Through all the free-agent acquisitions at the positions and the rumors that he would be part of the package going back to Green Bay in the Aaron Rodgers deal, there was a lot of speculation about the future of wide receiver Corey Davis in New York. Head coach Robert Saleh tried to quiet that speculation Friday, saying Davis will be on the team this season and had a lot of praise for No. 84, particularly with the big pairing he and Allen Lazard will add to the offense.
“I felt like this year, bringing in Allen and having Corey, we have a lot bigger personnel now,” Saleh said. “There’s a lot of grinding that goes on in the run game, the red zone, all those big boy catches that happen off the play action pass. Those things are where Allen and Corey excel. It’s not just to limit them to those, we’re going to see how they play within this system over OTAs and training camp and their roles will be defined more, but to have him, you can never have enough receivers. To have a guy like Allen and Corey, then you add Garrett (Wilson) and Mecole (Hardman) with all the speed and all the competition that’s going to happen at that five-six spot, Randall (Cobb) and all that. It’s a really cool group of receivers and exciting to see how it shakes out.”
Injuries limited Davis to 13 games last season and he caught just two touchdown passes. In two seasons with the Jets, Davis has missed 11 games and has just six total touchdown catches. Of course, the lack of touchdowns hasn’t exactly been his fault.
Still, with the team able to save about $10 million in cap space, the possibility of moving on from Davis had been lingering for a while and was only further fueled by the additions of Lazard, Hardman and now Randall Cobb. However, the Jets did not draft a wide receiver, so maybe the Jets are serious about keeping Davis.
While it does appear Davis is going to stick around, a contract restructure is still possible. A $10.5 million salary for a perceived No. 4 wide receiver, depending on how you stack the wide receivers at the moment, is very high.
Even still, the wide receiver room will make a case for one of the best in the NFL in 2023 and is a reason for the high expectations in New York. Of course, there’s also a certain new quarterback in town that will help those receivers make plays as well. And at this point, Corey Davis is going to be one of those receivers.
