Former Jacksonville Jaguars WR Gabe Davis signs with Buffalo Bills.
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Former Jacksonville Jaguars WR Gabe Davis signs with Buffalo Bills.
Before the 2024 NFL season, the Jacksonville Jaguars signed former Buffalo Bills wide receiver Gabe Davis to a three-year, $39 million free-agent contract.
Davis was released following a sub-par season with 20 catches for 239 yards and a pair of touchdowns. And, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Davis has just reunited with his old team via the practice squad.
“A return to Buffalo: Free-agent WR Gabe Davis is signing with the Buffalo Bills, per sources,” Schefter posted on X. “Davis initially will be on Buffalo’s practice squad as he continues to recover from last season’s torn meniscus and gets ready to return to play.”
Gabe Davis had some great moments in Buffalo
The Jaguars signed Davis to that three-year deal for a reason: he was pretty good with the Bills. The main reason people know his name is because of that insane, four-touchdown game he had in the playoffs against the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021 (yes, the game took place in 2022, but you get the point).
TSN does a good job of recapping his time in Buffalo.
“Davis appeared in 64 games over four seasons for the Bills, hauling in 163 receptions for 2,730 yards and 27 touchdowns after originally being selected with the 128th overall selection of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Central Florida,” TSN writes. “The Sanford, FL native’s biggest moment in a Bills uniform came during a 2023 AFC Divisional Round game against the Kansas City Chiefs in which he recorded eight receptions for 201 yards and four TDs in the team’s 42-36 overtime defeat.”
Yeah, that game:
Travis Hunter will be taking Gabe Davis’ place
Davis clearly wasn’t a fit for the new regime of general manager James Gladstone and his head coach Liam Coen. Not only was Davis not productive as a Jaguar, he also wasn’t brought in by the new guys. That usually means it’s time to move on.
But, now the have their guy in Travis Hunter and right now he might be the face of the franchise. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence has lost shine just about ever year he’s been in the NFL and he’s a holdover as well. And, Brian Thomas is the better wide receiver right now by far, but he didn’t arrive with Hunter-level fanfare.
Still, Hunter is the man everyone is watching, and Lawrence is impressed so far.
“Yeah, just to see the amount of work you have to put in to do that, it’s hard enough to play one way in the NFL, much less two ways,” Lawrence said. “To learn offense, defense, it’s a lot. He’s done a really good job.”
Meanwhile, Coen has been trying to navigate how to work him into both the offense and defense. How much will his offensive growth be stunted by his proclivity to play defense?
“We’re still working through it right now. He obviously missed a lot of time there that can impact playing anybody, nonetheless a rookie that misses quite a bit of time so what that usage looks like we’re still working through,” Coen said.
Because of the huge workload, Hunter has a lot of preparation to do and Lawrence says he’ll help when he can.
“It’s his responsibility to know what to do when he steps in the huddle and he’s done a great job with that, but also being conscious of he’s a rookie, he’s got a lot going on, he’s playing both ways,” Lawrence said. “Just trying to help him as much as I can with little reminders or different things with the formations or concepts or whatever.
“Just trying to give him reminders so it’s not, hey, you’re on your own, pal. Figure it out. And he’s done a good job of knowing it, but as much as we can help him out, I think that is important.”
It’s nice to see Davis latch on with another team, but the Jaguars really had to move on.