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Demario Davis is back for a third act.
The linebacker signed this week with the Jets, the team that drafted him in 2012 then traded for him in 2017. Davis returns as a 37-year-old and spent Thursday at the team’s Florham Park training center getting reacquainted.
“It really feels like coming back home,” Davis said.
The Jets gave Davis a two-year, $22 million deal, with $15 million guaranteed, in part because of his skill on the field but also for his leadership ability off it.
Davis is known as one of the best leaders in the NFL, and that is something coach Aaron Glenn needs on his team.
“I believe in so much of what’s being built here under the leadership of Aaron Glenn, aka A.G., and for myself as a leader, this was the mission that I was excited to step into,” Davis said. “I never realized that leaving here I felt like the mission personally was a little incomplete. Getting a chance to step back into it and what’s being built, I’m super excited about that. I think there’s a ton of great things on the horizon for this organization. You can already see glimpses of what’s being built.”
Davis called it a “no-brainer” to come back once it was clear he was not returning to the Saints, the team he has played for since 2018.
“I know what it means to be a part of the Jets family,” Davis said. “I know what it means to wear these colors, to wear this brand and it means a lot coming back. … It’s great to be back and be a New York Jet. Everyone should be fired up for what’s ahead.”
Davis and Glenn have crossed paths before. Glenn was a scout when Davis was drafted by the Jets. Glenn was a young assistant coach when Davis spent a year with the Browns then was a member of the Saints staff when they signed Davis.
Davis said he believes in Glenn and thinks he can help him turn the culture with the Jets.
“I think we just have to keep doing what he’s preaching,” Davis said. “I think he’s preaching all the right messages. It sounds like there’s a locker room of guys who have bought into what he’s coaching. We’re just being brought in to help reinforce that. If anything, use our voice to turn up the volume.”
Davis is predicting big things from the Jets.
“[Glenn] has the vision. He has the mission,” Davis said. “All we have to do is hold this thing steady and we’re going to come out the other side and I think it’s going to shock the world.”
Free agent safety Tony Adams agreed to a one-year deal with the Titans, a source confirmed. He is the latest former Jet to reunite with coach Robert Saleh in Tennessee.
