After nine NFL seasons, former first-round pick Marcus Davenport has abruptly decided to retire. Davenport played in his first game of the season on Sunday, and he ended up logging a total of 12 snaps for the Bears before making the decision to call it quits.
According to NFL Network, the 30-year-old asked to be released following Sunday's game against the Jets, which the Bears won 23-12. Davenport was credited with making one tackle during his 12 snaps on the field.
Davenport originally signed with the Bears back in mid-August with hopes that he could revive his career in Chicago. He got released on the NFL's Aug. 30 cut-down day, but the Bears did sign him to their practice squad. The veteran pass-rusher didn't see any action during the first three weeks of the season, but Chicago did finally activate him for Sunday's game against the Jets.
A career plagued by injuries
Davenport's career began in 2018, when the Saints selected him 14th overall in the NFL Draft. He ended up spending five seasons in New Orleans, and during his time there, he never quite lived up to the hype that comes with being a first-round pick. During his five years in New Orleans, he showed some flashes of his talent at times. In 2019, he started 13 games for the Saints and totaled six sacks. Two years later, he had a career season, racking up six sacks for New Orleans.
The problem for Davenport is that he just couldn't stay on the field. He ended up missing 18 games due to injury in just five seasons with the Saints. Davenport left New Orleans following the 2022 season, and unfortunately, the injury situation never got any better.
In 2023, Davenport sprained his ankle and missed a total of 13 games while playing for the Vikings. He spent 2024 and 2025 in Detroit and missed a total of 24 games with the Lions due to multiple injuries, including a torn triceps.
A big reason Davenport ended up signing in Chicago is that he thought a reunion with defensive coordinator Dennis Allen might help his career. Allen and Davenport spent five seasons together in New Orleans, including 2019 and 2021, when Davenport reached his two highest sack totals.
Saints gave up a lot to get him in 2018 NFL Draft
The fact that the Davenport pick didn't end up working out for New Orleans definitely stung the franchise, because the Saints gave up a lot to get the former University of Texas at San Antonio star.
The Saints went into the 2018 NFL Draft with one pick in the first round at 27th overall. To get Davenport at 14th overall, they had to make a trade to move up 13 spots, and as you can imagine, that wasn't cheap. In a deal with the Packers, the Saints sent their 2018 first-round pick (No. 27), a 2018 fifth-rounder (No. 147) and their 2019 first-round pick in exchange for the 14th overall pick.
After a home run draft in 2017 that included Marshon Lattimore, Alvin Kamara, Trey Hendrickson and Ryan Ramczyk, the Saints took a huge step back with their draft class in 2018.
Davenport's nine-year career will now come to an end with a total of 25 sacks in over 78 games played, which included 43 starts.
