{"id":261354,"date":"2026-01-02T12:00:58","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T17:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=261354"},"modified":"2026-01-02T07:11:55","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T12:11:55","slug":"saints-demario-davis-future-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/01\/02\/saints-demario-davis-future-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"Saints Legend Addresses Uncertain Playing Future"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis is finishing his 14th year in the league, and the two-time Pro Bowler made it clear he plans to return for a 15th. While the former third-round pick is on the older side, he&#8217;s still one of the game&#8217;s better and more reliable linebackers. Through the first 16 games of the season, Davis has recorded 137 tackles, six tackles-for-loss, and the sixth-best PFF grade among eligible linebackers.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/nick_underhill\/status\/2006848375472484532\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nick Underhill of NewOlreans.Football<\/a>, Demario Davis told the Saints media he will return for at least one more season, but it&#8217;s worth pointing out that he will be a free agent at the start of the 2026 league year. While the Saints obviously want him back, Davis&#8217;s comments suggest he won&#8217;t accept a team-friendly deal if a better offer is out there.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think in terms of the business element before the business element presents itself,&#8221; Davis said. &#8220;We&#8217;re in a game where contracts do matter, but that&#8217;s such a small part of your career.&#8221;<\/p>\n        <div id=\"chuck-game-e6e86594\" \n             class=\"chuck-game-container\" \n             data-game-id=\"28a5b1e3-ce06-481d-ade8-d863049ad5a8\"\n             data-game-type=\"lastout\">\n            \n            <!-- Loading State -->\n            <div class=\"chuck-game-loading\">\n                <div class=\"chuck-spinner\"><\/div>\n                <p>Loading game...<\/p>\n            <\/div>\n            \n            <!-- Game Content (injected by JS) -->\n            <div class=\"chuck-game-content\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/div>\n            \n        <\/div>\n        \n 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src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/Demario-Davis-Saints-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Demario Davis Saints\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/Demario-Davis-Saints-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/Demario-Davis-Saints-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/Demario-Davis-Saints-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/Demario-Davis-Saints-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/Demario-Davis-Saints-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/Demario-Davis-Saints-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/Demario-Davis-Saints-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-261358\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dec 28, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis (56) celebrates a sack against the Tennessee Titans during the second half of the game at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Demario Davis Will Play In 2026, Could Leave Saints<\/h2>\n<p>Based on his comments, it&#8217;s clear Demario Davis isn&#8217;t too worried about negotiating his next contract, and there is a good chance he&#8217;ll re-sign with the Saints. After all, the team needs someone at the center of their defense, and it&#8217;s unlikely Davis breaks the bank heading into his age-37 season. The future is bright with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/12\/15\/is-tyler-shough-the-long-term-answer-for-the-saints\/\" target=\"_self\">second-round pick Tyler Shough<\/a> under center, as the rookie looks like the real deal and should have this team in the thick of the NFC South race next year.<\/p>\n<p>New Orleans does not have a championship roster, but it could make the playoffs next year. The NFC South is notoriously weak, and there&#8217;s a case to be made that the Saints could have won the division this year had they started Shough from Week 1, instead of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/08\/26\/spencer-rattler-named-the-saints-starter-fantasy-football-fallout\/\" target=\"_self\">second-year quarterback Spencer Rattler<\/a>. Having a franchise quarterback on a rookie contract is one of the biggest competitive advantages in sports, so re-signing an older veteran like Demario Davis makes sense for both sides.<\/p>\n<h3>Other Potential Fits<\/h3>\n<p>Of course, there is a chance Demario Davis leaves for greener pastures in a few months. While it&#8217;s admittedly unlikely at this stage in his career, other teams could offer him more money or a better chance of ending his career with a deep playoff run.<\/p>\n<p>While anyone could make a move for his services, the Los Angeles Chargers seem like the best fit. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/12\/02\/former-top-3-bust-could-draw-significant-interest-after-justin-herberts-injury\/\" target=\"_self\">Quarterback Justin Herbert<\/a> and head coach Jim Harbaugh have already clinched a playoff spot, and the team has over $103 million in cap space for the upcoming season. If the Chargers play their cards right, they could have one of the league&#8217;s most talented rosters next year. Injuries derailed them in 2025, yet they still made the playoffs. Imagine what they could become once everyone&#8217;s healthy and all that money is invested in fortifying the depth chart.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main Photo: Steve Roberts &#8211; Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis will not retire and plans to return to the field for the 2026 season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":261359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,28,6431],"tags":[2553,7659],"class_list":["post-261354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-saints","category-nfl-teams","tag-demario-davis","tag-saints-featured"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261354"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":261361,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261354\/revisions\/261361"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}