Jaguars Start Voluntary Offseason Program Without TE Evan Engram

The veteran tight end has not yet signed his franchise tag tender and is not contractually obligated to attend the voluntary workouts.

The Jacksonville Jaguars' voluntary offseason program kicked off on Monday, but tight end Evan Engram is not yet one of the veterans attending. 

According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, Engram and Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs will join Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley as franchise-tagged players who will not be at voluntary workouts.

#Raiders RB Josh Jacobs and #Jaguars TE Evan Engram haven’t signed their franchise tenders and won’t report for voluntary offseason programs today, per sources.

They join Lamar Jackson and Saquon Barkley as franchise players expected to be absent as players return to work today.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 17, 2023

Teams and franchise players can sign multi-year extensions until July 17 (the typical deadline is July 15 unless on a weekend; because July 15 is on a Saturday this year, the deadline is the following Monday).

Jacksonville and general manager Trent Baalke have used the franchise tag in each of the last two offseasons, each time placing it on left tackle Cam Robinson. Robinson played the 2021 season on the tag, but he signed a contract extension last April after initially being tagged. This is technically the fourth year in a row the Jaguars have used the tag after they tagged Yannick Ngakoue in 2020.

Engram had a career year in 2022 as he caught 73 passes for 766 yards and four touchdowns, along with 12 catches for 124 yards and a touchdown in two playoff games.

"It's a hypothetical. So it could happen, it could not. But you know, if that happens, I think that'll be a placeholder, you know, to get something done. I think that's just kind of just the way I feel about it," Engram said when asked about the tag in February.

"And if it does come to that, you know, there'll be conversations had with my team and we'll move forward from there, but if that does happen, I'm gonna be blessed either way, and we'll figure something out long- a term that can mean that both sides will be happy with this."

"Lord knows how excited my family and I are to be staying in Jax! Hopefully we can get a long term deal done soon 🙏🏽," Engram tweeted after he was franchise-tagged in March.