Jaguars Should Prioritize Extension With TE Evan Engram

The Jacksonville Jaguars had a great 2022 season. After some bumps in the road in the early going, they ended up winning six out of their last seven games to steal the AFC South away from the Tennessee Titans, who finished the season on a seven-game losing streak. 

A big reason that the Jaguars were able to turn things around was the performance of quarterback, Trevor Lawrence. Lawrence looked like the franchise quarterback Jacksonville thought they were getting when they used the No. 1 overall pick on him in the 2021 NFL Draft. Free of Urban Meyer, he began to take off.

Another thing that helped Lawrence in Year 2 was the upgrade in the supporting cast around him. The Jaguars spent a lot of money in the offseason to bring in some talented pass catchers. One of those players was tight end, Evan Engram.

Engram was a first-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft by the New York Giants and was an enigma throughout his five seasons there. He possessed tantalizing potential with his elite athleticism for the position but he was unable to put it all together. With Jacksonville, something clicked as he put together a career year.

Engram was the player that Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report selected as the one the Jaguars needed to reach an extension with before the season and it is hard to argue against that choice. The Ole Miss product is an integral part of the team’s offense and someone that Lawrence has built a strong rapport with.

For only the second time in his career, Engram played in every game. He caught 73 passes for 766 yards and four touchdowns as one of Lawrence’s favorite targets. The Jaguars placed the franchise tag on him earlier this offseason so that he didn’t reach the open market and now it is time to work out a long-term deal with him.

“We’re trending in that direction but we’re not there yet,” general manager Trent Baalke said, per NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport.

July 17th is the deadline for franchise-tagged players to agree to an extension and the Jaguars should do everything in their power to get a deal done before then. The team did use a second-round pick on Penn State tight end Brenton Strange in the 2023 NFL Draft, but that shouldn’t deter them from working out a deal with Engram.

Plenty of offenses have thrived with multiple-tight end sets and Engram does his best work as a receiver. With Calvin Ridley joining the lineup this season, Engram’s targets could take a little bit of a hit, but he will draw even less attention from opposing defenses with another excellent pass catcher being in the mix.