Jets land Corey Davis for three years, giving them a top weapon

Corey Davis has a new home, signing a deal with the New York Jets to likely become the lead weapon in Mike LaFleur’s offense.

The New York Jets’ first major splash of free agency saw them add a big-time receiving weapon in the form of Corey Davis.

Davis reached agreement on a three-year, $37 million deal that includes $27 million guaranteed, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Hitting the open market after the Tennessee Titans declined to pick up his fifth-year option, Davis will have the opportunity to prove he can be a number one receiver in the NFL, the former fifth-overall pick likely to become the focal point of what could be an explosive passing game.

He will join an offense run by Mike LaFleur, who was hired as Robert Saleh’s offensive coordinator having served as the passing game coordinator when the pair were with the San Francisco 49ers under Kyle Shanahan.

The success of that offense will of course hinge on who is playing quarterback. It remains unclear whether the Jets will decide to part with former third overall pick Sam Darnold in a trade, and they will have their pick of the quarterbacks not named Trevor Lawrence in the draft.

Whoever is under center, they should benefit from playing with Davis, who enjoyed the best year of his career with the Titans last season. He finished 2020 with 65 catches for 984 yards and five touchdowns, all of those numbers marking career-highs. Davis was 13th among wide receivers in Football Outsiders‘ Defense-adjusted yards above replacement metric and ninth in Defense-adjusted value over average.

He joins a receiving corps that also features 2020 second-round pick Denzel Mims and Jamison Crowder, who was one of the better slot receivers in the NFL last season on a woeful Jets attack.

Between that trio, an offensive line featuring an extremely promising left tackle in Mekhi Becton and a highly rated play-caller, the Jets look set up to improve on offense. The missing piece is the most important one.