Bill Barnwell of ESPN recently released an article in which he picked the best and worst offseason moves by each AFC team. Barnwell made a curious choice for the Jacksonville Jaguars, naming the signing of RB Chris Rodriguez Jr. to replace Travis Etienne Jr. as Jacksonville's top offseason transaction.

While Etienne enjoyed a highly successful bounce-back season in 2025, Barnwell sees the financial relief the Jags received from the switch as highly beneficial. Rodriguez Jr. inked a two-year, $10 million deal while Etienne cashed in on his solid year with a four-year, $52 million contract from the New Orleans Saints.

In Barnwell's words:

"Cheaper isn't necessarily better, but it does fit for Jacksonville. For one, Etienne wasn't being used as a featured back with the Jags under Coen. Even while staying healthy for all 17 games, Etienne played only 60% of the snaps for Jacksonville, as he rotated with rookie Bhayshul Tuten. Both Etienne and Tuten typically came off the field on third downs for LeQuint Allen Jr., who played 146 snaps on third down to Etienne's 52 and Tuten's 19. And Etienne continued to struggle when used near the goal line, as he scored only twice in 12 carries inside the 5-yard line. (Tuten scored on five of his seven attempts.)"

Barnwell hits the nail on the head. If the Jaguars were not going to deploy Etienne as a bell-cow back, paying him that amount of money would have been financially irresponsible. 

On paper, it would seem replacing Etienne with Rodriguez is a downgrade. While Etienne rushed for over 1,100 yards in 2025, Rodriguez finished with an even 500. However, Rodriguez had been stuck in a timeshare with rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt, for a Washington Commanders team missing star QB Jayden Daniels for the bulk of the 2025 season.

With a bigger piece of the pie now in front of him in Jacksonville, Rodriguez Jr should see an uptick in production. While he will still be part of a RB committee with Bhayshul Tuten and LeQuint Allen Jr., both of whom the Jags remain high on, Rodriguez Jr. should be able to make a case to become the lead back. 

Unfortunately, Rodriguez Jr. will not be able to replace the production Etienne Jr. had in the passing game. The former Commander only caught three passes last season and has a meager total of six receptions across his three NFL campaigns.

In a quiet offseason for the Jaguars, letting Etienne Jr. leave for New Orleans was by far the most consequential decision the Jags made in free agency. Can Rodriguez Jr. fill the void left in Jacksonville's backfield?

On his own? Probably not. It is fair to say the Jaguars will require all three of Rodriguez, Tuten, and Allen Jr. to step up their games in 2026 in order to offset the loss of Etienne.

However, the financial flexibility of signing Rodriguez over Etienne is hard to ignore and should benefit the Jags in the long run.

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