Buffalo Bills: Does targeting this free agent tight end make sense?

Argument in favor of the Buffalo Bills acquiring Evan Engram

So, could the Buffalo Bills take a chance on Engram to rid himself of the name he made for while with the Giants as being the butterfingers tight end? It’s absolutely possible, as a lot of it could be a mental game.

However, since they can’t really get him for free– as nice as that’d be– it’d be smart of the Bills to only do a deal that’s something like a prove-it deal, especially if he’s committing to the switch from tight end to slot receiver.

If he can come in and make the strides necessary, then absolutely pay the man. But, on the flip side, if Engram comes in and continues living up to the name he’s made with the Giants, it’d be hard for the Bills front office to sleep at night knowing they gave him some massive contract.

Considering he’s only signed his rookie contract with the Giants, he wasn’t really making that much money, all things considered. Engram signed a fully guaranteed four-year deal for $10,718,304 after being drafted in the first round by the New York Giants in the 2017 NFL Draft. Averaging that out, he was getting paid approximately $2.6M per year.

Now, paying Engram somewhere near $5-8M per season, with maybe less for the first year, could be a solid deal for Buffalo. Especially if Engram makes the switch to slot receiver, this could be a steal of a contract.

Now, in terms of what Engram brings to the table, especially as a slot receiver, there’s a decent amount to like.

The slot receiver isn’t a position too foreign to Evan Engram, as he’s a tight end that’s been fluid in the passing game for the Giants, but no matter how you chop it up, Engram’s going to need to make sure his issue with drops is buttoned up. Obviously, no one is perfect, and passes will be dropped, but as long as that doesn’t become a common problem, I see the potential of Evan Engram as a slot receiver in Buffalo working well.

Dawson Knox has proven his strong connection on and off the field with Josh Allen, so being able to have Knox stay at tight end and bring Evan Engram to play the slot– a needed position for this Buffalo Bills offense– could be the offensive recipe that the Bills have needed to further their season.

Not only that but with the Giants, Evan Engram kind of needed to be “The guy.” The Giants didn’t really have a clear No. 1 receiver option, so it sort of defaulted to Evan Engram since he was the top talent on that offense not named Saquon Barkley– when he’s healthy, at least.

That, and Josh Allen is in no argument far better than Daniel Jones. That’s not a knock at Jones, per se, but Josh Allen is a top-two quarterback in the NFL. Whether he’s No. 1 or 2 is up for debate, but it’s clear to say that the competition isn’t between Josh Allen and Daniel Jones.

So, while all of this is contingent on Evan Engram becoming a more consistent pass-catcher and agreeing to take a less up-front paycheck, the Buffalo Bills could absolutely make it work. Will they? Only time will tell, really.

Now that the positives are laid out, here are the negatives.