Fantasy Football Fallout: Travis Etienne signs with Saints
The Saints agreed to terms on a four-year, $52 million contract with running back Travis Etienne on Monday. Now we have to see what happens to Alvin Kamara in New Orleans, and the Jacksonville backfield will have a new No. 1 option, potentially sophomore Bhayshul Tuten.
Let’s start with Etienne, and the Louisiana native is expected to take over as head of the Saints backfield in 2026. He’s coming off a breakout season in 2025 with the Jaguars, when he had 260 carries for 1,107 yards and seven touchdowns, and he added 36 catches for 292 yards and six touchdowns on 52 targets. He averaged 16.3 PPR points per game, which was the second-best mark of his career (he averaged 16.6 PPR points in 2023).
If Etienne doesn’t share touches with Kamara, then Etienne has the potential to be a #1 running back in all leagues. For now, with Kamara still on the roster, the earliest you can draft Etienne is the fourth round, and we hope he gets the chance to have nearly 300 total touches like he had in 2025 in Jacksonville.
Etienne is a quality receiver out of the backfield, and he has at least 35 receptions in every year of his career, including 58 catches in 2023. But it will be difficult for him to dominate the touches if Kamara stays in New Orleans.
Kamara, 31, restructured his contract last week, and it would be ideal for the Saints to move on from the nine-year veteran to maximize Etienne’s role while giving Kamara the chance to start elsewhere. Kamara has missed at least three games in each of the last two seasons, and he has been out for the final six games in 2025 with a sprained MCL.
He also had a miserable season when healthy, with 131 carries for 471 yards and a touchdown and 33 catches for 186 yards on 39 targets in 11 games. He averaged a career-low 9.2 PPR points per game.
If he stays in New Orleans, the earliest he can draft Kamara is the eighth round as a handcuff for Etienne. Kamara’s Fantasy value would essentially drop in a backup role, so hopefully he can join a new team for 2026.
As for the Jaguars, they will be looking for a new backfield leader after the departure of Etienne. Tuten has the chance to take over as the No. 1 option, but Jacksonville will likely add competition either through free agency or the NFL Draft.
In 2025, as a rookie, Tuten had minimal production behind Etienne, with 83 carries for 307 yards and five touchdowns, and 10 catches for 79 yards and two touchdowns on 14 targets. He averaged just 6.3 PPR points per game.
However, in his only game with double-digit carries, which was Week 11 against the Chargers, Tuten had 15 carries for 74 yards and a touchdown (no targets) and scored 13.4 PPR points. He could be a No. 2 Fantasy running back in all leagues if he opens the season atop the depth chart in Jacksonville. Tuten could be worth drafting as early as the fifth round in the majority of leagues.
We will continue to monitor what happens with Etienne and Kamara, as well as the current vacancy with the Jaguars, and how that affects Tuten. Etienne could be a fantasy star if Kamara is gone, and Tuten could be an exceptional candidate if he is Jacksonville’s new starter in 2026.
