Source: Jaguars to release two-time Pro Bowl TE Evan Engram
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 in salary cap space.
The decision comes on the same day the team agreed to trade wide 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 over the past three seasons.
The Jaguars also are moving on from receiver/returner Devin Duvernay, receiver Josh Reynolds, and cornerback Ronald Darby, per a league source. Releasing Engram, Duvernay, Reynolds, and Darby will save the Jaguars a combined $13 million against the salary cap.
After the trade of Kirk, Engram would have had the highest salary cap figure on the roster ($19.75 million) in 2025. He was set 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 in 2023.
Engram, 30, 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.
But he sat out eight games last season because of hamstring and shoulder injuries, and finished with 47 catches for 365 yards in nine games.
Engram was drafted No. 23 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 Murtagh (from the NFL International Player Pathway Program). Strange (45 catches for 466 yards and 3 TDs) is the only one with a catch in the NFL.
Bobby Wagner strips the ball from Rico Dowdle to give the Commanders the ball. (0:31)
Linebacker Bobby Wagner, a 10-time Pro Bowl selection, is returning to the Washington Commanders on a one-year deal for $8 million guaranteed, sources told ESPN on Thursday.
The deal could be worth up to $9.5 million, sources told ESPN.
In 2024, Wagner was named second-team All-Pro — the 11th time in his career he made an All-Pro team — and was again voted to the Pro Bowl. He also recorded 100 or more tackles for a 13th consecutive season, tying former Washington linebacker London Fletcher for the second-longest streak in NFL history.
Wagner, 34, finished with a team-high 132 tackles and two sacks, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. He became a key leader for Washington, which went 12-5 and reached the NFC Championship Game.
Wagner, a second-round pick by the Seattle Seahawks in 2012, spent his first 10 seasons with Seattle, where he won a Super Bowl and also was voted to eight Pro Bowls and named to 10 All-Pro teams, including six on the first team.
He spent the 2022 season with the Los Angeles Rams before returning to Seattle in 2023. In Washington, he reunited with two of his former coaches from Seattle — Dan Quinn and Ken Norton Jr.
In 13 seasons, Wagner has 1,838 tackles, 35 sacks, 102 quarterback hits and 13 interceptions.
Field Yates breaks down some of the notable selections from his Mock Draft 3.0, including Travis Hunter, Abdul Carter and Cam Ward. (1:45)
The Browns have once again restructured quarterback Deshaun Watson’s contract, a source told ESPN’s Field Yates, clearing nearly $36 million in salary cap space that will make Cleveland cap compliant ahead of the new league year.
Before the restructuring of Watson’s deal Thursday morning, the Browns were about $22 million over the cap.
Watson, 29, has two years remaining on the five-year, fully guaranteed $230 million contract he signed in March 2022 and is owed $46 million in each of the next two seasons. He has been rehabbing at the Browns’ practice facility in Berea, Ohio, after re-tearing his right Achilles tendon three months after the initial injury in October.
Browns general manager Andrew Berry said last month at the NFL scouting combine that the team’s focus for Watson is “making sure that he gets healthy” and emphasized that “there’s nothing nefarious — it’s just an unfortunate accident.”
While the Browns still owe Watson $92 million, Berry has been adamant that the deal would not prevent the organization from being active in free agency, where they are expected to sign a veteran quarterback.
Berry added at the combine that the Browns’ cap and cash situation will “not be prohibitive for us to do things if the opportunity presents itself.” On multiple occasions, the Browns have executed a restructure of Watson’s contract, converting his salary to a signing bonus that can be spread out over five years to clear immediate cap space.
The Browns expect Watson to miss significant time in the 2025 season as he rehabs the lower leg injury. Because of suspension and injuries, Watson has played in just 19 games since the Browns traded three first-round draft picks to acquire him from the Houston Texans. Watson posted the lowest Total QBR in the NFL before his season-ending injury.
Cleveland also is expected to receive some cap relief via its insurance policy on Watson’s contract after he missed 10 games in the 2024 season.
The Browns have the second overall pick in this year’s draft, and there is growing speculation that they will target a quarterback with their first selection. Cleveland is hosting top prospects Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders, among others, on top-30 visits this week.
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Jaguars release Pro Bowl tight end Evan Engram; cap cuts continue: reports
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Cutting costs was a theme for the Jacksonville Jaguars Thursday, and Pro Bowl tight end Evan Engram became a cap casualty, according to multiple reports.
Earlier in the day, Christian Kirk, the veteran wide receiver who was going to be released anyway, was traded to the Houston Texans in exchange for a 2026 seventh-round pick, according to The Athletic.
Kirk carried the team’s heftiest cap hit at $24.1 million, and the team is scheduled to save just over $10 million by getting him off the books, according to Over The Cap.
Engram was the second-biggest cap hit for Jacksonville for the 2025 season at $19.49 million, per Over the Cap. By releasing him, the Jags are absorbing $13.5 million in dead cap money and saving just under $6 million.
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Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Evan Engram (17) makes a catch against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. (Eric Hartline/Imagn Images)
Jacksonville’s new GM, James Gladstone, who was hired Feb. 21, is showcasing his immediate plan to create cap space for free agent moves, while keeping his 2025 NFL Draft class in mind.
The move for Kirk makes sense considering the Jags still have wide receivers Brian Thomas Jr., Gabe Davis and Parker Washington. Kirk, a seven-year veteran, also has an injury history.
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However, Engram had a breakout season in 2023, his second Pro Bowl year, with 114 catches for 963 yards and four touchdowns.
Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Evan Engram catches a pass before a game Oct. 27, 2024, at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. (Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union)
But Engram also dealt with injuries in 2024, tearing a labrum that required mid-December surgery. He also sat out Weeks 2-5 with a hamstring injury, limiting him to nine games.
Engram finished the year with 47 receptions for 365 yards and one touchdown.
The 30-year-old was a first-round pick by the New York Giants in 2017 out of Ole Miss, and he had an up-and-down career in five seasons before signing with the Jaguars.
Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Evan Engram against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. (Eric Hartline/Imagn Images)
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Now a free agent, Engram will be searching for a tight end-needy squad — the Los Angeles Chargers, Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos could be looking in that department — while the Jaguars will head into next season with Brenton Strange, Shawn Bowman and Patrick Murtagh on the depth chart.
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Scott Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.
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Jacksonville traded WR Christian Kirk to the Houston Texans earlier
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Jaguars to cut TE Evan Engram, WR Josh Reynolds, WR Devin Duvernay, CB Ronald Darby
The Jaguars are releasing four players after trading wide receiver Christian Kirk earlier Thursday, as they continue to clear cap space.
The team will cut wide receiver Devin Duvernay and cornerback Ronald Darby, NFL Media reports. Michael DiRocco of ESPN reports that tight end Evan Engram also is on his way out, and Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports adds wide receiver Josh Reynolds to the list of released players.
Duvernay’s release will save the Jaguars $2.732 million in cap space, and Engram’s departure clears $6.04 million. The Jaguars will free up another $2.44 million with Darby’s release and $4.26 million with Reynolds’ release.
Engram signed a three-year, $41.25 million contract with the team in July 2023, and Duvernay got a two-year contract last March with an $8.5 million base and a $12.5 million max value. Darby joined the Jaguars last March on two-year deal worth up to $10 million, and Jacksonville claimed Reynolds off waivers last season, taking on the two-year, $9 million deal he signed with the Broncos.
Engram caught 47 passes for 365 yards and a touchdown last season, his third in Jacksonville. Duvernay caught 11passes for 79 yards and averaged 25.1 yards on 14 kickoff returns and 8.8 yards on 19 punt returns. Reynolds made one reception for 11 yards in four games. Darby started 12 games and totaled 46 tackles, three tackles for loss and nine pass breakups.
The Jaguars, who sent Kirk to the Texans for a 2026 seventh-round pick, might not be done, either.
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