With James Gladstone calling the shots, the Jacskonville Jaguars proved that they're not afraid to make a trade if it helps them get better.
Following their Week 2 preseason matchup against the New Orleans Saints, the Jags traded center Luke Fortner to The Big Easy in return for defensive tackle Khalen Saunders. Based on head coach Liam Coen's latest remarks, they may not be done dealing players before cutdown day.
Liam Coen says the Jaguars have a logjam at running back
Following the joint practice with the Miami Dolphins, Liam Coen said that the running back room is still fluid ahead of cutdown day, pointing out that the team is still figuring out the depth chart.
"Yeah, we're still right in the thick of it, honestly," Liam Coen responded when asked how the backfield looks (4:51 mark). "I mean, I think that we've seen great things from all four of those guys, really knowing that it's going to be darn near impossible to have four with a jersey on game day. That's the challenge that we have to work through over the next few weeks."
Coen continued, "Tuten and he did, I thought he had a better day than yesterday at practice. He stepped it up a little bit better today. One in four got some quality work, but they've continued to kind of do the right thing for us. And then, LeQuint in pass protection continues to do a nice job. So we've got some work to do over the next few weeks here before Carolina to figure out who's going to get a jersey, a special teams has a lot to do with that as well."
The Jaguars had Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby last year, but that didn't deter the Jaguars from drafting Bhayshul Tuten and LeQuint Allen in rounds four and seven. Given how stacked the Jags are at the position, they could afford to trade one of them.
The Jaguars may have no room for Travis Etienne in 2025
Travis Etienne became the subject of trade rumors because he's entering a contract year and Tank Bigsby outplayed him in 2024. Couple that with the arrival of Bhaysul Tuten and LeQuint Allen, and it's easy to picture the Jaguars moving on from the 2021 first-round selection.
Granted, Liam Coen already dismissed the speculation surrounding Etienne earlier in the offseason. Moreover, the former Clemson Tiger had a pair of 1,000-yard seasons before 2024, so it's easy to see why Jacksonville would keep him around. Heck, the former Clemson Tiger got the starting nod in each of the first two preseason games despite the fact that Bigsby got more reps in training camp.
The question then becomes if that was just a smokescreen, and the Jags played Etienne to show him to any potential suitors. It wouldn't be too far-fetched to think that was the plan, and Liam Coen's comments suggest that the fifth-year running back could be on the trade block.
After all, Jacksonville has four capable running backs, and it would be easy to keep all of them. But Coen is talking about the challenge of doing so. It shouldn't be, as they could simply make one of them inactive on game day. On the other hand, the Jags could trade Etienne and devote one extra spot to another position.
Sure, losing Etienne would sting, but the Jaguars have Bigsby, Allen Bhayshul Tuten, and undrafted rookie Ja'Quinden Jackson.
Simply put, the Jaguars can trade Travis Etienne, and nobody should bat an eye if they do before Week 1 of the regular season.