Ian Allan
The value of Vernon Davis, at least in week 17, just went up. That’s the week that San Francisco plays Washington, and Davis no doubt will be eager to show Chris Cooley on that day that he knows a little something about how to play tight end.
Cooley wrote a column about rookie contracts that appears on the web today, and in it he singles out Davis as an explain of why the NFL needs to re-visit the idea of giving huge signing bonuses to rookie plays.
Writes Cooley at Yahoo! Sports:
I mean, can anyone honestly explain how Vernon Davis adds more value to a football team than Jeremy Shockey or Antonio Gates? His contract certainly says that he does, because he is averaging more money than both of them every year. If Davis can continue becoming a better football player then it might be agreed that he was worth the money.
In Jason Witten's second year he caught 87 balls for 980 yards. Davis caught 52 balls for 509 yards. Both are good statistics for a tight end, but Davis is currently making $500,000 more a year than Witten. Even better, Davis made close to $4 million more in his second year than Witten did. A player making that kind of money should be a Pro Bowl-type player.
Ouch.
Those words no doubt won’t be forgotten by Davis in the days leading up to San Francisco’s week 17 game against Washington. Davis probably would like nothing better that week than to go out and catch 10 passes for 100 yards and 2 TDs.
Whether Davis is actually good enough to go out and put up big numbers, of course, remains to be seen.
—Ian Allan
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Posted by Paul Desimone | Apr. 30 at 04:54 AM
It's amazing to me that a professional football player, whose ability to put up statistics depends largely on the players around him (such as, in this case, a tight end depends on his quarterback to get him the ball), would go on record publicly discounting that fact in judging his peers. That Davis didn't catch 80+ balls like Witten did in his second year speaks a lot more to the 49ers' 2007 32nd-ranked passing offense than it does to Davis' ability. Football is a game of passion, and Mr. Cooley have just done a misservice to his linebacker and safety teammates.