Travis Etienne knows his first trip into the Caesars Superdome will be special, but he's not looking that far ahead with the New Orleans Saints in the midst of their first handful of workouts.
Readjusting to the Louisiana heat and humidity, picking up new terminology, diving into a new playbook. All of that comes first.
"I feel like if I could just sim to being there, you know, I would, but unfortunately you have to do a bunch of the grind days," he said this week. "So I feel like right now I’m just focused on the grinding, and I know whenever that moment comes it’s going to be special. I’m just going to try to soak it all in, you know, and just try to live in the moment."
This week that moment included the third and final set of organized team activities for the Louisiana native, who has been in attendance throughout. Run game work has been limited to mostly individual drills and pass game work, but the Saints did turn things up a notch with 11-on-11 drills for the first time earlier this week. That meant a handful of handoffs, with Etienne flashing the explosive speed and ability that drew the Saints attention this offseason, when they signed Etienne to 4-year, $48 million contract.
The Jennings native starred at Clemson in college and played his first four NFL season with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He'll get to see his former team early in the preseason when the Saints hold a joint practice with Jacksonville ahead of the preseason opener. He noted that the transition from Liam Coen's offense to Moore's has been a simple one, with those coaches having similar philosophies on offense.
"I think the cool thing is [Etienne is] a really smart player," Kellen Moore said. "We’ve seen the explosiveness, but because of his smarts and his football IQ I think he’s truly any down, every down, he can play a really valuable role in that situation where you’re not rotating as much, and so I’m excited."
The 2025 season marked a resurgence for Etienne in that area, as he rolled up 26 carries of 10-plus yards. The Saints entire running back stable of Alvin Kamara, Kendre Miller, Devin Neal and Audric Estime combined for 20. Etienne had 7 carries of 20-plus yards, including one for 71. The Saints logged just one such carry from a running back all season, and it was Estime in a Week 17 win over the Titans.
Here’s some action from Saints OTAs today pic.twitter.com/CmAyluLFsX
— Jeff Nowak (@Jeff_Nowak) June 10, 2026
The Saints have clearly emphasized adding bulk on offense this offseason, both at the WR position and with an eye on running more multiple tight end sets. That seems like the right call for a team looking to generate more big plays on the ground, because if you ask Etienne, the secret to finding those explosives lands with the other 10 guys on the field.
“Explosives happen when we have all 11 guys playing as one," he said. "When you have the offensive line on the same page. When you have the receivers blocking downfield. That’s when you have those explosives, so it’s just a total team effort to be able to spring me loose, and just get those extra yards.”
Time will tell whether that plan comes together, and whether Etienne is pulling a bellcow role or finds himself in a tandem with Alvin Kamara. The team has been noncommital throughout the offseason as to how their career rushing leader will be incorporated. Kamara did make a surprise appearance during the second OTA session, but was only in town for one practice. He is expected to be in attendance at next week's minicamp, and Moore said the team is preparing as if he is going to be on the roster. Kamara said last week that the team had yet to approach him about any type of pay cut. The Saints have gone the pay cut route with other veterans in similar situations, including Cam Jordan, Tyrann Mathieu and Demario Davis in recent seasons.
What Kamara did say definitively is that he'd be excited to work in tandem with Etienne, and that sentiment goes both ways.
"I remember Alvin had six touchdowns in one game, you know, that was more touchdowns than I had in one year, so he don’t need no introduction," Etienne said. "When you have a great player like that, you love to have him on your side, and I feel like just for me being me, I feel like whenever I come out of the game, he goes in, keep defenses on their toes, you know, so it’ll be a great 1-2 punch, but it’s a business, so the business side handles the business side. I’ve kind of learned with them, just don’t get my feelings involved.”
