The Jacksonville Jaguars raised eyebrows when they moved on from Evan Engram and Christian Kirk. After all, both of them had been long-time stables on offense, and their departure left a couple of roster holes to fill. That said, the Jags have a plan, and new general manager James Gladstone recently explained why neither veteran was part of it.
Gladstone met with the local media after the first wave of free agency and explained the decision to part ways with Kirk and Engram, pointing out that both are great players but the team needed flexibility to bolster the roster.
"[I] really have so much respect for the people and the players that both Christian and Evan are, right? And they meant a lot to the locker room," Gladstone said. "And you know, we'll continue to bring those types of people and players into our ecosystem, but we needed a little bit more flexibility to address the larger scale roster after some departures across the OL as well. So that was a big part in that."
Gladstone continued, "But we do feel like we're in a better position today than we were a couple of weeks ago to make it so that when we enter each decision at each pick point in April, that we can continue to level up from a personnel perspective."
Kirk and Engram joined the Jags in 2022. Right off the bat, they had an immediate impact and set personal bests along the way. However, the Jags didn't get much production from either last year.
Engram had a career year and broke many team records in 2023. However, he dealt with injuries last year. Brenton Strange filled in for him and the offense didn't miss a beat. Add the fact that his release created $5.9 million in space, and it's easy to understand why the team's brass moved on from him.
On the other hand, Kirk had become one of Trevor Lawrence's most trusted targets but had suffered season-ending injuries in consecutive years. His lack of availability, along with Parker Washington's ascension, made him expendable.
Below is Gladstone's exchange with the local media. His remarks about Engram and Kirk start at the 3:10 mark.
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Why the Jaguars are better off without Christian Kirk and Evan Engram
The Jacksonville Jaguars freed up a bit over $16 million after releasing Evan Engram and trading Christian Kirk. They use some of those funds to sign Patrick Mekari and Robert Hainsey. While neither was cost-prohibitive, the team's brass was able to sign them because of the extra cap they got when they moved on from Engram and Kirk. All things considered, it's a good trade-off.
After all, the Jaguars were able to beef up the offensive line and sign Dyami Brown in free agency. On top of that, they have in-house replacements for both Kirk and Engram ready to go. Sure, both of them will be missed both off and on the field, but neither fits the team's vision and scheme, so it wouldn't be shocking to see the offense get better without them next season.
The bottom line is that it stings to move on from Christian Kirk and Evan Engram, but keeping them around would've hampered the team's rebuilding efforts.