Demario Davis

Demario Davis (born January 11, 1989) is an American professional football linebacker for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Jets in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft. He played college football for the Arkansas State Red Wolves. Davis has also played for the Cleveland Browns and New Orleans Saints.

Early life and college Davis' mother gave birth to him when she was 16, and his father was a career enlisted soldier in the US Army and combat veteran. Davis attended Brandon High School in Brandon, Mississippi, where he was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and track. In football, he played mostly wide receiver as sophomore and junior, helping lead the team to its 14th playoff appearance in the last 16 years with a 7–5 record. As a senior, he recorded 81 tackles, six interceptions and one sack, while also receiving over 30 passes for 386 receiving yards with four scores. He was also a starter on the Brandon basketball team and competed as a high jumper with the varsity track & field team. He was named to the Clarion Ledger All-Metro team in football.

Davis played college football for the Arkansas State Red Wolves. He recorded a team-leading 80 tackles as a sophomore and earned various all-conference honors in his junior and senior years.

New York Jets (first stint) 2012 The New York Jets selected Davis in the third round (77th overall) of the 2012 NFL draft. Davis was the tenth linebacker drafted in 2012. On May 31, 2012, the Jets signed Davis to a four-year, $2.81 million contract with a signing bonus of $618,000.

Throughout training camp, Davis competed against veteran Bart Scott for the job as the starting weakside linebacker. Head coach Rex Ryan named Davis the third-string backup weakside linebacker to start the regular season, behind Bart Scott and Josh Mauga.

He made his professional regular season debut in the Jets' season-opening 48–28 victory against the Buffalo Bills. In Week 6, Davis was promoted to the Jets' primary backup weakside linebacker role after Josh Mauga was placed on injured reserve after tearing a pectoral muscle the previous week. On October 21, 2012, Davis earned his first career start in place of Bart Scott and recorded a season-high seven combined tackles during a 29–26 loss at the New England Patriots in Week 7. He remained as the starting weakside linebacker for the next two games (Weeks 8–10) as Bart Scott recovered from a toe injury he sustained in Week 7. He finished his rookie season in with 36 combined tackles (31 solo) and a fumble recovery in 16 games and three starts. He registered 15 of his tackles while playing on special teams. Head coach Rex Ryan named Davis and David Harris the starting inside linebackers to begin the regular season in 2013.

He started in the Jets' season-opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and recorded eight combined tackles in their 18–17 victory. On November 3, 2013, Davis made four tackles, deflected a pass, and made his first career interception during a 26–20 win against the New Orleans Saints in Week 9. In Week 13, he collected a season-high ten combined tackles (six solo) in the Jets' 23–3 loss to the Dolphins. He finished the season with 107 combined tackles (63 solo), a pass deflection, a sack, and an interception in 16 games and 16 starts. On September 14, 2014, Davis recorded six combined tackles and sacked quarterback Aaron Rodgers twice in the Jets' 31–24 loss at the Green Bay Packers in Week 2. In Week 10, he collected a season-high 12 combined tackles (11 solo) and broke up a pass during a 20–13 victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was his fourth game with over ten combined tackles in 2014. He finished his third season with 116 combined tackles (79 solo), five pass deflections, and 3.5 sacks in 16 games and 16 starts.

2015 Head coach Todd Bowles chose to retain the Jets' starting linebackers and officially named Davis, Harris, Coples, and Pace the starters to begin the regular season. In Week 3, he collected a season-high 13 combined tackles (six solo) in the Jets' 24–17 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The following week, Davis made a season-high two pass deflections and a tackle during a 27–14 win at the Dolphins in Week 4. Davis finished the season with 90 combined tackles (57 solo), two pass deflections, and two sacks in 16 games and 16 starts.

Cleveland Browns

Davis became an unrestricted free agent after the 2015 season and reportedly received interest with multiple teams, including the Cleveland Browns.

On March 16, 2016, the Cleveland Browns signed Davis to a two-year, $8 million contract that includes $4.10 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $2 million. Head coach Hue Jackson named Davis and Christian Kirksey the starting inside linebackers to begin the regular season, along with outside linebackers Nate Orchard and Emmanuel Ogbah.

He made his Cleveland Browns' regular season debut in their season-opener at the Eagles and recorded seven combined tackles in their 29–10 loss. He finished his only season with the Cleveland Browns with 99 combined tackles (59 solo), two pass deflections, and two sacks in 16 games and 16 starts. Davis became expendable after Browns' defensive coordinator Gregg Williams switched to a base 4–3 defense that required a single middle linebacker. They also acquired Jamie Collins from the New England Patriots and had Christian Kirksey and Joe Schobert develop into viable starters.

He entered training camp slated as a starting inside linebacker, but saw competition from Bruce Carter, Julian Stanford, Spencer Paysinger, Frank Beltre, and Connor Harris. Head coach Todd Bowles named Davis and Darron Lee the starting inside linebackers to begin the regular season.

He started in the Jets' season-opener at the Bills and collected a season-high 14 combined tackles (eight solo) and was credited for half a sack in their 21–12 loss. On September 24, 2017, he recorded a season-high 11 solo tackles, assisted on a tackle, and deflected a pass in the Jets' 20–6 win against the Dolphins in Week 3. In Week 14, Davis collected 13 combined tackles (ten solo) and half a sack during a 23–0 loss at the Denver Broncos. He finished the season with a career-high 135 combined tackles (97 solo), a career-high five sacks, and three pass deflections in 16 games and 16 starts. He earned an overall grade of 87.3 from Pro Football Focus and received the eighth highest among all qualified linebackers in 2017.

New Orleans Saints 2018 Davis became an unrestricted free agent in 2018 and received interest from multiple teams as he was considered to be the top linebacker available in free agency. Davis stated he intended to return to New York and considered the Jets his home. The Jets and Davis failed to reach an agreement and Davis claimed the Jets never officially made him contract offer, but it was possibly due to his asking price. On March 19, 2018, the Saints signed Davis to a three-year, $24 million contract with $16 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $9.20 million.

In Week 4, Davis recorded 11 tackles, two for a loss, and two sacks in a 33–18 win over the New York Giants, earning him National Football Conference Defensive Player of the Week.

2019 In Week 10 against the Atlanta Falcons, Davis recorded a team-high 11 tackles and sacked Matt Ryan once in the 26–18 win. He earned first team All-Pro honors for the 2019 season. He was ranked 67th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2020.

2020 On September 12, 2020, Davis signed a three-year, $27 million contract extension with the Saints.

In Week 1 against the Buccaneers, Davis recorded his first sack of the season on Tom Brady in the 34–23 win. In the Week 3 against the Packers, Davis sacked Aaron Rodgers in the 37–30 loss. In Week 10 against the San Francisco 49ers, Davis recorded a team high 12 tackles and sacked Nick Mullens once during the 27–13 win. He was ranked 64th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2021.

2021

Davis appeared in and started 16 games for the Saints in the 2021 season. He finished with three sacks, 105 total tackles (75 solo), and seven passes defended. He was ranked 74th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2022.

2022 On June 24, 2022, Davis signed a one-year contract extension with New Orleans. Davis played in all 17 games for the Saints, and was on the field for all 1,132 defensive snaps played by the team. In doing so, he became the only linebacker to do so in 2022, and the first to accomplish the feat since Jordan Hicks did so for the Arizona Cardinals in 2019. He was named as a Pro Bowler for the first time. He was ranked 43rd by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2023.

2023 Davis started in all 17 games for the Saints in the 2023 season. He finished with 6.5 sacks, 121 total tackles (74 solo), four passes defended, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. He was named as a Pro Bowler for the second consecutive season. He was ranked 44th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2024.

2024 On March 11, 2024, the Saints agreed to terms of Davis' contract, extending him through to 2025. Davis missed the first game of his career due to injury in Week 4, with a hamstring malady causing him to be absent from a matchup against the Atlanta Falcons.

2025 Davis started all 17 games for New Orleans during the 2025 campaign, registering three pass deflections, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, 0.5 sacks, and a career-high 143 combined tackles.

New York Jets (third stint) On March 12, 2026, the New York Jets signed Davis to a two-year, $22 million contract with $15 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $7.5 million.

Career statistics Legend Led the league Bold Career high NFL

Regular season Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck PD Int Yds Avg Lng TD FF FR Yds TD 2012 NYJ 16 3 36 31 5 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 1 −4 0 2013 NYJ 16 16 106 63 43 1.0 1 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2014 NYJ 16 16 116 79 37 3.5 5 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2015 NYJ 16 16 90 57 33 2.0 2 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2016 CLE 16 15 99 59 40 2.0 2 0 0 0.0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2017 NYJ 16 16 135 97 38 5.0 3 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 1 12 0 2018 NO 16 16 110 74 36 5.0 4 0 0 0.0 0 0 2 1 0 0 2019 NO 16 16 111 87 24 4.0 12 1 1 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2020 NO 16 16 119 73 46 4.0 5 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2021 NO 16 16 105 70 35 3.0 7 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2022 NO 17 17 107 54 55 6.5 6 1 4 4.0 4 0 0 1 0 0 2023 NO 17 17 121 74 47 6.5 4 0 0 0.0 0 0 1 1 20 0 2024 NO 16 16 136 69 67 2.0 7 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2025 NO 17 17 143 64 79 0.5 3 0 0 0.0 0 0 2 1 0 0 Career 227 213 1,536 951 585 45.0 61 4 5 1.3 4 0 6 9 28 0

Postseason YearTeamGamesTacklesInterceptionsFumbles GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck PD Int Yds Avg Lng TD FF FR Yds TD 2018 NO 2 2 22 14 8 0.0 1 1 1 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2019 NO 1 1 7 4 3 0.0 2 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2020 NO 2 2 14 12 2 1.0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0Career 5 5 43 30 13 1.0 3 1 1 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0

College

Awards and honors NFL First-team All-Pro (2019) 4× Second-team All-Pro (2020–2023) 2× Pro Bowl (2022, 2023) Pro Bowl Defensive MVP (2023) NFL solo tackles co-leader (2017) Bart Starr Award (2021) 6× NFL Top 100 — 67th (2020), 64th (2021), 74th (2022), 43rd (2023), 44th (2024), 95th (2026) NFC Defensive Player of the Week (Week 4, 2018) His cousin was former NFL quarterback Steve McNair. Davis married in 2012 and has five children, 4 girls and one boy, with his wife Tamela. During the 2019 season, Davis was fined $7,000 by the NFL for wearing a headband in Week 3 with the words "Man of God" on it, though the fine was later repealed.

Davis's devotion to community service has earned him recognition as the New Orleans Saints’ nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award in 2020, 2022, and 2025. Along with his wife Tamela, he founded the Devoted Dreamers Foundation and launched the Devoted Dreamers Academy, a youth leadership and development program designed to equip students with tools for success through education, mentorship, character building, and life skills. Additionally, Davis has worked with the 18th Ward to launch a leadership development program to work in teams to fix real world problems in the New Orleans area.