Star running back's days in Jacksonville may be over soon

The Jacksonville Jaguars may move the team's number one running back if the team falls out of contention at season's end, or when the trade deadline rolls around in November.

First-round pick Travis Etienne is off to another hot start for the Jaguars. He currently sits second in the NFL in rushing yards at 214. He is playing out his fifth-year option for the team from his rookie contract and has not yet signed beyond that. In this year's NFL draft, the Jags took two running backs. Bhayshul Tuten out of Virginia Tech in the fourth round, and then selected LeQuint Allen Jr., a passing-down back in the seventh round.

Jacksonville has already traded Tank Bigsby to the Philadelphia Eagles. Whether or not the Jags are setting themselves up to make a playoff run may determine whether the team would like to keep Etienne Jr. or not. His salary sits at $6.1 million, and should be an easy transaction. Although unlikely because Etienne has played in all but two games during his career with Jacksonville, and has almost 3,000 yards rushing in that time. But we have seen running backs traded in their primes in the past when the running back room itself becomes crowded.

He would be a great pickup for a team needing a starter who puts up pretty decent numbers and can catch out of the backfield as a weapon as well. He put up over 1,000 yards rushing in his first two years, but only accumulated 558 last year. He is definitely a player to keep an eye on if the season starts to go south (No pun intended).

This article originally appeared on Touchdown Wire: Star running back's days in Jacksonville may be over soon