The Jacksonville Jaguars are doing their best to raise the roster ceiling. Aside from getting playmakers, that means cutting ties with players who probably won't contribute much next season. The Jags identified Gabe Davis as one such player, so they released him despite the fact that it will severely affect their salary cap.
A couple weeks after the draft, the Jags released Davis. Adam Schefter first reported the move, and the team later announced it.
We have released WR Gabe Davis.
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) May 7, 2025
Davis was set to count $6.4 million against the cap in 2024, and cutting him won't free up any space. Instead, it will accelerate a cap hit of $13 million and leave $20.3 million in dead money. Before the front office moved on from the veteran receiver, the Jaguars had around $27 million in space. After his release, they'll now have $13.2 million left.
Update: The Jaguars are designating Davis as a post-June 1 cut, via Mia O'Brian of 1010 XL, so he'll leave $5.7 million in 2025 and spread the rest of the amount to the next four years. On top of that, his release will create $794,113 in space. This means that the Jags will have $28 million in space after moving on from him.
Gabe Davis will be designated a Post-June 1 release, per the team.
— Mia O'Brien (@MiaOBrienTV) May 7, 2025
$5.7M Dead Cap number, per @Jason_OTC
Usually, that amount would be more than enough to make one or two signings before the season. However, Jacksonville has yet to sign its rookie class, and that will take up around $10 million in space. This is a way to say that the team's brass probably won't make any significant moves in the upcoming months unless they restructure a few contracts. This is highly unlikely, though.
The new regime is trying to clean up the cap space, and reworking contracts would push cap hits into future years. That's precisely how the Jaguars got here. Former general manager Trent Baalke routinely pushed money to future years, even beyond the duration of the contract. Now, his successor, James Gladstone, is cleaning up his mess, which is why it's hard to see him make the same mistake.
Releasing Gabe Davis will limit the moves the Jaguars will make in the future
The Jacksonville Jaguars could've waited until June 1 to release Gabe Davis. That would've allowed him to split the dead money on two and even free up a bit over $794,000 in space. However, he would have still counted $14 million in dead money last year, so the team's brass chose to bite the bullet. Sure, it will limit their ability to add players, but they have already addressed most of their needs, so it won't be an issue.
And that's the thing, James Gladstone didn't just wake up and decide to cut Davis. The team had a plan in place, but before they could kick him to the curb, they needed to find an adequate replacement, or even an upgrade. They did. Back in free agency, they signed Dyami Brown, who has had a quiet NFL career but put it all together during the Washington Commanders' playoff run last year. That was just the beginning, though.
Jacksonville traded up to No. 2 in the draft to select two-way star Travis Hunter. He will be the cherry on top of Trevor Lawrence's improved arsenal of weapons. Already, the team's brass said that the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner will start his onboarding process at receiver, so he should have an immediate impact.
With Hunter and Brown in the fold, there was no longer room for Davis, who had an underwhelming season in 2024. Before he suffered a season-ending knee injury, he had a measly 20 receptions for 239 yards with two touchdowns. Had the Jaguars kept him around, he would've been an expensive backup who may not have contributed much next season. They didn't want to fall victim to the sunk cost fallacy and chose to cut ties with him.
Now, Gabe Davis will be able to find a new home and get a much-needed fresh start. For their part, the Jags are cleaning up the mess Trent Baalke left.