Longtime Saints LB Demario Davis has spent the past eight years of his career in New Orleans, where he’s established himself as one of the league’s best linebackers. Earlier this month, he said he knew he wanted to keep playing and ideally it would be with the Saints.
However, per Kay Adams it appears that Davis is now open to testing unrestricted free agency for the first time in nearly a decade.
This past year was the final year of Davis’ contract. In the past, the team has been able to work out new deals, but with a new coaching staff and a rebuilding team, it’s possible the Saints don’t reciprocate Davis’ interest in playing another season.
The veteran previously said he wasn’t worried about his contract.
“We’re in a game where contracts do matter, but that’s such a small part of your career,” Davis said. “That happens in a little small window in the offseason, once every other year or every couple years. And when that time gets here — man, in 14 years, that’s always worked itself out. It has always worked itself out. I’ve never had to really negotiate a contract. They’ve always negotiated themselves. So when that time gets here, that’s very low on my concern meter right now. I’m focused on finishing the season strong.”
Davis, 37, is a former third-round pick of the Jets back in 2012. He spent four years in New York before signing a two-year, $8 million contract with the Browns that included $4.2 million guaranteed in 2016.
Davis was traded to the Jets in return for S Calvin Pryor back in 2017. From there, he signed a three-year, $24 million deal with the Saints a year later.
Davis was in the final year of his contract when he agreed to a three-year contract worth $27 million that included $18.35 million guaranteed back in 2020.
He was set to make a base salary of $10 million in the final year of that deal in 2024 when he agreed to a two-year, $17 million contract. The Saints restructured his contract last March.
In 2025, Davis appeared in all 17 games for the Saints and recorded 143 total tackles, six tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, three pass defenses, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
We’ll have more on Davis as the news is available.
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