After eight straight years of playing football alongside Trevor Lawrence on the East Coast, Travis Etienne is returning home to Louisiana.
The free agent running back signed a four-year, $52 million deal with the New Orleans Saints, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. His annual salary of $13 million ranks sixth among all NFL running backs… right ahead of incumbent Saints starter Alvin Kamara ($12.25 million).
Etienne was born and raised in Jennings (located in southwest LA) and is of Louisiana Creole ancestry. He’s one of four children, having actually played against his younger brother and Panthers running back Travis in Week 1 of 2025. According to the Charleston Post and Courier, Etienne made it a tradition to take pictures with fans anytime he returned home from college for the holidays.
So yeah. Going home is a big deal to him.
Etienne, a former four-star recruit, committed to Clemson to play under coach Dabo Swinney. He led the Tigers in rushing as a true freshman, won the national championship as a sophomore, and finished his career as the all-time leader of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). In 2021, Etienne and Lawrence were selected by Jacksonville in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
A preseason Lisfranc injury — which, ironically, occurred at the Caesars Superdome — cost Etienne his entire rookie campaign. Fortunately, the tackle-shedding speedster rebounded in 2022 with over 1,000 rushing yards and the 14th-most yards of scrimmage of any NFL player (1,441). Etienne finished his Jaguars career with three seasons of 1,000-plus rushing yards, the second-most in franchise history behind Fred Taylor (7).
In the span of 69 games played and 63 starts (including playoffs), Etienne finished his Jacksonville career with 5,453 yards from scrimmage and 34 total touchdowns. He is one of four NFL running backs (joining Christian McCaffrey, Josh Jacobs, and Bijan Robinson) to have totaled over 3,750 rushing yards and over 1,300 receiving yards since 2022.
Though Etienne didn’t earn any formal NFL accolades during his time in Jacksonville, local media did award him the 2024 “Good Guy of the Year” award. All the best in the future, Travis.
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