How much would it cost for Buffalo Bills to use franchise tag on Gabe Davis?

Along with the NFL announcing the salary cap for the 2024 season, they also announced the salaries for each position group if teams elect to use the franchise tag or the transition tag. This is not something the Buffalo Bills have used often, in fact the last time was back in 2016 when the Bills used the franchise tag on offensive tackle Cordy Glenn.

This means that general manager Brandon Beane has not used the franchise tag once since joining the franchise dating back to 2017. These franchise tags are typically reserved for the top players and one of the reasons the Bills haven't had to use it is that they have been able to work out contract extensions for players before they get to this point.

In addition, the franchise tag usually comes with a significant salary as any team that uses the franchise tag offers a one-year fully guaranteed contract that is the average of the Top 5 salaries at that position over the past five years.

This means that any wide receiver that a team applies the franchise tag, like the reported move by the Cincinnati Bengals on Tee Higgins, results in a one-year deal worth $21.816 million.

Should the Buffalo Bills use the franchise tag on Gabe Davis?

The reason this is worth noting for the Buffalo Bills is that Gabe Davis is set to be a free agent this offseason. He has been a key part of the offense the past two seasons and while he has ranked near the top in receiving touchdowns, Davis also hasn't been a consistent presence week in and week out.

He is usually a wide receiver who has these huge games but then will go three weeks without more than 30 receiving yards per game.

For the Buffalo Bills, they don't really have the cap space to use the franchise tag on Gabe Davis. However, a move like this could buy them more time if they wanted to work out a long-term deal. The downside is that they still have to account for the salary associated to the move before that long-term deal is finalized.

As much as Buffalo would want to bring Gabe Davis back, their best chance would be reaching a long-term deal before free agency begins.