New Orleans Saints running back Travis Etienne Jr. runs across the field after catching the ball during Saints Minicamp at the Saints Indoor Practice Facility in Metairie, La., Tuesday, June 16, 2026.
STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER
It had been a long while since the New Orleans Saints made a true splash in the free agent running back market — so long that running backs coach Joel Thomas, now entering his 11th season with the franchise, has come to just not expect it in free agency.
So when the Saints signed Travis Etienne to a massive four-year deal on the opening day of free agency, Thomas said it is fair to say he was excited to land a new prize.
“Tell me any coach that gets a player that has been as productive as him that is going to be bummed out,” Thomas said. “I’m thoroughly excited.”
In Etienne, the Saints signed a running back who has compiled three 1,000-yard rushing campaigns in his four professional seasons — a not insignificant number to a franchise in the Saints that hasn’t had a 1,000-yard rusher since 2017, although Alvin Kamara has come close.
Etienne was one of the more explosive running backs in the NFL last season, recording 26 runs of 10 or more yards last season. The entire New Orleans running back group managed 20 such runs last season.
Even in the limited settings of organized team activities and minicamp — no pads, no tackling — Etienne’s explosiveness has been evident. While the Saints’ ability to generate more chunk plays on the ground will fall on the collective unit, Etienne has the skills to make the big blocks count.
“He’s looking to get the extra yard,” Thomas said. “He plays with great pad leverage, and all of a sudden you get someone that mis-hits you, you make a mistake on him it’s an issue. He’s got the long speed to get it going.”
But the excitement is about more than Etienne’s considerable physical talent. Of all the additions the Saints made this offseason, Etienne may be the Rosetta Stone who unlocks the full version of coach Kellen Moore’s offense.
In him, Moore sees a true “any down, every down” player with a high football IQ, someone who doesn’t have to rotate off the field because of any deficiencies in his game. That is helpful for several reasons, not the least of which being that it allows Moore an additional layer of deception.
“When all of a sudden you put X player in there and they’re known as a sub protector, the defense is making their pressure calls to attack that or they’re not really worried about the run,” Thomas said. “You still have the threat to run the ball when (Etienne) is in there on third down."
The Saints might also just look different when they line up. They were in the shotgun on about 75% of their offensive snaps last season, and only the Cincinnati Bengals ran more shotgun snaps than the Saints (824 to 813).
There was a reason for that: New Orleans was one of the NFL’s least effective teams while operating the under-center offense, compiling an abysmal -0.19 Expected Points Added per play (only the Raiders, at -0.28, were worse).
Moore said some of that was “recency bias” dating from his experience with the Philadelphia Eagles, who won the Super Bowl with a high-powered offense that spent a lot of time in the shotgun. But expect that to change, at least some, this season.
Etienne spent the 2025 campaign with the Jacksonville Jaguars, who ranked in the top eight in under-center use rate, and he sees a lot of similarities with what the Saints want to do this year.
“I feel like (Jaguars coach Liam) Coen was a lot under center, and I feel like coach Moore is doing a lot more under center this year,” Etienne said. “From that standpoint, the motions, disguising things on offense, presenting to the defense a different look but running the same plays, making the defense’s eyes lie to them — I feel like coach (Moore) does a great job of disguising things and scheming guys open.”
It’s important to note that under center does not necessarily mean running with the football. Thomas noted the league trend toward using under-center plays to create advantages in the passing game, something the Saints may also try to lean into with heavier personnel packages this season.
And Etienne should play a part in that, as well.
“I told him this when he got here: Where I felt his game improved … is the stuff that goes unnoticed in pass protection, being an outlet out of the backfield,” Thomas said. “That started to arise last year, and he’s just built on that since he’s been here.”