NY Giants coach Joe Judge gave a rousing vote of confidence to Evan Engram Tuesday
The NY Giants fielded calls on Evan Engram prior to last fall’s NFL trade deadline, but it doesn’t sound like the veteran tight end, coming off one of his most disappointing seasons, is going anywhere anytime soon.
During a pre-free agency press conference Tuesday, NY Giants head coach Joe Judge almost out of character when it comes to discussing the future of players on the roster, offered rousing support for Engram.
“I love Evan,” Judge said. “I have a ton of confidence in Evan. He’s fun to coach, the guys have fun playing with him, he gives everyone in the locker room a ton of confidence.”
Engram, set to play under his fifth-year option in 2021, is set to count $6.013 million against the cap when his contract triggers on the first day of the new league year. It isn’t out of the question to think that the NY Giants would consider moving on from Engram, after a season where he made the Pro Bowl for the first time despite catching just one touchdown and being charged with eight drops.
In all likelihood, Engram would once again draw strong interest from teams, given his athleticism and explosiveness in the vertical passing game. However, it doesn’t sound as though the Giants have any interest in trading or releasing Engram this offseason.
"“This guy is a tank every day,” Judge said. “So in terms of confidence within the program, absolutely we have confidence in him, 100 percent. He’s a guy that obviously we have to keep continuing to feature in the offense along with [Tight End] Kaden Smith and Levine and all the other tight ends that will be in our program because these are guys with skillsets and we’ve just got to keep on doing things to use their versatility and skillsets to put them in a position of strength.”"
Finding ways to exploit Engram’s ability to create mismatches and plays in the open-field seems much more realistic than the Giants taking the field without him on the roster next season.
Matt Lombardo is the site expert for GMenHQ, and writes Between The Hash Marks each Wednesday for FanSided. Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattLombardoNFL.