The Jets keep searching for the kind of veteran presence that can actually shift the room, and this offseason they went back to a familiar name: Demario Davis.
Davis, who was drafted by New York in the third round in 2012 and spent his first run with the team through 2015, is now in his third stint with the Jets. After a season with the Cleveland Browns, he returned for one year in New York before moving on to the New Orleans Saints, where he played from 2018 to 2025.
Now 37, Davis says he understands exactly why the Jets wanted him back, according to NFL.com’s Kevin Patra.
“When I look at what Woody (Johnson) and Darren Mougey and Aaron Glenn are establishing, why they're bringing me in is to model what they want that culture to look like,” said the 37-year-old linebacker.
He made it clear that, for him, leadership is about example more than speeches.
“When I say leadership, it's not a title-it's modeling. What does your lifestyle represent?
Because more is caught than taught. So it's not that people are looking for me to come in and have all the right words.
How can I be the example of what winning culture looks like? It's the way that I attack the weight room, it's the way that I study film, it's the way that I take care of my body.”
That kind of approach is exactly why Davis figures to matter for Aaron Glenn’s team. The five-time All-Pro is still producing at a high level, too. Last season, he posted a career-high 143 combined tackles, along with three passes defended and two forced fumbles.
The Jets have heard versions of this story before. Plenty of veterans have arrived with the same assignment: help change the culture.
The results haven’t followed. New York has missed the playoffs for 15 straight years, the longest active drought in the NFL, the NBA, the MLB, and the NHL.
Davis believes he can make a difference anyway, and he knows that belief is part of the job.
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