{"id":155438,"date":"2026-02-14T12:22:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T12:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/155438\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T12:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T12:22:14","slug":"jags-not-expected-to-tag-travis-etienne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/155438\/","title":{"rendered":"Jags Not Expected To Tag Travis Etienne"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Jaguars are not expected to place the franchise tag on running back <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/E\/EtieTr00.htm?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.profootballrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-02-13_pfr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Travis Etienne<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nfl\/news\/2026-nfl-franchise-tag-candidates-primer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">per CBS Sports\u2019 Jonathan Jones<\/a>, positioning the former first-round pick to hit free agency in March.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cdn.profootballrumors.com\/files\/2026\/02\/USATSI_27824041.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-393597 size-medium\" style=\"border: 2px solid #000000;margin: 15px\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/USATSI_27824041-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\"  \/><\/a>Etienne, 27, has been Jacksonville\u2019s starting running back for the past four years and just finished a resurgent season following a disappointing 2024 campaign. He ranked 11th in the NFL with 1,107 rushing yards, 17th with 1,399 yards from scrimmage, and 10th with 13 rushing and receiving touchdowns. Etienne also registered the 14th-most missed tackles forced (46) and 10th-most yards after contact (831), per Pro Football Focus (<a href=\"https:\/\/premium.pff.com\/nfl\/positions\/2025\/REGPO\/rushing?position=HB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">subscription required<\/a>), who also gave him strong grades as a pass blocker.<\/p>\n<p>Those are strong numbers, but they do not justify a franchise tag projected to be $14.5MM (<a href=\"https:\/\/overthecap.com\/franchise-transition-and-rfa-tenders\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">via OverTheCap<\/a>), which would be the third-highest APY among NFL running backs. A transition tag at $11.7MM is more reasonable, but it will be difficult for the cap-strapped Jaguars to carry that number into free agency. It would also set a high floor on a potential extension.<\/p>\n<p>The Jaguars also have 2025 draftees <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/T\/TuteBh00.htm?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.profootballrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-02-13_pfr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Bhayshul Tuten<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/A\/AlleLe01.htm?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.profootballrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-02-13_pfr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">LeQuint Allen<\/a> on the roster, though neither had a major role as rookies. Instead of pursuing a more expensive Etienne extension, the team could opt for a cheaper veteran to add to their young backfield. This year\u2019s draft class is less strong at the position.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BY9nsXFtuUY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Etienne said<\/a> immediately after Jacksonville\u2019s season ended that he was not focused on his contract situation. He later told reporters (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/91dVFQ-q6Fc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">via NFLonFOX<\/a>) that he did not intend to sign with a cold-weather team. That would seem to rule out several teams, though Etienne could always change his mind once the contract offers hit the table.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Jaguars are not expected to place the franchise tag on running back Travis Etienne, per CBS Sports\u2019&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155439,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,121,117,10871],"class_list":{"0":"post-155438","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-jacksonville","9":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","10":"tag-jacksonville-jaguars","11":"tag-jacksonville-news","12":"tag-travis-etienne"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155438\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}