Ranking the top Jaguars players set to become free agents in 2024 by importance

Ranking No. 3 Jaguars player set to become a free agent in 2024: Evan Engram, TE

By his own admission, tight end Evan Engram had the best time of his life as a member of the Jaguars last year. A first-round pick in 2017, the former Ole Miss had five good yet unremarkable seasons with the New York Giants. Heck, he made the Pro Bowl in 2020 but his tenure in the Big Apple was also marred with drops and mental errors.

Even though Engram was able to cut down on his number of drops in his last season with New York, it wasn't until he signed with Jacksonville that he put it all together. In addition to setting career highs for receptions and yards, the Georgia native also broke several franchise records, many of them held by Kyle Brady, who last played for the Jags in 2006.

Near the end of the 2022 season, Engram said that he was open to returning to Jacksonville, noting that he had grown a lot. On the other hand, he also made it clear he wanted to get a long-term deal and believed the feeling was mutual. In the end, they couldn't strike a deal before the start of free agency and the Jags decided to apply the franchise tag on Engram.

While the Jags and Engram still have a couple weeks left to get a deal done — the deadline is on July 17 — there's a good chance he'll play the 2023 season on the tag. Working against Engram is that the tight-end market was devalued this year, with Dalton Schultz and Mike Gesicki getting a one-year deal each.

Engram is set to make a reasonable $11.35 million next season but if he has another banner year, his salary demands might get out of the Jaguars' spending budget, so he might decide to hit the open market in order to get the long-term deal he's been seeking over the last few months.