JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jaguars plan to release tight end Evan Engram, per a league source, in a move that will save the team $5.98 million against the salary cap.
The move comes on the same day the team agreed to trade receiver Christian Kirk to the Houston Texans for a 2026 seventh-round pick, and it leaves the Jaguars without two of quarterback Trevor Lawrence's top pass catchers from the past three seasons.
After the trade of Kirk, Engram would have had the highest salary cap figure on the roster ($19.75 million) in 2025. He was scheduled to earn $14.75 million, which would have been the final year of a three-year, $41.25 million contract with $25.5 million guaranteed he signed just before training camp began in 2023.
Engram signed a one-year, $9 million contract in March 2022 and went on to set career highs in catches (73) and receiving yards (766) that season. The Jaguars used the franchise tag on him but worked out a deal before camp and Engram caught 114 passes (the second-most in franchise history and second-most by a tight end in NFL history) for 963 yards and four touchdowns in the first year of his new deal.
However, he missed eight games last season because of hamstring and shoulder injuries and finished with 47 catches for 365 yards in nine games last season.
Engram was drafted 23rd overall by the New York Giants in 2017 and had 262 receptions for 2,828 yards and 16 touchdowns in five seasons before signing with the Jaguars.
He has been selected to two Pro Bowls in his career.
Releasing Engram leaves the Jaguars with three tight ends under contract for 2025: Brenton Strange (the team's second-round pick in 2023), Shawn Bowman, and Patrick Murtaugh (an International Pathway Program player). Strange (45 catches for 466 yards and 3 TDs) is the only one with a catch in the NFL.
