The New York Jets have been hyped the whole offseason to make large splashes on the market once free agency tampering hit. After missing out on big linemen like Joe Thuney and Corey Linsley, the Jets were primed to make a big move on offense. They did so by dipping into the large wide receiver free agent pool and signing former Tennessee Titans star receiver Corey Davis to a three-year $37.5 million deal.
This is much cheaper than most evaluators had him at. Davis stands at 6’3″, 210 pounds, and was the fifth overall pick in the 2017 draft. He has lived up to that first-round billing over the last few seasons and almost eclipsed 1,000 yards in 2020 in which he missed two games. In 12 games Davis had 945 yards with five touchdowns and a 15.7 yard per catch average. This is all while being the No. 2 option for Ryan Tannehill in a run-heavy offense in Tennessee.
The wide receiver market is now down to JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kenny Golladay, A.J. Green, T.Y. Hilton, and a few others so the Jets were smart to snatch Davis up at the price they did for the tier he ranks in.
In 54 career games all with the Titans, Davis has amassed 2,812 receiving yards and has 11 touchdowns with 202 receptions. The Jets now will line Davis up with sophomore Denzel Mims, Jamison Crowder, and other options like Lawrence Cager and Braxton Berrios. There still is work to do for the Jets in terms of receiving options.
New York will need to decide the next course of action for their offense with the current uncertainty at the quarterback position. Sam Darnold is under much trade speculation around the league and in order to build a potent offense one needs to know what style of a scheme their quarterback is. With the Jets having the second overall pick in the draft they likely have an idea of what scheme they are trying to build. They still need to decide if that includes free-agent weapons or ones out of the draft.
In other parts of the game, the Jets have missed out on several defensive targets of theirs. Yannick Ngakoue has signed with Las Vegas Romeo Okwara back with Detroit, Shaquil Barrett back with Tampa Bay, Davon Godchaux to the New England, Jason Verrett back to San Francisco, Matt Judon to New England, and Bud Dupree to Tennessee among others. They did however sign a nice player in Carl Lawson to a large three-year $45 million contract.
That gives the Jets a true edge for the first time in a long time. Lawson can help shore up their defense alongside Quinnen Williams and Foley Fatukasi. He is quick and explosive with high potential to break out on a new team. There still may be some defensive moves from the Jets as the market still has some great talent available. Names like Haason Reddick, Jadeveon Clowney, Melvin Ingram, Aldon Smith, Justin Houston, and Olivier Vernon all remain available at New York’s disposal to help bring some veteran presence to a young defense.
The job at hand is clear for Jets general manager Joe Douglas: Spend smart for the future and don’t overpay anyone. Let your price dictate the course of action.
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