Jacksonville Jaguars TE Evan Engram officially gets the franchise tag: 3 takeaways

1. The Jacksonville Jaguars won’t make meaningful signings in free agency

Not only does using the franchise tag on Evan Engram mean that they’ll probably let Jawaan Taylor walk but also that they won’t make any big additions in this year’s free agency. Taylor and Engram were their top 2 pending free agents and they had to basically pick one or another due to their dearth of cap space.

But Engram and Taylor weren’t the only Jaguars players scheduled to become free agents. Other key contributors from last season are also set to hit the open market, among them are tight end Chris Manhertz, defensive end Arden Key, and outside linebacker Dawuane Smoot. After applying the tag on Engram, it will be interesting to see who else they’ll try to keep.

Manhertz won’t command a top-market contract but Key is coming off his second productive year in a row and even though he didn’t have a featured role, he was integral in the team’s pass-rush rotation. The former LSU Tiger will probably have a robust market in free agency.

Smoot tore his Achilles near the end of the 2022 season, which might decrease the demand for his services in the open market. However, teams in need of pass-rush help won’t hesitate to make him a competitive offer.

Keep in mind those are the Jaguars’ own free agents. If keeping them all seems like a tall order, imagine pursuing someone like safety Jessie Bates or cornerback James Bradberry in the open market. While it’s great to hear that players from other clubs want to join the Jaguars, something unimaginable just a few years ago, they don’t have the cap space to sign them all.

The silver lining is that Evan Engram isn’t going anywhere and the Jaguars should pick up where they left off last year. Maybe they’ll beat the Kansas City Chiefs this time around and get to the Super Bowl in 53, who knows? Anything seems possible after seeing everything the Jaguars have done over the last calendar year.