One of the biggest blunders of the Trent Baalke era was giving Gabe Davis a top-market deal in 2024. On paper, the move made sense, as big-play capability was expected to give the Jacksonville Jaguars a massive boost. Unfortunately, he struggled so badly that they pulled the plug on him just one year later. Heck, they wanted to get rid of him so badly that they were willing to pay him in 2025 not to play for them.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that Davis is scheduled to travel to Pittsburgh to meet with the Steelers. Colleague Field Yates caught wind of the news and reminded everyone that the fifth-year veteran is collecting $11.5 guaranteed from the Jags, adding that teams can offer him a minimum, and Jacksonville will pay the difference.
However you look at it, that's a bad contract, one the Jaguars willingly gave to Davis last season, and what did they get in exchange? 20 receptions for 239 yards with two touchdowns in 10 games. Looking back, the Jags might not have done enough do diligence before locking him up.
Davis tore his meniscus in the 2023 finale and was later ruled out of a divisional game with a knee injury. As Pete Prisco of CBS Sports pointed out, he looked slow after signing with the Jags and appeared to have been hurt. When you add it all up, his dreadful statline doesn't come as a surprise.
The Jaguars made a costly blunder when they signed Gabe Davis
Even if Gabe Davis had stayed healthy, the new regime didn't seem to be high on him. Early in free agency, the Jacksonville Jaguars gave Dyami Brown a one-year deal worth $10 million. They later traded up in the NFL Draft to select Travis Hunter.
With Hunter and Brown in the fold, Davis was the odd man out, and the Jags moved on from him. To ensure they didn't get $20 million in dead money, they designated him as a post-June 1 cut, splitting the cap charge in two. All things considered, it was the right call.
So far, Hunter and Brown have made a strong impression at OTAs. Parker Washington should be No. 4 on the depth chart, and when you take into account that he can contribute on special teams, he's much more valuable than Davis, even though he's set to make a fraction of his salary in 2025.
Now, Davis could bounce back in 2025 and become a mainstay for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but there's an equal chance he won't. Even when he was with the Buffalo Bills, he wasn't particularly reliable. Sure, he averaged 16.7 yards per reception in his first four NFL seasons but also had an underwhelming catch rate.
Ultimately, Gabe Davis wasn't a fit for the Jackosnville Jaguars, and the new regime deserves praise for cutting ties with him instead of falling prey of the sunk cost fallacy.
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