Jets veteran cracks NFL Top 100
For what it’s worth: The NFL Top 100 may be the silliest list of List Season.
The honor is voted on by the players. And when I say vote, past first-hand experiences suggested it was mostly guys scribbling names down on a piece of paper that was handed to them by a team PR staffer 45 seconds earlier.
But they do it every year because, hey, easy summer content! So here we are.
The first local player to make the cut in 2026? Recently-returned Jets linebacker Demario Davis. He comes in at No. 95.
After five straight years on the NFL Top 100, the venerable Davis was absent in 2025. His final season with the Saints led to a return to the all-star squad on his way back to the Jets, who signed the 14-year NFL veteran whom they drafted in the third round back in 2012. The two-time Pro Bowler set a career high in tackles during his age-36 season, helping to rally a young New Orleans squad down the stretch. He’ll be looking to lend his wisdom — and tackling prowess — to New York this fall.
The Jets more or less committed to two years with Davis by giving him the deal they did, so they had better hope he can maintain this level until age 39.
James Kratch is a veteran sports reporter and editor. He currently reports on the youth sports industry for Buying Sandlot and was previously ESNY's managing editor. Before that he spent a decade at NJ Advance Media (The Star-Ledger and NJ.com), where he covered high school sports, the Giants and Rutgers.
