Todd Davis was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New Orleans Saints back in 2014. Later that year, he was released and ended up joining the Denver Broncos.
Since then, Davis has risen the ranks in the organization and become not only a starter at linebacker — but a star.
However, in a surprising move – the relationship is over. According to Mike Klis of 9News on Twitter, the Broncos cut Davis on Friday, not even two weeks before the start of the regular season.
Davis has emerged over the last few seasons. He racked up 114 tackles (six for loss) in 2018 and 134 tackles (six for loss) in 2019.
There was some injury concerns for Davis (missed two games last season) that some believe may have led to the cut. However, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network took to Twitter to dispel any of those thoughts.
Davis is healthy, so it has nothing to do with that. However, it appears that Denver is saving quite a nice chunk of cash by making this move.
And trading for Austin Calitro made cutting Davis without losing too much production possible.
Now, Calitro has not put up the same type of numbers as Davis over the past few years. But he has only been in the NFL for two seasons and has already had pretty decent production.
In fact, his first two seasons are a big improvement over the first two for Davis. So maybe Denver is hoping he can break out in a similar way to the veteran.
Meanwhile, Davis will likely have quite a few phone calls coming his way. He has proven over the last few years that he can anchor the middle of a defense. And not just any defense, but a good one at that.
Still just 28 and now deemed healthy, Davis could be a major boost to a number of defenses. Don’t be surprised if a contender decides to pick him up, hoping he is that final piece to a championship run.