The Jacksonville Jaguars sent wideout Christian Kirk packing Thursday, trading the wideout to the Houston Texans for a seventh-round draft pick. Then, in a surprise move, Jacksonville continued cleaning house by releasing tight end Evan Engram.
While the decision to cut the two-time Pro Bowler caught many NFL fans off guard, Engram appears to be embracing the change.
“It’s all love Jax. But they just let a mf dog loose! Excited for what’s next! #BeEazy,” Engram wrote on his official X account.
Engram was entering the final, non-guaranteed year of the three-year, $41.25 million deal he signed with the team prior to the 2023 season. He was set to make $14.75 million in 2025. Instead, the Jaguars will knock about $6 million off the salary cap.
The Jaguars unleashed Evan Engram
Engram was selected 23rd overall by the New York Giants in the 2017 draft. After a disappointing tenure in New York, he landed in Jacksonville as a free agent. Engram blossomed into a reliable pass catcher for the Jaguars with 73 receptions for 766 yards in 2022 and 114 catches for 963 yards in 2023.
Unfortunately, the 30-year-old veteran couldn’t stay on the field last season as he struggled with multiple injuries. After playing all 17 games in each of his first two seasons in Jacksonville, Engram managed just nine appearances in 2024, ending the season with 47 receptions for 365 yards and one touchdown.
The Jaguars are having themselves a memorable offseason. First the team waited far too long to fire GM Trent Baalke, which almost cost them their top coaching choice. Then they finally fired Baalke and hired head coach Liam Coen out from under the Buccaneers, who thought he’d be back as the highest-paid offensive coordinator in football.
Next, Jacksonville hired the youngest GM in the NFL, 34-year-old James Gladstone (who seems to be shadowbanned by Wikipedia for some reason). Gladstone has taken a scalpel – or maybe a hatchet – to the Jaguars’ roster, cutting Engram, Devin Duvernay, Josh Reynolds and Ronald Darby in addition to moving on from Kirk, per ProFootballTalk.
While some of these moves appear to be counterintuitive to surrounding potential franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence with talent, the Jaguars did manage to hit on 2024 first-round wideout Brian Thomas Jr., who exploded on the scene in his rookie year with 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns.
As for Engram, it’s possible the team simply believes 2023 second-round pick Brenton Strange is ready to take over as Jacksonville’s top tight end. He’s certainly the cheaper option of the two. And he had a reasonably successful sophomore season with 40 receptions for 411 yards and two scores.
It can honestly be difficult to tell when things are going well or badly in dooo-Vhaaaal. But the bottom line is, Coen and Gladstone let Engram off his leash and, as you’d expect from a “mf dog,” he’s excited.
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