New Orleans Saints Sign Three-Time 1,000-Yard Rusher
The New Orleans Saints have signed the 25th-overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft to a contract. It was announced that they signed Travis Etienne by Adam Schefter on a four-year 52 million deal. This is a huge step for Etienne, signing his first contract since his rookie deal, ensuring his NFL career for a while longer. The 27-year-old will look to secure a 1,000-yard rushing season for the fourth time this year.
Etienne Made a Name for Himself at Clemson
Growing up in Jennings, Louisiana, Etienne was a highly recruited running back, receiving offers from Clemson, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Alabama. Alabama and Texas A&M were the closest universities to home; A&M was about 270 miles away, a four-hour drive, and Bama was just around 450 miles and six hours. However, Etienne as a top-15 recruit wanted to play on a good team which meant that the middling Aggies wouldn’t have been attractive to him and he wouldn’t have played on a backfield that included Damien Harris, Bo Scarbrough, Josh Jacobs and Brian Robinson, Jr. He picked Clemson, who had just won their second ACC Championship under Dabo Swinney which would go on to be the first of eight ACC crowns that the Tigers would claim in seven seasons. Wayne Gallman declared for the NFL Draft after his junior season in 2016, meaning that Etienne would have to compete with Tavien Feaster, Adam Choice, and CJ Fuller for playing time. As a freshman, Etienne led the team in rushing and quickly earned a role as the team’s lead back, rushing for a nation-leading 24 touchdowns en route to Clemson’s second national championship in three seasons, as well as being awarded ACC’s Player of the Year Award and a first-team All-American nod from ESPN. Etienne quickly solidified himself as a top NFL prospect, winning another ACC POTY Award, and surprisingly returned to Clemson for his senior year even after breaking the school’s all-time rushing yard, rushing touchdown, and scrimmage touchdown records in his junior season. Now it’s hard to find an ACC record book that doesn’t have Etienne’s name all over it.
Career with Jags Has Been Up and Down
Etienne and Najee Harris would end up going against each other yet again in the spring of 2021, except this time, it wasn’t on the field; it was in the NFL prospect rankings. With those two tailbacks being the top-two prospects, it was predictable that they would be picked close to each other, but getting selected back-to-back was certainly a surprise. With Harris going to the Steelers at 24, Etienne got snatched up with the next pick by the Jaguars, who paired up Trevor Lawrence, that year’s first-overall pick, with his college teammate in the pros. Unfortunately for Etienne, he suffered a season-ending injury in the 2021 preseason, leading to a disappointing season where Jacksonville’s offense finished last in the league in points scored. The Jaguars, and subsequently Etienne, bounced back in a big way in 2022 under new head coach Doug Pederson, finishing with a top-10 offense en route to winning their second-ever AFC South Championship. The Jags seemed to be on the come up after winning their division and first playoff victory since 2017, but couldn’t excel to the next level, missing the playoffs despite another great season from Etienne. From 2022-23, Etienne had the seventh-most scrimmage yards in the NFL and the fifth-most rushing yards, finishing behind only Jacobs, Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey, and Derrick Henry on the ground. Etienne had a down year in 2024 due to nagging injuries and got back on track last season, rushing for 1,107 yards, seven rushing scores, 1,399 yards from scrimmage, and a career-high 13 scrimmage touchdowns.
What’s Next for Etienne?
The five-foot-10, 215-pound running back has had a very interesting career up to this point. He had a lot of tread on his tires in college, compiling nearly 800 touches in his four-year career at Clemson. Despite the heavy workload, he never had injury concerns while attending the university, but he’s already had two seasons derailed by injury in the NFL. This isn’t the end of the road, though. He just turned 27 in January, and one of the main questions that NFL GMs ask is: “What have you done for me lately?” Quite frankly, the answer is a lot. Even with his hamstring and shoulder culminating in a terrible season in ‘24, he still sits in the top-10 in rushing yards since 2022. Though question marks still remain for Etienne, the Saints should be happy to have him on their roster.
