Two hours after Evan Engram found out he’d been cut by Jacksonville in March 2025, his phone buzzed.
A text message from his old New York Giants teammate, Davis Webb, popped up.
“You like the mountains?”
It was the start of what became a fairly brief free-agency recruitment, but one in which Engram took visits to both Denver and the division-rival Los Angeles Chargers.
He liked the role the Broncos had in mind for him. He really liked that Webb was on Sean Payton’s staff.
“He was probably the No. 1 reason,” Engram said, for picking the Broncos over the Chargers. “Just knowing his influence on play-calls and his relationship with Sean. The team as well, too. The team was ready to turn the corner. They were looking for a couple more pieces, so it was the right time and the right place after getting cut from Jacksonville and needing more of a ‘move’ tight end.”
Year 1 was a success in many ways. The Broncos went 14-3, won a playoff game and nearly made the Super Bowl. Engram made several big plays along the way. But overall, his impact felt somewhat muted. He finished with 50 catches for 461 yards and a touchdown — the best statistical season by a Broncos tight end in several years — but it was well below what many expected from Engram and well short of what he’s become accustomed to in his now decade-long career.
There was natural wonder whether the Broncos would cut Engram or try to force him to take a pay cut. Neither ended up happening.
“Once the season’s done, I do some reflection things that are in my control and the way I played and the opportunities that I had,” Engram said. “I felt like there were things that definitely I can improve on, there were things I did really well and then the season’s over. I go into family time, unplugging, go on vacation. Kind of reset and recharge.
“I had a conversation with my agent and we were like, ‘We’re just going to show up wherever they ask us to show up.’”
Along the way this spring, Webb became the Broncos’ offensive coordinator and play-caller. Payton thinks it will benefit the entire offense.
Engram is a candidate to be near the top of that list, and not just because he and Webb are friends and former teammates.
“One of the most impressive things is he’s really just kind of built something for everybody,” Engram said. “Everybody’s got plays. Anytime anybody is getting the ball, itap an explosive. You look at Pat Bryant and the camp he’s having. Courtland (Sutton), he’s balling as usual. Troy Franklin’s flying all over the field. The running backs are getting active. Tight ends are making plays.
“So, thatap probably been the most impressive thing. He’s utilizing all his weapons and I think thatap going to allow us to be more dangerous when the live bullets come.”
Quarterback Bo Nix said last week the team had been using Engram in a wider variety of ways, including more frequently in the formation as a run blocker rather than just as basically a big slot receiver.
“Last year we used him a little bit more as a vertical pass threat, but I think him getting in the box and blocking is going to open more things up,” Nix said. … “He’s willing and able and I think thatap part of his game that he’s going to really be able to show off this year and not be on and off the field.”
Engram showed it Friday night in Atlanta and said being in the mix “settles me into the game.”
In the first quarter, he motioned across to Jarrett Stidham’s left and settled off the line of scrimmage, but essentially in-line between left tackle Garett Bolles and tight end Adam Trautman. Engram and Bolles combination blocked defensive lineman Zach Harrison, but Bolles quickly climbed to a linebacker. Engram kept Harrison locked up and helped spring Jonah Coleman for a 13-yard gain.
“That was a credit to our coaches, Zach Strief and Austin King,” Engram said. “We literally worked that drill a good amount last week, it happened in the game and we executed it. It was nice.”
Engram said he made a point this offseason of wanting to prove that he could be a consistent contributor in the run game. He believes that for tight ends, “the more you can do in the run game, the better the passing game is going to be.”
One of the recurring themes of this offseason, though, has been that Denver needs a commitment to the run game. Engram thinks Webb is primed to deliver on that need, even though when the two were rookies together in 2017 — Engram a first-round pick of the Giants and Webb a third-rounder — Engram said the quarterback “was a gunslinger. He was trying to throw that (thing). He has that mentality of, when itap time to go, he’s going to let it fly.”
When Engram arrived in Denver, he saw another side of the then-quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator.
“I remember when I first got here, I was hanging out in his office and thatap what it was, learning the run game and diving into different schemes and being able to implement that whenever he was going to be able to call plays,” Engram said. “He turns over every stone in his preparation.”
It all has Engram in the mindset that his 10th season can be a good one. Better than his ninth.
“Itap on an even bigger scale than just the offense,” he said. “You know the standard, you’re in the culture, you get to know the guys a lot more. Obviously, Davis, there’s some different things in the offense, but itap still the same family, still the same background in terms of the style we’re going to play.
“I’m definitely way more confident. Breaking the huddle a little bit more confident. Playing a lot faster.”
