One in a series of articles that will also appear in the New York Jets 2026 Yearbook, which will be published this summer.<\/p>\n
The Jets’ young and promising linebacker corps received an injection of veteran leadership with the return of Demario Davis<\/a> in free agency this offseason.<\/p>\n This will be Davis’s third stint with the Jets. The 15th-year veteran was drafted by the Green & White in the third round of the 2012 draft, spent four years with New York, signed with the Browns in 2016 and returned in 2017.<\/p>\n “Leaving a few years ago, I felt the mission personally here was a little incomplete,” Davis said. “This is my third time around, but this time I come back very different, very purposeful, very clear on vision, on who I am.”<\/p>\n Davis departed again from the Jets in 2018 and signed with New Orleans, where he spent the past eight seasons and earned two Pro Bowl nods and All-Pro recognition five times, including as a first-teamer in 2019.<\/p>\n “This wasn’t a happenstance situation,” Davis said about his return to the Jets. “This was a choice, knowing who I am and what I am called to be. I know what I’m stepping into this time around. I know what I’m bringing into a locker room. I know I play the game at an elite level. I know every year I’m trying to play better than the prior year.”<\/p>\n Davis will play alongside veterans Jamien Sherwood<\/a>, Marcelino McCrary-Ball<\/a> and promising second-year backer Kiko Mauigoa<\/a>. A big change will be the departure of Quincy Williams, a Jet the past five seasons, in free agency.<\/p>\n Sherwood, in his second season as a starter since he was drafted in 2021, is the only player in the NFL to record 150-plus tackles in each of the last two seasons. He was named team MVP in 2024 and finished fourth among all defenders in total snaps played in 2025.<\/p>\n