The Jacksonville Jaguars recently released wide receiver Gabe Davis. While it may be tempting for the San Francisco 49ers to go after the former impressive deep threat with the Buffalo Bills, they would be wise to stay far away from him.
Davis is coming off an injury that limited him to 10 games in 2024 with Jacksonville. He hauled in 20 receptions for 239 yards and two touchdowns, which was a far cry from the numbers he put up in Buffalo with quarterback Josh Allen throwing to him.
The 26-year-old veteran is sure to have some suitors on the free-agent market, but the Niners should not be one of them.
For one, Davis does not fit with what San Francisco tries to do on offense. The deep ball is not a big part of head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense, and Brock Purdy is not a quarterback with a big arm. Davis thrives in an offense like the one in Buffalo with a quarterback like Allen who can air the ball out downfield with regularity.
Plus, the Niners should not overpay for Davis the way that Jacksonville did last offseason. Trent Baalke, a name infamous among 49ers fans due to his controversial tenure as the team's general manager, doled out a three-year, $39 million contract to Davis, which was obviously not wise given the struggles Davis experienced.
Unless San Francisco can get Davis on a dirt-cheap contract, it just does not make a ton of sense to bring him into the fold.
San Francisco already seems fairly set at wide receiver going into next season. Jauan Jennings will be atop the team's depth chart with Brandon Aiyuk recovering from his knee injury. Ricky Pearsall looks poised to step up in his sophomore season, and the team could also get contributions from other second-year players like Jacob Cowing and Terique Owens.
Plus, Demarcus Robinson should be able to help the team out a bit even though he will miss the first few games of the season due to a PED suspension.
In short, signing Davis just does not make sense for San Francisco. After moving on from Deebo Samuel, it is understandable some fans would want the team to sign a familiar name to provide more stability to the wide receiving corps.
Yet, the Niners seem to have everything they need at wide receiver right now, so signing Davis would be unnecessary and potentially costly.
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