This has been a great day to be a fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Less than an hour after the league announced that they’d lifted wide receiver Calvin Ridley’s suspension for gambling on football games, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media broke the news that the Jags had officially applied the franchise tag on tight end Evan Engram, effectively keeping him from becoming a free agent. Jacksonville later confirmed Rapoport’s report on social media and the team’s official website. But as great as this news was, they weren’t of the earth-shattering variety.
After all, Rapoport himself reported last week that Jacksonville was expected to use the tag on Engram, so making the official announcement was pretty much a formality. Then again, it looked like the Jaguars and Engram were close to striking a deal just a few days ago. If they tagged him, it was probably because they couldn’t agree on the terms of a potential multi-year contract.
Keep in mind that both parties want to get a long-term deal done and can continue to exchange offers until July 15. After that day, they won’t be able to engage in any more conversation and Engram will play the 2023 season under the franchise tag, which will pay him $11.35 million guaranteed as soon as he signs it. So what does this mean for the Jaguars and the former Ole Miss Rebel?
Here are three takeaways from the Jaguars’ decision to apply the franchise tag on Engram.
3. The Jaguars won’t be drafting a tight end early in the 2023 NFL Draft
Technically, the Jaguars could pursue Dalton Kincaid, Michael Mayer, or Luke Musgrave, the best three tight end prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft. Head coach Doug Pederson would surely like to deploy Engram and a rookie tight end the way he used Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert during his stint with the Philadelphia Eagles.
However, the Jags have other needs, and using a first or second-round selection on a tight end seems like an unnecessary luxury. Instead, look for teams’ brass to fortify their defense with their first two selections.
2. Jacksonville Jaguars letting RT Jawaan Taylor in free agency seems inevitable
Following the news that Evan Engram will get the franchise tag, right tackle Jawaan Taylor’s fate in Jacksonville seems pretty much sealed. Just recently, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reported that Taylor was expected to have a massive market in free agency and added that other clubs were willing to pay him an annual salary of $17 million. The Jaguars can’t fit that amount in their budget this year.
After reworking some contracts and re-signing a few players in late February and earlier this month, Jacksonville managed to free up around $15 million in cap space. But as the old adage says, easy comes, easy goes.
The Jaguars will earmark $11.35 million to pay Engram on top of accounting for Calvin Ridley’s contract, which didn’t count against the cap while he was suspended. The team’s brass will now need to keep making space to sign their 2023 rookie class, which will account for around $10 million.
This means that it will be virtually impossible for the Jaguars to make a competitive offer to Taylor. Mia O’Brien of 1010 XL had previously reported that they had left an offer on the table but they were “ok” with the former Florida Gator becoming a free agent. Keep in mind that this isn’t anything unexpected. The Jaguars’ brass had outlined an offseason blueprint and had braced themselves for the possibility of Taylor leaving. While they would like to keep him, the math doesn’t add up.
One thing that could lessen the impact of Taylor’s departure is that Walker Little seems to be ready to step into a starting role, which is why Jacksonville most likely prioritized keeping Evan Engram.
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.