With Travis Etienne gone, Jacksonville faces a backfield void. Trading for the veteran Saints star could provide the playmaking punch and leadership needed to stabilize an inexperienced roster.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are going to have a new leading rusher in 2026 after losing Travis Etienne to free agency.
It’s late May, so hardly anything is guaranteed as far as this coming season goes, but that’s one thing that is a lock.
Etienne had another solid season in 2025, rushing for 1,107 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging 4.3 yards per carry. He was a weapon in the receiving game, too, going for nearly 300 yards and six touchdowns. Additionally, Etienne was one of the most the used backs in the league, finishing eighth in carries.
But now, he’s a New Orleans Saint. Etienne signed a four-year, $52 million deal to return to his home state of Louisiana, leading the Jags to be looking for a new leader in the RB room.
Jacksonville has a few options.
If the Jags don't add anybody between now and Week 1, it's likely they'd rely on a "by committie" approach for the running backs room, something general manager James Gladstone has acknowledged.
The Jags could also make a trade, and one such trade could be with Etienne's new team.
Alvin Kamara has been with the Saints since 2017, and in that time, he's developed into one of the league's best all-purpose backs. In 2024, he ended the year with almost 1,500 yards of total offense. But last year didn't go as well.
First off, Kamara wasn't as healthy, with a knee injury limiting him to a carrer-low 11 games. This was a big reason why his production dipped across the board. Kamara went from 950 yards rushing in 2024 to 471 last year, and his yards per carry dipped from 4.2 to 3.6.
His receiving numbers fell from 543 yards in 2025 to 186 in 2025, with 39 receptions compared to 89 the year before.
But the Jags wouldn't necessarily need Kamara to be what he was in 2024.
Even if he can't replicate that production, Kamara still gives the Jags a veteran presence in a room that currently doesn't have one.
Bhayshul Tuten (23), LeQuint Allen Jr (21) and Chris Rodriguez Jr. (26) make up an inexperienced backfield. Tuten and Allen have a combined 106 career carries, with Tuten responsible for 83 of them. Rodriguez is more seasoned, with 198 career carries under his belt, all for the Washington Commanders.
But Rodriguez is just like the younger backs in that he's never been an NFL starter.
Kamara is a two-time All-Pro, and if he even resembles his peak, he could be a big get for the Jags.
With that said, Kamara is 31 and due to make $12.5 million in 2026, which is more than $2 million more than the Jags have in cap space, so it’d be hard to blame Gladstone for sticking with what he has.
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