Sean Payton and the Broncos have an option as an offensive “Joker.”

That’s tight end Evan Engram, who on Wednesday agreed to a two-year deal with Denver. Engram’s agency, Vayner Sports, confirmed the deal.

The agreement is worth $23 million and comes with $16.5 million guaranteed, a source with knowledge of the agreement told The Denver Post. That will slot Engram in as the 10th-highest paid tight end in football based on average annual value.

Engram, 30, dealt with injuries and missed eight games for Jacksonville in 2024. He finished the season with 47 catches, 365 yards and a touchdown.

Before that, though, he had a string of seasons where he showed he could be a dangerous threat in the passing game. Engram put together a career year in 2023, catching 114 passes (143 targets) for 963 yards and four touchdowns.

A 2017 first-round draft pick of the New York Giants, Engram has gone over 700 yards three times in his career and has put together 17-game averages of 78 grabs and 775 yards for his career.

Engram spent all of Monday visiting with the Broncos but left without a contract. Then NFL Network reported that he spent Tuesday visiting with the Los Angeles Chargers. In the end, though, the Broncos won the bidding war between AFC West foes.

Denver’s pursuit is for a clear reason: For all the progress the Broncos made offensively in 2024, head coach Sean Payton never found options in his tight end or running back room that could put opposing defenses in a matchup bind.

Payton calls the position a “Joker,” which is somebody who can threaten the “inner triangle” of a defense between the inside linebackers and the safety.

“I use that term for when you have one of those guys who are matchup challenges inside, it really helps you on third down and in the red zone,” Payton said last month at the NFL combine. “There are ways defensively you can handle the outside receivers and force the ball inside. That is something we will look closely at.”

The veteran coach said after the season that being able to attack that area in the middle of the field, “is really important.”

In that regard, Engram — and potentially others added either via free agency or during next month’s NFL draft — will be a key cog in how Payton builds a plan around second-year quarterback Bo Nix.

Over the course of Payton’s tenure in New Orleans, he had all sizes and shapes of players who fit the “Joker” bill. Running backs like Alvin Kamara, Reggie Bush and Darren Sproles. Tight ends like Jeremy Shockey and Jimmy Graham.

“I know how much it can help,” Payton said in January. “It’s not until you don’t have them (that you appreciate it). … I didn’t really appreciate it at the time, but in that stretch, we went through a stretch of 15 or 16 seasons with real, real high-end offenses that maybe didn’t have a receiver get to a Pro Bowl, but those other spots did.”

The Broncos tight end group has been anemic in the passing game for years. In two seasons under Payton, the group has managed these numbers:

2024: 51 catches, 455 yards, 5 TDs

2023: 39 catches, 362 yards, 4 TDs.

That’s a total of 817 yards and nine scores from the entire position group over two seasons. Engram in the same span tallied 161 catches for 1,328 yards and five scores while missing eight out of 34 games.

The Broncos haven’t had a tight end tally more than 700 receiving yards in a season since Julius Thomas had 788 in 2013. Engram’s surpassed that mark in each of his past two healthy campaigns and he’s done it three times in his career.

Given the stark nature of the numbers, the Broncos’ newest offensive weapon doesn’t have to tally elite production in order to be a major upgrade compared to what the club has deployed in recent years.

Add in the way Payton has utilized Engram’s sort of skill set at tight end and the fact that his other option was a division rival, and it’s no wonder the Broncos were motivated to make sure he ended up in Denver.