Two big recipients of big money in the biggest market in the NFL.
So how will Kenny Golladay and Corey Davis’s signings work for the Giants and Jets? And will Jets GM Joe Douglas – who bought Davis for a lot cheaper than Golladay – end up laughing last at Giants GM Dave Gettleman?
The Giants signed Golladay for four years, for $ 18 million a year. He has a guaranteed $ 40 million and is sure to get it all. In addition, Golladay is likely to have a three-year commitment, in terms of when the Giants could realistically sign the contract, if he fucks.
Davis, meanwhile, won a three-year contract with the Jets, worth $ 12.5 million a year. He got a guaranteed $ 27 million. Everything is totally guaranteed – and everything in the first two years. Therefore, it is a two-year commitment, with no guaranteed money in the third season.
In short: the Giants spent much more in Golladay than the Jets in Davis.
It is impossible to say now that Golladay definitely It is this contract is worth. Entering the free agency, former Giants running back, Tiki Barber, predicted that Golladay would get exactly that kind of deal from a team in need of receivers – and said it would be a wrong move.
“He’s going to get $ 18 million a year – and that’s stupid,” Barber told NJ Advance Media. “But someone is going to give it to him.”
For sure, Gettleman did. You really can’t blame him for spending that much, of course, because he desperately needed a # 1 receiver. It’s not like this was a clearly stupid contract – like the Golden Tate business two years ago. Golladay, 27, is still at his peak.
And just because of the nature of the free agency – with teams competing for a limited number of good players – the overpayment will happen. There is no getting around it.
But Golladay will have to play much better – and more consistently – than he has done so far in order to comply with this agreement. He can’t be the guy who was limited to five games last season, or even the guy who only caught five touchdowns in 2018 (even though he had 1,063 yards). He will need to replicate 2019, his only dominant season – 1,190 yards and 11 touchdowns.
It will not be easy.
Davis has a bottom bar to clean, but he needs to raise his game. (They are comparable receivers, since Golladay is six feet tall and 214 pounds, and Davis is 6-3 pounds and 209 pounds. Davis is a year younger than Golladay).
Davis did not have a dominant season like Golladay. Davis’ two best seasons are 2018 and 2020 – 891 and 984 yards, with four and five touchdowns. But with $ 27 million in two years, Davis needs to play at the Pro Bowl level to justify his contract. And he has not yet reached that level.
At the free agency, you don’t always get what you paid for. The Jets are well aware that, three years ago, cornerback Trumaine Johnson was given one of the worst free agent contracts in recent NFL history – $ 34 million for two miserable seasons.
It is hard to imagine Davis or Golladay being a complete disgrace, as Johnson was. But it is entirely possible that none of the recipients will actually stick to their contract – especially since the Jets and Giants have quarterback situations that are not proven at the moment.
And considering the improvement Davis must make in order to really earn his money, it is not a lock that Douglas will actually get last.
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