Patriots Sign Defensive Back Sean Davis to Practice Squad

The versatile defensive back has history of playing both safety positions, as well as cornerback.

Following last week’s trade of cornerback Stephon Gilmore to the Carolina Panthers, the New England Patriots find themselves in need of help in the secondary. As first reported by Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, The Patriots have signed safety Sean Davis to the practice squad. The Pats hosted the veteran defensive back for a workout on Tuesday.

Davis was a second-round draft choice (no. 58 overall) of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2016 NFL Draft out of the University of Maryland. The 27-year-old has played in 73 games, making 47 starts, including postseason. Throughout his career, Davis has compiled 287 tackles, 3.5 sacks, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and five interceptions.

The 6-foot-1, 202-pound defensive back enjoyed his best season as pro in 2017. Davis achieved career highs in interceptions (three), passes defended (eight), tackles (92) and tackles for loss (seven) as Pittsburgh’s starting strong safety. He switched to free safety the following season.

Following a brief stint with the Washington Football Team, Davis returned for a second tour of duty with Pittsburgh in 2020, where he predominantly contributed on special teams. In 2021, he spent time with both the Indianapolis Colts’ and Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squads. Davis has been a standard elevation to the gameday roster for both teams this season.

Though Davis has primarily played at the safety position for much of his collegiate and professional career, Davis possesses a notable degree of versatility. Following a strong performance at the 2016 NFL combine, many NFL analysts projected Davis to be a second or third round selection in the 2016 NFL Draft. Davis had played at safety for the majority of his time at Maryland. However, he switched to cornerback for his senior season. Still, multiple teams and scouts had Davis listed as a safety instead of cornerback because of his size, athleticism, and tendency to give up big plays in coverage. At the time, it was reported up to 19 NFL teams were interested in him. Prior to the draft, Davis had visits with multiple NFL teams, including the New England Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick.

Davis joins an impressive depth chart at safety, including team captain Devin McCourty, Kyle Dugger and Adrian Phillips. New England also has slot/safety hybrids Myles Bryant and D’Angelo Ross on its practice squad. At corner, the Pats employ J.C. Jackson as its primary option. Jalen Mills, Joejuan Williams, Shaun Wade and slot corner Jonathan Jones fill the depth chart.