Given Davis’ ties to Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll, this is a move that should definitely be watched.
NFL: Buffalo Bills vs. Denver Broncos
Davis, Gabe
It will be NFL free agency in just over six weeks. Free agency rumours are a constant during the offseason, even with the New York Giants still looking for a defensive coordinator and the Shrine and Senior Bowls increasing interest in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Gabe Davis, a wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills who may become a free agency in March, is one name that is already frequently linked to the Giants.
There is no denying the Davis/Giants relationship.
When the Bills selected Davis out of Central Florida in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft, head coach Brian Daboll was the offensive coordinator and Giants general manager Joe Schoen was the assistant general manager in Buffalo.
Although there were doubts over Davis’ ability to get open and his restricted route tree in college, the Bills selected him in the draft, and Josh Allen, the quarterback for the team, benefited greatly from his big play capabilities thanks to Daboll and the Buffalo offensive coaching staff.
Regarding Davis, SNY’s Connor Hughes recently said, “they [the Giants] need to go get him if presented with the opportunity.”
For Davis, this was a little bit of a poor year. 45 catches, 746 yards, and seven touchdowns wasn’t awful; it just wasn’t the huge performance that many had anticipated. In 2022, he performed better, catching 48 catches for 836 yards and seven touchdowns. Part of this was probably due to the fact that tight end Dalton Kincaid (73 targets) was developing after being selected in the first round, quarterback Josh Allen’s continued preference for Stefon Diggs (team-high 107 targets), and Buffalo’s general slow start to the season, which finally resulted in the firing of offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey.
Even so, there aren’t many people like Davis. At the age of 24, he is 6-2 and 210 and is just starting to reach his peak in his career. Throughout his NFL career, he has averaged over 15.7 yards per reception, including a career-high 17.4 in 2022.
“There aren’t many like Davis,” is a little exaggerated. At 6-foot-2, he weighs 225 pounds. He did have 27 regular-season touchdowns in four seasons and an average of 16.7 yards per reception. During the playoffs, Davis has been a huge asset to the Bills. He recorded 10 catches for 242 yards and 5 touchdowns in two 2021 playoff games. Against the Miami Dolphins in a 2022 playoff game, he had six receptions for 113 yards and one touchdown.
However, Davis has never been a top receiver. His career high in receiving yards is 846, and he has never caught more than 48 receptions in a season. In actuality, he is a larger Darius Slayton.
From 100.1 and 103.2 in his first two seasons to 80.8 and 84.7 in the last two, Davis’ passer rating when targeted fell.
Based on his four-year market value in free agency, Spotrac values Davis at $54.488 million, or $13.6 million annually. Right now, 22 wide receivers earn more than that every year.
The Giants are said to have a strong core of wide receivers in Slayton, Wan’Dale Robinson, Jalin Hyatt, and Isaiah Hodgins, who may all be improved with the acquisition of a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver.
It’s possible that Davis isn’t the real top receiver who can turn around the Giants’ offense. However, he is a better option than Hodgins and has more experience than Hyatt.
The Giants often select LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers with their first-round pick, No. 6 overall, according to current mock drafts.
