The New Orleans Saints finally managed to snag one of the top free agents: Travis Etienne. First reported by NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the former Jacksonville Jaguar is expected to sign with his home state team.
The Jennings, La., native agreed to a contract worth $52 million over the next four years from the Saints. Averaging $13 million a season, Etienne is getting nearly as much as Kenneth Walker III is getting from his new team. It should be worth it though, if Etienne's multiple 1,000 yard rushing seasons have anything to say about it.
Etienne is a player who has been rumored to join the Saints for a few weeks now. His departure from Jacksonville was also bound to happen, per to Jaguars senior writer John Oehser. "The reality was the Jaguars had a certain number for Etienne's contract above which they didn't feel they could go," Oehser said. "Etienne's reported four-year, $52 million deal with the Saints was such that his departure was pretty much inevitable.
Travis Etienne keeps the Saints from drafting Jeremiyah Love
There's one thing that the Travis Etienne signing will prevent: drafting Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love. The Saints are expected to pay Etienne $13 million a year, and for that kind of money, you'd probably want him to be the man for the offense. That number is just too high for the team to then turn around and draft another halfback a month and a half later.
Another thing is that if New Orleans were to draft Love with the eighth pick, he'd likely expect and might even deserve to be the top dog. However, with Etienne and Alvin Kamara in the room, Love would just make the running back room too crowded.
It would be a slight waste of resources. Yes, Love was a Heisman finalist last year, and running back was a needed upgrade, but the upgrade has already been done due to the signing of Etienne. The Saints could either invest highly at running back in the draft or free agency, not both. If they wanted to further invest in the position it would have to be later in the draft. Fact of the matter is, drafting a running back in round one would just be redundant.