The Giants will extend the contracts of 2017 first-rounders Evan Engram and Jabrill Peppers through the 2021 season, the team announced.
This marks the final year fifth-year options will be guaranteed for injury only. Beginning in 2018, teams must fully guarantee players fifth-year salaries if they pick up options. The injury component will be key for Engram.
The fourth-year tight end is coming off a second straight injury-marred season. Engram underwent foot surgery in December. While the Giants would obviously prefer he stay healthy and earn the 2021 salary coming to him, they would only be able to cut Engram free of charge if he can pass a physical by the start of the ’21 league year. Engram has missed 13 games between the 2018-19 seasons.
Engram, however, has given Eli Manning and Daniel Jones an intriguing weapon when healthy. He averaged a career-high 58.4 yards per game last season but only played in eight contests. Engram’s 722 yards as a rookie were the most of any rookie tight end during the 2010s.
Drafted two spots after Engram three years ago — at No. 25 overall — Peppers came over in last year’s Odell Beckham Jr. trade. The former Browns draftee started 11 Giants games last season before suffering a transverse process fracture in his back. Pro Football Focus graded the Michigan product as a middle-of-the-pack safety in 2019. Peppers registered 76 tackles, which were only three shy of his career-high figure despite an injury-shortened season, and intercepted one pass — which he took back for a touchdown.
No surprise here. But both really need to prove more. Engram has to stay healthy.
Agreed, no brainer. Engrams will not make it through the season, he is no Bavaro. I’ll even take Howard Cross at this point. So talented just can’t stay on field.
Give him a chance. It’s been three seasons and he hasn’t even missed 1/3 of possible contests. Sure, he’s not the most durable in the universe, but he’s not Kevin White
What kind of math are you using when you say that he’s missed less than 1/3 of the games over the last 3 seasons…..that’s 48 games, and he’s appeared in 25 of them with not all starts….that’s not 1/3 in any of our books…..he need to show he can stay on the field and be a weapon, not just another athlete in the trainers room.
Um…15+11+8= 34, not 25. You must be looking at games started. Anyway, I didn’t say he was the second coming of Antonio Gates. I just hate this narrative where young players are preemptively labeled as injury-prone busts just because they missed a dozen or so games early in their career
Love it as a Giants fan
Hunter Henry or Evan engram
That’s tough. According to DYAR, Henry is more efficient as a receiver. I would also argue his injury issues are exaggerated because of his ACL tear. On the other hand, you could argue Engram’s been held back by inferior QB play. I would give Henry the slight edge due to his blocking ability
Whoa….Engram has not been held back by inferior QB play….he’s been held back by his lack of being able to stay on the field and be a target as a receiver or be consistently physical in the run game which he’s not very good at….either way….it wasn’t Eli’s fault nor is it Jones fault when he can’t stay on the field and be effective.
Inferior relative to Rivers, which is a fair assessment. It’s not like Engram doesn’t do anything. After all, he had the most yards by a rookie tight end this decade and averages over 50 yards/game
Wow this one’s tough for me. I’m an Ole Miss Alumni born on Long Island that’s a Chargers fan. I’ve seen Evan Engram drop more wide open passes than fathomable. I’ve seen Hunter Henry miraculously throw the ball 40 yards backwards to ruin Ole Miss’s one chance in 60 years at an SEC championship. And I’ve seen them both blossom into incredible hybrid TEs in the NFL but incredibly injury prone. I’ll go Hunter Henry, but only because I think he’s more reliable on the field
What’s with all these players named Peppers?
A better question might be: “Why do you need Peppers if you haven’t got a Taco?
I’m not an Engram fan hope he’s flames out. He’s not durable or reliable enough
Well being he now has 2 years left I hope he doesn’t flame out. And proves something.
Engram has 44 catches for 467 yards last year in 8 games before he fractured a bone in his back. That projects to nearly 100 catches and 1,000 yards in a full season. All pro kind of numbers for a tight end. He was healthy his first year and had injuries the next two seasons. That happens especially early in a career. Let’s give the guy a break. Break through seasons by the recent top draft picks including Engram could result in an exciting season for the Giants.