With the Jacksonville Jaguars unlikely to re-sign or franchise tag their former first-round pick, the running back life-cycle continues.
NFL insider Pete Sweeney’s reports about Travis Etienne having interest in joining the Kansas City Chiefs this upcoming offseason is no surprise. Jacksonville hasn’t expressed any interest in utilizing the $14.5 franchise tag on the veteran running back. Re-signing a running back is never easy, as recent history demonstrates. For every Saquon Barkley that walks and flourishes, there’s an Ezekiel Elliott who stays and eats up cap space, without playing up to the digits on the contract. It seems the Jaguars will be outbid for the rights to Etienne, and it might be a blessing in disguise.
Etienne is a great running back; he can do everything that you ask him to. So it makes sense that he’ll be a hot commodity this upcoming free agency. This will be James Gladstone’s first full offseason as General Manager, having been hired late last season due to Jacksonville’s past incompetence. Clearly, the Jaguars were aware of this, considering the moves they made this past draft, and it’s looking like they will be just fine at the running back position.
Coming off the worst season of his career in 2024, Etienne wasn’t in the most favorable position going into this most recent season. He faced fumbling issues and a lack of touches, all while second-year running back Tank Bigsby outperformed him in just about every statistical category. Rumors swirled of Etienne being moved after the hirings of Liam Coen and Gladstone, but the team retained him. Instead, Bigsby was moved for draft capital, giving a vote of confidence to Etienne.
It wasn’t just a vote of confidence in Etienne, but also their third-round draft pick from the 25′ NFL draft: Bhayshul Tuten. The fascinating prospect out of Virginia Tech possesses home-run speed to run past opponents and the strength to run through them as well. Measuring at 5’9, 209 pounds, Tuten isn’t much different from Etienne physically, but he is four years younger and wouldn’t require a contract that could exceed $14 million a year. Even with his small sample size of less than one-hundred touches in 2025, its feasible to see Tuten as a starting running back in this league.
Jacksonville has to get its priorities straight to build upon the success of last season. If you told me that re-signing a running back is the first thing the Jaguars should do this offseason, you’d be lying straight through your teeth. What will they do with Devin Lloyd after a career-year? Is Montaric Brown returning after holding his own in place of injured defensive backs? How will Jacksonville fix the pass rush that struggled to get to the quarterback last season?
With negative cap space at the moment, decisions like releasing Arik Armstead and other key veterans are likely to free up money. That money can be used to improve the Jaguars’ weakest links from last season. This and the massive amount of draft picks make for ample opportunity to build upon an already talented roster. This all culminates in positions that aren’t typically valued like others, such as running back and linebacker, being replaced. This is likely the direction Jacksonville will be heading in going into free agency.
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