Former Jets Starter Surprisingly Skips Town to Join Familiar NFC Foe

Jarrad Davis Jets

Getty Former New York Jets linebacker Jarrad Davis warming up with some teammates during practice.

The New York Jets linebacking corps is going to look a little bit different in 2022.

Jarrad Davis has signed a contract to return to the Detroit Lions. Adam Schefter of ESPN was the first to share the news on social media.

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So Long for Now

Davis originally entered the league as the No. 21 overall pick in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft by the Lions.

It was a roller coaster ride for the talented defender who enjoyed some good and bad years with a revolving door at the head coaching spot:

  • Seven forced fumbles
  • 10.5 sacks
  • 23 quarterback hits
  • 305 combined tackles

After the latest change, Davis no longer seemed like a scheme fit for what Detroit was running defensively and became a free agent last spring.

The Jets pounced at the opportunity making him the very first free-agent addition of the 2021 class.

After a year away, Davis has now surprisingly returned to the Lions to continue his NFL career.


It’s a Damn Shame

When Davis signed with the Jets on a one-year deal for $7 million, a lot of fans exclaimed, who?

It was surprising that he was the first call and eventual first signing the team made.

The coaching staff had a vision for what he would look like in this defense and why they could maximize his talents that were never fully realized with the Lions.

Both Robert Saleh and Jeff Ulbrich were super high on his potential, unfortunately, we never got to see it come to fruition with Gang Green.

He was running with the starters next to CJ Mosley, but an unfortunate injury during the preseason game versus the Green Bay Packers knocked him out for the first seven weeks of the season.

All in all, Davis played in just nine games and started in five of those contests. During that stretch, he registered 25 combined tackles but had no other meaningful statistics.

After being out of commission during the preseason, Davis could never seemingly find his groove and struggled to get his feet under him.

While the move was widely criticized by fans and it didn’t end up working out, it is still kind of sad.

This will forever be one of those ‘what if’ questions that’ll never be answered. How would Davis have performed if he never got injured and got the chance to run the defense?

Gang Green now has to flip the page with only six linebackers listed on the roster sheet:

Technically Jacob Martin, the new addition formerly of the Houston Texans, is also listed at linebacker but is expected to be used more so in an EDGE rushing role situationally.

With so many question marks at the position, it would behoove the green and white to add a proven veteran on the cheap to round out the unit heading into the 2022 NFL draft.


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