The Giants’ one-time draft pick beat Monday’s deadline and signed a big-money extension to avoid the franchise tag.
No, not Saquon Barkley, who is still stuck at an impasse in negotiations with the Giants.
Tight end Evan Engram and the Jacksonville Jaguars agreed Sunday to a three-year, $41.25 million contract extension that includes $24 million guaranteed, according to reports.
Engram is set to play under the franchise’s $11.345 million mark in 2023, but the new deal provides him with a raise that will essentially pay him about $30 million over two years, per NFL Network.
It is the largest contract of Engram’s career and a bonus for his first season with the Jaguars.
He earned $16.7 million over five seasons with the Giants, who used their 2017 first-round pick on him.
Engram joined the Jaguars on a one-year, $9.2 million contract and then racked up career highs of 73 catches and 766 yards.
He reduced the drops and eliminated the injuries that plagued his checkered career with the Giants.
Engram’s new contract leaves just three players on the franchise tag: Barkley and fellow linebackers Josh Jacobs (Raiders) and Tony Pollard (Cowboys).
The current positions of Barkley and Ingram ironically highlight a problem in NFL negotiations these days.
Over their four seasons as teammates (2018-21), the Giants have kicked Barkley for 849 touches to Engram’s 211 and Barkley scored 27 touchdowns to Engram’s 11, but Engram is making the kind of money Barkley would like and can’t seem to pressure him. of the Giants simply because Engram plays tight end rather than a running back.
The market for running backs has plummeted, as highlighted recently by Joe Mixon of the Bengals taking a pay cut.
The franchised players have until 4 p.m. on Monday to negotiate a long-term extension.
Once the deadline is up, they must either play the card ($10.1 million for the running backs) or sit out the season.
The extension means that Ingram’s average annual wage ($13.75 million) will rank sixth among tight ends, behind Giants’ Darren Waller, 49ers’ George Kittle, Travis Kelsey’s Travis Kelsey, Eagles’ Dallas Goedert and Mark Andrews of the Ravens.
Ingram responded to the signature by posting a photo of himself looking at a crowd of Jaguar fans and captioned it “I’m home” with a folded hands emoji to show gratitude.
Barkley responded with “Congratulations Broda keep going” as well as crossing fingers and a black heart emoji.
