The market for free agent tight ends does not seem to be very strong. Most teams are looking to spend their money on wide receivers and have yet to really take an interest to the position. Fred Davis is currently waiting to be offered a contract and a few teams are finally starting to target him. The Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets appear to be in competition for Davis, while the Washington Redskins still have hope at re-signing him.
Davis has spent the last five seasons with the Redskins after the team drafted him in the second-round of the 2008 draft. He became a free agent this offseason and while the Redskins did not think there would be much of a market for Davis, it seems to not be the case anymore. Davis spent Saturday night with team officials of the Buffalo Bills. Head coach Doug Marrone and general manager Buddy Nix took the tight end out to dinner in an effort to pursue him to Buffalo.
Davis led the Redskins with 24 catches for 325 before he tore his Achilles during a game against the New York Giants last October. While it appears that Davis will be fully healed by the time the 2014 season begins, teams seem reluctant to offer the 27-year old a contract. He has said his recorvery is a little ahead of schedule and should be fully healed by training camp. He has expressed his desire to remain with the Washington Redskins.
"I definitely would like to stay, but at the end of the day, I'll play wherever. It doesn't matter to me. It's about football to me. I would like to stay here, but if I can't, I'm fine with that as well," Davis said.
The cash-strapped Redskins do not have much flexibility with the contract size they can offer Davis. The team re-signed tight end Logan Paulsen, who took over the starting position after Davis got injured last season. While it looked like they might move on with Paulsen as their go-to tight end, they do have a visit scheduled with Davis this week and will look at ways to re-sign him.
In his five-seasons in the NFL, Davis has racked up 1,973 receiving yards for 12 touchdowns. He missed the final four games of the 2011 due to suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. He only played seven games in 2012 before the Achilles injury. Davis also has meetings scheduled with the New York Jets after the team lost Dustin Keller to free agency.