Jaguars ‘trending in direction’ of long-term deal with TE Evan Engram

The Jacksonville Jaguars ensured tight end Evan Engram would stay with the team in 2023 by using the franchise tag, but general manager Trent Baalke told reporters Thursday the goal is to keep him much longer than that.

With the July 17 deadline to reach a long-term deal with a franchised player still three months away, Baalke says the Jaguars are making progress on an extension with Engram.

“There’s ups and downs as you go through the process and you’re just trying to come to a common goal to get him signed,” Baalke said of negotiations with Engram. “I think we’re trending that direction, but we’re not there yet. We’re going to continue to work to get him signed to a long-term extension and hopefully we can get that done.”

In the meantime, Engram has opted against showing up for the voluntary portion of the Jaguars’ offseason program, which began earlier this week. The 28-year-old tight end hasn’t signed his franchise tag yet, so he’s not contractually obligated to show up for the mandatory portions either, which will happen in June.

Engram broke franchise records in his first season with the Jaguars, finishing the year with 73 receptions for 766 yards and four touchdowns. He added another 12 receptions for 124 yards and a touchdown in Jacksonville’s two postseason games.

After the season ended, Engram called it the best year of his life and said that he’d view the franchise tag as a “placeholder to get something done” that keeps him tied to the Jaguars for the foreseeable future.