Denver Broncos Have Already Found Evan Engram’s Replacement

Justin Joly Offers the Skill Set Denver Wanted From Evan Engram

The Broncos originally signed Engram before the 2025 season with the expectation that he would become the versatile “Joker” player in Sean Payton’s offense. Instead of just being a typical tight end, Engram was supposed to be moving around the formation and creating mismatches; however, the result didn’t follow.

Engram finished his first season in Denver with 461 yards and one touchdown over 50 receptions. That isn’t bad production, but it is when Engram signed a two-year, $23 million contract.

Now, the emergence of Joly adds pressure to this. Joly is just a rookie on a cheaper deal, and if he impresses in 2026, he could lead Denver to consider not re-signing Engram. At 6’3, 241 pounds, Joly enters the NFL with the ability to play from multiple alignments already and having the ability to create yardage in the middle of the field. 

With the speed and versatility of Joly, it will be hard for Denver to keep him off the field. Slowly but surely, he will start to take snaps away from Engram this season and has a great chance to end up emerging as the TE1 by the end of the year.