{"id":729920,"date":"2026-02-04T23:33:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T23:33:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/729920\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T23:33:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T23:33:20","slug":"demario-davis-keeping-options-open-as-free-agency-approaches-saints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/729920\/","title":{"rendered":"Demario Davis keeping options open as free agency approaches | Saints"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 With free agency approaching, Demario Davis was non-committal about his future with the New Orleans Saints<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

During interviews at the media center for Super Bowl LX, the star linebacker expressed his love for the city of New Orleans but reiterated that he is keeping his options open after eight years with the Saints.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Orleans is home for me,\u201d Davis said. \u201c\u2026 But the business has to play how the business plays out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis, 37, completed the final year of a two-year, $17.25 million contract this past season. He will be a free agent if he and the Saints don\u2019t work out a new deal before March. If a new deal isn\u2019t reached, his contract will void, leaving nearly $14.3 million in dead money on the Saints\u2019 2026 salary cap.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe front office in New Orleans has always been amazing,\u201d Davis said. \u201cI’ve never felt the need to try to negotiate publicly. They’ve been a hundred percent professional, and I respect that. They talked about that they want me back and that means a lot to me. \u2026 What happens on the field and the business of the game will never impact who I am and how I show up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis has said repeatedly that he wants to finish his career<\/a> with the Saints, who signed him as a free agent in 2018. He was less committal during an interview with Kay Adams on Fanduel TV last week, saying he was \u201ccoming back to the NFL\u201d in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow that plays out, we shall see,\u201d Davis said, later adding, \u201cI\u2019m just trying to ride it out. I\u2019m good with whatever happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis is coming off one of the best seasons of his 14-year career. He recorded a career-high and team-leading 143 tackles, which tied for 10th in the NFL. He tied for the team lead with two forced fumbles and added six tackles for loss.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast season was incredible, man,\u201d Davis said. \u201cI got a chance to do all the things that I care about, be an elite linebacker, helped elevate the defense, serve the community and help elevate the game forward and move the game forward. We get a chance to play in Paris (in 2026), (and I) got a chance to be on that initial delegation, so moving our game forward. All those things mean the world to me, and those things won’t stop. Our work in the community will never stop in New Orleans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saints general manager Mickey Loomis told reporters at the Senior Bowl<\/a> in Mobile, Alabama, last week that he wants Davis back in New Orleans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love Demario,\u201d Loomis said. \u201c\u2026 I hope he\u2019s back, but we\u2019ll get through that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis will attend the NFL Honors show on Thursday night, where he is the Saints\u2019 nominee<\/a> for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award. It\u2019s the third time Davis has been nominated for the honor, which recognizes players for their charitable endeavors in the community. Davis and wife Tamala\u2019s Devoted Dreamers Foundation has become his primary off-field focus during his tenure in New Orleans. The organization works to improve the lives of local youth by helping them grow spiritually, mentally and physically.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Orleans is home for me,\u201d Davis said. \u201cIt’s an incredible city that has loved my family so well, and we love it back.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 With free agency approaching, Demario Davis was non-committal about his future with the New Orleans…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":729921,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2076],"tags":[7,4095,896,55,2572,2571,6,397],"class_list":{"0":"post-729920","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-orleans-saints","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-hardwall","10":"tag-new-orleans","11":"tag-new-orleans-saints","12":"tag-neworleans","13":"tag-neworleanssaints","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-saints"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116014980586105608","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=729920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/729921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=729920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=729920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}