Travis Etienne
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Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne.
For the NFL world at large, the shocking part of free agency for running back Travis Etienne was the sheer amount of money the New Orleans Saints paid him on a 4-year, $47.4 million contract.
For the Denver Broncos, in a sign that maybe they’re not as in touch with what’s going on as they should be, the shocking thing was that Etienne didn’t want to play for them for way less money.
According to a report from The Athletic’s Mike Sando, in a conversation with 1 anonymous NFL executive, the Broncos were “shocked” when Etienne turned his back on them for the big money with the Saints.
Etienne went into free agency with a projected market value of a 2-year, $13.6 million contract.
“(One) exec said the Broncos thought they were going to sign former Jaguars running back Travis Etienne, only to have the Saints land him instead,” Sando wrote. ” ‘They were shocked,’ this exec said. Denver later re-signed running back J.K. Dobbins.”
The Broncos signed Dobbins to a 2-year, $16 million contract on March 9.
J.K. Dobbins Goes to Battle Online After Signing
Plenty of NFL players celebrate their big-money contracts with splurges.
They buy a car. They go on a crazy vacation. They buy their mom a house.
In the case of Dobbins, he decided to go to war with the trolls … as in the trolls on social media who hated the Broncos paying him so much money after he missed the final 7 games of the 2025 regular season after undergoing surgery for a Lisfranc injury.
Former Broncos offensive lineman and Super Bowl champion Tyler Polumbus questioned whether or not his old team had improved at all in a post to his official X account — specifically singling out the running backs.
“Broncos had 3 upgrade needs on offense entering Free Agency: RB TE and WR1,” Polumbus wrote on Monday. “They now enter the draft with 3 needs for upgrades on offense. RB TE and WR1. Thoughts???”
Dobbins had some thoughts on the matter.
“Lol go check the numbers and tell us how many RBs are better,” Dobbins wrote in reply to Polumbus, followed by a thumbs down emoji.
Let’s Talk Broncos’ Zach Segars posted and deleted on X something that drew a similar reply from Dobbins.
“Go check the numbers,” Dobbins wrote in reply to Segars, followed by another thumbs down emoji.
Dobbins saved his most potent vitriol for Broncos superfan Respect My Cos.
“13m was too much for Travis Etienne … but we paid JK DOBBINS 10 a YEAR????? HE AVERAGES 7 GAMES A SZN LMAOOOO,” Respect My Cos wrote on Monday. “JK Dobbins 2yr 20m ….. That’s the worst contract in free agency this year and is up there with one of the worst contracts in Denver Broncos history … Unbelievable.”
Dobbins replied to the diss but later deleted the post.
“Go be a fan for a different team lame ass dude and don’t try to turn back around when I shut the fluke injury (expletive) up this year,” Dobbins wrote, followed by, you guessed it … a thumbs-down emoji.”