Content available exclusively for subscribers
Any of you who follow me on Twitter, might know that I ripped
. . . the Jets pretty bad over their handling of Demario Davis.
Here is the tweet:
“I give the Jets high marks for the Josh McCown, Trumaine Johnson, Isaiah Crowell, Spencer Long and Teddy Bridgewater moves. I give them an “F” for Demario Davis (who I have no relationship with – no agenda here). Saints jumped on him. The film doesn’t lie. This is nothing against (Avery) Williamson who I think will be solid.”
After the Jets signed Avery Williamson instead of Davis to fill the ILB spot next to Darren Lee, Davis rebounded nicely to today signing with the New Orleans Saints for three-years and $24 million deal with $18 million guaranteed.
The Saints probably looked at the film from last year and said, “We can’t believe they let him leave, let’s jump on this cat.”
New Orleans is a great spot for Davis and his family because he’s from nearby Mississippi. This is the closest NFL team to where he’s from, so a lot of friends and family will have a chance to see him play.
Davis led the Jets in tackles (135) and sacks (five) last year. He also emerged as the leader of their defense. He was the usually the guy giving the Jets’ pregame speech on the field before the game. He’s a true alpha dog, and he was a big reason, along with Josh McCown and Jamal Adams, why the Jets’ football culture improved so much last year.
Remember, when Davis first joined the Jets as a third-round pick out of Arkansas State in 2012, Rex Ryan compared him to Ray Lewis as a leader.
And last year, Davis did a terrific job of helping the Jets deal with the whole anthem controversy. While it became a distraction with other teams, the Jets avoided this.
Davis was also involved with the player counsel that was working with the league on this issue.
This is a special guy, people.
And I want to make it clear, just like I did in the tweet, that I have no relationship with him. There is no hidden agenda here with me promoting a source or friend, which is common in my business.
I just go by what I see.
The Jets let their best linebacker walk – I’m talking inside and outside.
Look, I’m not putting Davis in Canton. He’s a very good player, not a great one, but this is a guy who loved being a Jet, and actually took a pay cut to come back last year. He wanted to retire a Jet.
I have to admit, I never saw this coming. I thought it was as slam dunk he was coming back.
I’m not saying the Jets should spend silly money on him, but what the Saints gave him seems like a fair offer.
The Jets couldn’t do that?
And honestly, I blame the owner a little bit on this one.
I know the owner isn’t a football guru, and he should leave the football stuff to his football people for the most part.
But in this case, he had a close relationship with the player, and he knows how much the player meant to the organization, on- and off-the-field last year.
I will give you an anecdotal example of the Johnson-Davis relationship.
I was talking to Christopher Johnson on the Jets’ sideline at a practice last year, and he excused himself a few minutes into the conversation and said, “I need to go over and talk to Demario.”
He talked to Demario all the time.
When the negotiations weren’t doing well, why couldn’t the owner say, “Mike, let’s try to work this out. Don’t overpay, but meet in the middle.”
Like I blogged today, the Jets negotiated with Ryan Fitzpatrick into the summer of 2016, they couldn’t have negotiated a little longer with Davis, but had to rush to the register to pay Avery Williamson?
Look, the Jets will live to see another day without Davis.
But from a culture standpoint, from a leadership standpoint, from a production standpoint, this Davis thing baffles me.
I thought NFL player personnel was a meritocracy – you do your part, and you are taken care of.
In this case, that didn’t happen.
March 14, 2018
Premium will return by 9:30 pm on Thursday.