Nate Davis is still a free agent. Will that ever change?
The Nate Davis era is behind the Chicago Bears (and thank goodness for that).
But now that the dust has settled on the mess that it was, let’s look at Davis moving forward.
Davis isn’t a bad player, but his effort is abysmal. There’s one thing that NFL teams don’t like: players who don’t love the sport and aren’t available on game day. That is certainly how one would describe Nate Davis.
Question of the Day: Will Nate Davis ever play in the NFL again?
I think this is an interesting question to examine. I’m not trying to turn this into a Nate Davis hate column or just have the comments bash him to pieces. None of us like Nate Davis; he was one of the worst Chicago Bears we’ve seen in our lifetimes, but he’s off the team, and I just want to examine his future.
There are two sides to this. First, the NFL teams. Teven Jenkins received a 1-year deal worth $3 million because teams questioned his ability to stay on the field. Jenkins was certainly on the field a lot more than Nate Davis was over the last two years. So, if Jenkins, who has the ability, can’t find himself a starting position across 32 NFL teams, where would Davis end up?
If a team did take a chance on Davis, it would be a vet minimum deal with no money guaranteed. They would give Davis an invite to camp, and he would have to prove that he wants to be on the field, which brings us to the other side of this conversation: Does Nate Davis want to play in the NFL again?
It was clear Davis didn’t have a strong desire to get on the field in Chicago, as I reported when he initially signed in Chicago, there were concerns about that in Tennessee as well. So the question is, what does Nate Davis want to do?
Does he have any desire to play in the NFL again? He may not.
My answer: If you asked me to get inside Nate Davis’ head, and this is just my speculation, I think Nate Davis was a guy who didn’t like football, but knew it was a path to making a significant amount of money. He worked his way through his rookie contract, got the second contract that included $20 million guaranteed, and the day that was signed, he just knew he needed to show up for work for two years and collect his money. All he needed was to make sure he wasn’t in breach of contract.
That sounds rough to say about someone, but there is no evidence that shows me anything to the contrary. I know he lost his mother in 2023, and as someone who has lost both of my parents, I know how difficult that is to process, and I can’t imagine trying to do that in my 20s, so while that certainly may have played into his mental state in his first season in Chicago, it doesn’t answer why there was no improvement in 2024 and it doesn’t answer why there were similar problems in Tennessee.
So, while I’m sure if a team called up Nate Davis and offered him another $7 to $10 million guaranteed, he would happily sign the contract and show up in shorts and stand around practice for another year, we know that an NFL team isn’t going to be calling.
If an NFL team did call, as mentioned before, it would be for little to no guaranteed money, and it just doesn’t seem to be in the realm of possibility that Davis would be motivated to earn a spot with a team under those conditions.
I don’t think the NFL will ever have much interest in Davis ever again, but I think even more so, I don’t think Davis wants to play in the league again. He received his money, and I think that’s all he was looking for.
What do you say, Bears fans? Will Nate Davis ever be at an NFL training camp again? Bill Zimmerman says no! Sound off below if you agree or disagree!