Timing is everything in life, and if the Jacksonville Jaguars had released wide receiver Gabe Davis last week instead of on Wednesday, maybe the Buffalo Bills would have been interested in a reunion.
With two roster spots still available, it could still happen, especially when you consider how much Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane love bringing back players they have familiarity with, both from their days with the Carolina Panthers and now with the Bills.
But the Bills just added to their wide receiver room by signing free agent Elijah Moore on top of their earlier signings of Josh Palmer and Laviska Shenault who are joining forces with holdovers Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman and Curtis Samuel.
As they say, that’s a lot of cooks in the kitchen and for a team that, according to sports financial website overthecap.com has only about $1.9 million in salary cap space which isn’t even enough to sign its nine draft picks, it doesn’t seem feasible to sign Davis, if there’s even interest on either side.
Could they make it work financial? Of course they can. There are several ways to massage the cap, especially if Davis agrees to return on a team-friendly deal.
Why signing Gabe Davis could be a good thing for the Buffalo Bills
And when you drill down, it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea from the Bills’ perspective to look into it because competition is never a bad thing. Signing Davis would mean seven veterans competing for probably five or six spots.
From Davis’ side, while he loved playing for the Bills, he might also recognize that his opportunity for extended playing time is not great and he may seek a better situation. There are a few receiver-needy teams who could be fits, but the one to look at closely would be the Giants. Their GM, Joe Schoen, was part of the Buffalo front office that drafted Davis, and Giants head coach Brian Daboll was the offensive coordinator for Davis’ first two seasons.
Gabe Davis stats with the Buffalo Bills
Davis was a fourth-round pick in 2020 who, regardless of what you think of him, out-performed that draft status in four seasons with Buffalo. Starting 47 of the 64 games he played in the regular season, Davis caught 163 Josh Allen passes for 2,730 yards and 27 touchdowns, then tacked on 22 catches in seven postseason games for 474 yards and six TDs, four of those coming in his memorable 201-yard explosion against Kansas City in the infamous “13 seconds” divisional round loss to the Chiefs.
Those numbers are solid, but Davis was also known as an excellent blocker in the run game, something the Bills demand from their receivers, and he had a clear connection with Allen. And beyond the field, the 26-year-old was a solid locker room presence, and part of that derived from the fact that he twice won the team’s Iron Bill award which is voted on by the players to recognize the hardest worker in the offseason.
To that end, Mitch Morse, who played four years with Davis in Buffalo and one in Jacksonville, posted on social media of Davis after the Jaguars cut ties: “Absolute tone setter in the locker room and on the field. PERFECT culture guy … Played hurt all last year, didn’t bitch about it once … having a tough time wrapping my head around this one.”
Get the Life in the 19th Ward newsletter in your inbox.
Coverage of one of the biggest neighborhoods in Rochester.
Delivery: Biweekly Your Email
Following the last game Davis played for the Bills in the 2023 postseason, Beane said, “Gabe is just a relentless worker, almost too much. You have to tell him to get away from it. And he deserves everything he’s gotten – all the success he’s had. He believes in himself, and he sees himself as a guy that can do more and wants the opportunities. Gabe’s a good player in this league.”
At the time, that sounded very much like the Bills were wishing Davis farewell and good luck in the free agent market, and Davis struck quite a deal with the Jaguars, a three-year contract that paid him a whopping $24 million in guaranteed money.
Why the Bills may avoid signing Gabe Davis
But his one year playing with the terrible Jaguars was a disappointment. He caught only 20 passes for 239 yards and two TDs in 10 games, missing the final seven with a knee injury. With new GM James Gladstone and new coach Liam Cohen now running the show and trying to reimagine the roster, they did not see Davis as a fit and released him despite a massive $20.3 million dead cap cost over the next two years.
That’s a lot of money to move on from a player who surely would have helped the Jaguars this season, even if shiny new toy and No. 2 overall draft pick Travis Hunter is in the building to team up with star-in-the-making Brian Thomas Jr. Davis’ future with the team was also clouded when the Jaguars signed free agent Dyami Brown away from the Commanders, even though Brown’s numbers pale in comparison to Davis’.
Should the Bills pursue Davis? It wouldn’t hurt to kick the tires, but there doesn’t appear to be a lane to fit him in.
Shakir, Palmer and Coleman are roster locks, and the Bills probably aren’t releasing Samuel because to do so now would carry a $12 million dead cap hit while post-June 1 it’s $8.6 million this year and $3.4 million in 2026.
Moore and Shenault would be obvious cut candidates, but Moore’s versatility intrigues the Bills, and with former Panthers special teams coordinator Chris Tabor now in Buffalo, ex-Panther Shenault has a chance to secure not only a backup receiver spot, but become a core special teamer who could be the kickoff return man.