Etienne leaving Jacksonville, second-year RB Bhayshul Tuten could get a major workload increase in 2026, although the Jaguars are likely to add to their RB room via free agency and/or the draft.

It’s worth noting that Etienne has been remarkably durable throughout his career, missing only two games in four seasons.

I’m ranking Etienne RB18 in redraft, regardless of scoring format. I’ll move him up a couple of spots if the Saints part ways with Kamara.

In dynasty, I have the 27-year-old Etienne ranked RB20.