Getty New York Jets wide receiver Corey Davis running out of the tunnel ahead of an NFL game.
The New York Jets went on a major spending spree during the 2021 offseason.
Gang Green added new toys to both the offense and the defense to try and get them over the top. One of those pricy purchases included veteran wide receiver, Corey Davis.
The Jets were able to lure him away from the Tennessee Titans by virtue of a three-year deal for $37.5 million. Candidly his first season was completely underwhelming due to injuries, drops, and inconsistent play.
However, the savvy veteran has completely flipped the script in 2022.
Corey Davis Has Emerged for the Jets
The former Western Michigan product was the forgotten man in the Jets’ receiving room heading into this season.
Garrett Wilson was the No. 10 overall pick in the first round of April’s draft. While Elijah Moore was coming off of an inspiring rookie season.
However, despite all that pizzazz from the younger members of this group, the grey-bearded veteran is the one who has shown the youngsters how it is supposed to be done.
Davis when healthy has been the most productive Jets receiver this year:
- 19 receptions
- 351 receiving yards
- Two touchdowns
Although the most surprising development has been his ability to make massive plays. Davis is averaging over 18.5 yards per catch this season which is by far a career-high for him.
Last season Davis uncharacteristically struggled with catching the football dropping six balls on 59 targets. However this season according to Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic, Davis only has one drop on 30 targets which came in the first quarter, back in Week 1.
Unfortunately, Davis has missed the last 2.5 games due to injury and is likely going to miss a third straight on Sunday versus the New England Patriots.
The 27-year-old has missed two days of practice this week according to the official NFL injury report.
Corey Davis Has Changed His Jets Destiny
Before the season started there were plenty of people that had written the epitaph on Davis’ run with the Jets.
For example, back in late September Rich Cimini of ESPN said to keep an eye on a potential Davis deal ahead of the NFL trade deadline if the season went a certain type of way.
Something to watch 👀: @RichCimini says an NFC team is ‘keeping an eye’ on veteran WR Corey Davis for a possible trade, ‘it wouldn’t shock me if the #Jets got a call before the trading deadline’: 🎙 Flight Deck Pod #TakeFlight
Part of that thought process was centered around Davis’ contract situation with the team. Currently, he’s in the second year of a three-year contract.
However next year there is an out in the contract where the Jets could save over $9 million by moving on from him with minimal dead cap.
While getting that pile of money is certainly tempting, his overall cap hit isn’t as bad as some people have indicated.
Davis is set to count just over $11 million on the cap in 2023. That annual salary would rank 30th among wide receivers in the NFL next season, per Over The Cap.
With how well Davis has played this season and considering how friendly his cap number is for 2023, it sure seems like the veteran has saved his job and some with the Jets.
Gang Green could easily stomach having him on the roster and they may even consider a contract extension to get that number even lower for the future.