Throughout the offseason, Corey Davis' name often appeared as a potential cut or trade candidate for the New York Jets. Coach Robert Saleh rebutted that notion Friday.
"He's gonna be on the team, yeah," Saleh said when asked directly about the wideout's future.
The Jets signed Davis to a three-year, $37.5 million contract in 2021 as a go-to target. It hasn't worked out that way. In two seasons with Gang Green, Davis has caught 66 passes for 1,028 yards and six touchdowns in 22 games -- 46.72 yards per tilt.
Garrett Wilson is the clear alpha, and offseason additions of Allen Lazard, Mecole Hardman, and, most recently, Randall Cobb renewed speculation that Davis, set to have a base salary of $10.5 million, could be out.
However, Salah underscored that Davis' size – 6-foot-3, 209 pounds – adds a different dimension to the WR room.
"Again, the cool thing with what (offensive coordinator) Nathaniel (Hackett's) bringing and this whole system is there is a lot of versatility amongst the receivers in terms of them being able to play multiple spots," Saleh said. "The one thing when Corey got hurt last year, we got small pretty quick, if you guys remember. It felt like this year, bringing in Allen and having Corey, we have a lot bigger personnel now. There's a lot of grinding that goes on in the run game, the red zone. All those big-boy catches that happened off the play-action pass those things where Allen and Corey excel. It's not just to limit them to those. We're gonna see how they play within the system over OTAs and training camp, and their roles will be defined more. But to have him, you can never have enough receivers.
"To have a guy like Allen and Corey, and then you add Garrett, and you add Mecole with all the speed, and all the competition that's gonna happen at that 5, 6 spot, Randall and all that, it's a really cool group of receivers, and I'm excited to see how it shakes out."
Saleh insists in May that Davis will be on the team. We'll see if that "shakes out" true in September.
