The Jacksonville Jaguars used the franchise tag to keep tight end Evan Engram, but the position is still lacking after the team allowed both Chris Manhertz and Dan Arnold to reach free agency.
The only tight ends on the roster other than Engram are Luke Farrell, who has 11 receptions through two NFL seasons, and Gerrit Prince, an undrafted addition who never saw the field as a rookie in 2022.
Despite the lackluster depth behind Engram, Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke isn’t too worried about the state of the tight end position in Jacksonville.
“We’re going to look to build that room and get as strong as we can,” Baalke said of the team’s tight ends Thursday. “We don’t feel that it’s an absolute necessity to add to that room, but if there’s an opportunity to add to it, we will.”
Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer and Utah’s Dalton Kincaid have often been paired with the Jaguars in mock drafts; however, the team hasn’t done much to spend time with tight ends in the lead up to the draft.
On Thursday, Baalke told reporters that talks on a multi-year extension with Engram are trending in the right direction. Hammering out a deal with the former first-round pick would provide the Jaguars with some security at tight end, but coach Doug Pederson says that could also come from the other two on the roster.
“I’ve always tried to make our tight end room the best we can, whether we do it through the draft or free agency or trade of something of that nature,” Pederson said. “We still feel like Evan [Engram], Luke [Farrell], and Gerrit [Prince] right now, the three we have, we know we’ll bring guys in for camp and compete there. That’s a strong room.
“Yeah, there’s two young players there, but we’ve got a lot of high expectations for those players as well and they know that.”
The Jaguars haven’t drafted a tight end in the first two rounds since picking Marcedes Lewis with the 28th overall selection in 2006.
