It's far too early in the season to be pressing the panic button on anything, but the Denver Broncos made a substantial investment in the 2025 offseason that has yet to yield the return anyone hoped for.
Free agent tight end Evan Engram was brought in to fill one of the most glaring needs for the Denver Broncos in the 2025 offseason. The Broncos got 19 receptions from Lucas Krull at tight end last year to lead the team. Adam Trautman led the position group with 188 yards. It was an ugly year from a pass-catching productivity standpoint, and Engram was expected to maybe blow those numbers out of the water in the first month of the season.
He's still got a couple of weeks, but we're not off to a roaring start.
Evan Engram investment has yet to pay huge dividends for Broncos in 2025
Through two games, Engram has played just 38 percent of the offensive snaps and has been targeted just six times. He has four receptions on those six targets with two of them going for first downs.
The lack of production so far by Engram is something that can obviously be corrected, but it's worth keeping at the forefront of everyone's mind that the Broncos made a substantial investment in Engram this offseason. He signed a two-year deal worth $23 million in total money, along with $16.5 million in total guarantees.
The Broncos didn't bring him in with $16.5 million in guaranteed money to be a rotational player and occasional factor. He's meant to be the "joker" of the offense.
The Broncos need that vision to come to fruition rather quickly. They have a pivotal matchup in Week 3 against the Los Angeles Chargers, and a breakout from Engram in the Sean Payton offense couldn't come at a better time.
It's worth discussing the fact that the Broncos not only gave Evan Engram a huge payday after he was cut by the Jaguars, but they also decided to pass on the best prospects in an absolutely loaded tight end class. There were some rumors leading up to the draft that the Broncos had their eyes on Michigan TE Colston Loveland, but he went way too high for where the Broncos might have been comfortable trading up.
But Tyler Warren fell in the first round, rather inexplicably, and has been a fantastic pickup for the Colts as the 14th pick. The Broncos could have tried a little harder to jump up ahead of them.
They also passed on the likes of Mason Taylor, Elijah Arroyo, Terrance Ferguson, Harold Fannin Jr., and Gunnar Helm, among a number of others. The vision for Engram was clear enough -- at least on paper -- that the Broncos didn't bother with anyone in the draft until they took Caleb Lohner, a college basketball player, in the late portion of the 7th round.
We need to see a significant return on the investment quickly, or it'll be clear that the Broncos made a significant mistake.