Former Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr., a Louisiana native who felt it important to be near home, will be signing a four-year, $52 million deal with the New Orleans Saints, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Saints on Monday also reached a four-year, $61 million deal with former Buffalo Bills guard David Edwards, a source told Schefter. New Orleans later added former Bengals tight end Noah Fant on a two-year deal, according to NFL Network.
Etienne’s arrival in New Orleans has led to questions around the league about whether longtime starter Alvin Kamara will be moving on from the team and whether the Saints would be willing to trade him, according to Schefter.
Etienne, 27, ran for 1,107 yards last season — the third time in his five-year career he has rushed for 1,000 yards — to move into third place on the Jaguars’ all-time rushing list (3,798 yards). He also scored a career-high 13 touchdowns, including six receiving. (He had just one in his previous four seasons.)
The Jaguars selected Etienne 25th in 2021, but he missed his rookie season to a Lisfranc injury. He rushed for 2,133 yards and 16 touchdowns and caught 93 passes for 792 yards and one touchdown in 2022-23, but his production dipped significantly in 2024 — 558 yards and two TDs rushing and 39 catches for 254 yards — as second-year player Tank Bigsby became the team’s top back (766 yards and seven TDs rushing).
There was speculation that Etienne could be traded in the 2025 offseason, but the former Clemson standout showed up in the spring ready to prove he would be a good fit in new coach Liam Coen’s offense. Running backs coach Chad Morton said Etienne showed up in good shape, put in extra work and picked up the offense quickly.
Etienne and Bigsby shared first-team reps for much of training camp, but by the time the Sept. 7 season opener arrived, Etienne was the clear No. 1 back. He carried the ball 16 times for 143 yards — including a 71-yarder — and caught three passes for 13 yards in the Jaguars’ 26-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
Bigsby, who had five carries for 12 yards, was traded to Philadelphia for 2026 fifth- and sixth-round draft picks the following day.
In addition to 3,798 yards rushing, Etienne totaled 5,136 yards from scrimmage and 32 total touchdowns in four seasons with the Jaguars.
Edwards, who turns 29 on March 20, was with the Bills for the past three seasons. He spent his first year with the team in the jumbo tight end role, mostly coming in as the sixth offensive lineman, then spent the past two as their starting left guard.
Edwards was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL draft out of Wisconsin. In his first season with the Rams, he primarily played right guard but then switched fully to starting left guard in 2020 and ’21.
Edwards played only four games in 2022 after sustaining multiple concussions. He did not miss any games with injury while in Buffalo.
Fant, 28, was a late roster addition last season for the Cincinnati Bengals. After the Seattle Seahawks released Fant in July, he signed with the Bengals after the team had already started training camp.
In 15 games with Cincinnati, Fant made seven starts and had 34 catches for 288 yards and three touchdowns. However, Fant had a career-high three fumbles. All three were returned for defensive scores.
Fant was second among the team’s tight ends in total offensive snaps with 359, trailing Drew Sample’s 564 offensive snaps.
The former 2019 first-round pick by the Denver Broncos has 334 catches for 3,593 yards and 18 touchdowns in seven NFL seasons.
ESPN’s Michael DiRocco, Alaina Getzenberg and Ben Baby contributed to this report.
Leave a Reply