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If Travis Etienne gets big payday, it probably won't be from Jaguars
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- If Travis Etienne gets big payday, it probably won't be from Jaguars
Forty-four NFL running backs gained at least 500 yards in 2025, including the Jacksonville Jaguars ' Travis Etienne (1,107).
But the breakdown of how those players were acquired reflect why the Jaguars are likely to move on from Etienne .
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Among those 44 backs, 25 were playing on their rookie contract (including Etienne) and only four were playing on at least their second contract with their original team.
Translation: Running back remains and always will be pro football's version of disposable labor.
Etienne finished 11th in yards and is expected to be joined in free agency (as of mid-day on March 6) by Carolina's Rico Dowdle (14th, 1,076 yards), Seattle 's Kenneth Walker (16th, 1,027 yards), Denver 's J.K. Dobbins(25th, 772 yards), Tampa Bay 's Rachaad White (37th, 572 yards), Pittsburgh 's Kenneth Gainwell (41st, 537 yards) and Atlanta 's Tyler Allgeier (42nd, 514 yards).
Good players, all of them.
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But will good money be available for all of them? Unlikely.
It is a quality free-agent class, but they won't get paid like the running backs in March 2024 … but they should get more money than the March 2025 class.
Two years ago, seven running backs changed teams for contracts of at least $11.25 million, guarantees of at least $8 million and with one exception, three-year contracts. Josh Jacobs ( Las Vegas to Green Bay ), Saquon Barkley ( New York Giants to Philadelphia ) and Derrick Henry ( Tennessee to Baltimore ) changed teams.
Last March, running backs were hit over the head with a figurative sledgehammer. The money just wasn't there.
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Among the top six backs who changed teams, none signed for longer than two years and had a contract and guarantee worth more than $5.25 million (the Los Angeles Chargers ' Najee Harris ).
Etienne would do well to get a contract averaging $8-9 million. It would be surprising if it was with the Jaguars .
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Around the Jaguars
1. Easy decision for Dickerson:The Jaguars started their off-season business by signing defensive tackle Matt Dickerson to a one-year contract on Feb. 16 .
Dickerson, 30, began last season on the practice squad, but played in eight games (four starts) and made 10 tackles in 196 snaps (one snap short of tying his career high set with Tennessee in 2020).
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Dickerson wasn't interested in testing the market.
"I don't like waiting around," he said in a phone interview. "I wanted to be a sure bet and I love Jacksonville, love the coaches and players and I really wanted to get (re-signed) as soon as possible. I didn't want to play around in the market. This is where I wanted to be. It was a really easy decision."
Dickerson is spending the offseason in Scottsdale, Ariz. He does two-a-day sessions Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Friday, including lower- and upper-body work, core exercises and yoga.
"And golf on the weekend," he said with a laugh.
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2. Salary cap gymnastics:Last week, the Jaguars were $16.9 million over the $301.2 million salary cap per the industry website Over The Cap. The best way to equal parts get under the cap and do business is converting base salary into signing bonuses, which can be spread out over the life of the contract while lowering the 2026 cap hit.
According to Spotrac, the Jaguars reduced right guard Patrick Mekari 's cap hit from $14.87 million to $7.4 million by converting $9.2 million of his base salary into a signing bonus and safety Eric Murray 's hit from $7.59 million to $4.23 million by converting $4.2 million of his base into a signing bonus.
Mekari and Murray have new 2026 base salaries of the $1.3 million veteran minimum.
Other players with high base salaries are guard/tackle Walker Little ($11 million), linebacker F oye Oluokun($9 million), defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton ($7.4 million), defensive end Josh Hines-Allen ($7 million) and left guard Ezra Cleveland ($6.75 million).
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Extra points
1. Florida vs. Connecticut:Entering the final weekend of the regular season, it's accepted Duke, Michigan and Arizona will be No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament and Florida and Connecticut are vying for the final top seed (the other would be the No. 2 seed in that bracket).
Mar 3, 2026; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Florida Gators head coach Todd Golden celebrates his 100th win with center Viktor Mikic (12), center Rueben Chinyelu (9), center Micah Handlogten (3), forward Alex Condon (21) and forward Thomas Haugh (10) after the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images
If the committee bases it entirely on head-to-head and overall record, UConn will get the nod because of its win over UF in New York City and because it is 27-3 compared to 24-6.
But the data favors the Gators . In its last 10 games, UF is 10-0 and UConn 8-2. In league play against ranked teams, UF is 7-0 and UConn 2-1. And UF is 11-5 in Quad 1 games and UConn is 8-2. I still think the Gators need to win the SEC tournament to secure a top seed.
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2. Remembering Lou Holtz:College Football Hall of Fame coach Lou Holtzdied on March 4 at age 89 and he was an all-time personality on the sideline and as a commentator. He would pace so much during games, CBS once tracked his steps (it was several miles) during a game.
Between his stops at Arkansas and Notre Dame, Holtz coached two years (1984-85) at Minnesota and produced my top Lou-related memory. On Sept. 28, 1985, No. 2 Oklahoma visited Minnesota in the Metrodome and it was the first major-college football game my brother and I ever attended (our dad brought us). The crowd was 62,446, OU won 13-7 and the Sooners' starting quarterback was Troy Aikman. We thought it was the coolest thing ever.
3. Local soccer stadium project:Sporting Club Jacksonville has announced plans to construct a new soccer stadium near the St. Johns Town Center. The club is also planning a multi-use development on 300 acres.
Good for them. I like bold ideas and particularly if they are privately-funded. But my issue? Traffic. I live in that part of town and the Town Center's traffic is suffocating on weekends and most weekday nights. Now add another development. The infrastructure will have to improve for it to work.
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4. Getting late early:NASCAR rolls into Phoenix for its fourth race of the season on March 8. Tyler Reddickhas won all three races and has built a 70-point lead over teammate Bubba Wallace. But it is getting late early for several drivers who can't rely on a single win to quality for the playoffs. Outside the top 25 already are Chase Briscoe(27th), Austin Cindric(31st), Austin Dillon(34th) and Alex Bowman(36th and out this week with vertigo).
Contact O'Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars' Travis Etienne and the NFL running back market
