Saints Replacing Alvin Kamara with Travis Etienne?

By Matt Schauf | Updated on Mon, Mar 9 2026 6:17 PM UTC

The Saints are expected to sign RB Travis Etienne Jr., according to multiple reports. He spent his first five years with the Jaguars after arriving as a first-round pick, outlasting head coaches Urban Meyer and Doug Pederson before playing 2025 under Liam Coen. Etienne turned 27 in January. He's getting a four-year, $52 million pact with New Orleans, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

What They're Saying

Schefter: "He's from Louisiana, and it was important for him to be near home."

NFL Network's Mike Garafolo: "Alvin Kamara watch is officially on."

2026 Fantasy Football Impact

The "watch," of course, is to see whether New Orleans trades the veteran RB in light of this signing. The Saints recently used a little-known provision under the collective bargaining agreement to cut Kamara's 2026 cap hit from $18.63 million to $10.51 million.

Whether that move affects the team's ability to trade or release him, I have no idea.

Whatever the case there, expect Etienne to take over the Saints' backfield.

He garnered the second-most carries per game of his career last season but saw his receptions per game fall to 2.1, matching his 2022 low.

Saints RBs ranked last in the league in PPR points in 2025, HC Kellen Moore's first season there, and finished just 17th in RB receptions.

Jacksonville threw even fewer passes to its RBs last season but supported the 17th-most PPR points at the position. So expect a decline in situation for Etienne.

He remains in play at his RB18 best-ball ADP. We'll see whether that rises.

Other Winners & Losers

Kamara's a we'll see.

The confirmation of Etienne leaving Jacksonville stands as at least a temporary win for both Bhayshul Tuten and LeQuint Allen.

Be careful not to overrate Tuten, though, while we wait to see whether the Jaguars will add any other significant pieces to the backfield.

An unimpressive class of rookie RBs helps Tuten's chances of making a 2026 fantasy impact.

Matt Schauf, Editor

Matt has earned two Fantasy Pros accuracy awards for IDP rankings and won thousands of dollars as a player across best ball, dynasty, and high-stakes fantasy formats. He has been creating fantasy football content for more than 20 years, with work featured by Sporting News, Rotoworld, Athlon, Sirius XM, and others. He's been with Draft Sharks since 2011.