Darrelle Revis vs. New York Jets: Breaking Down the Battle

Added on Aug 11, 2010 by Eric Galko in

NFL

The New York Jets are faced with this year’s major “Contract Holdout”. Every year it seems like one or two major players holdout for a new contract.

However, this is the first time in a while where I think I’m siding strongly one way or the other. Obviously, when it comes to NFL contracts, there is a lot to discuss, and I’ll break the whole situation, argument by argument, point by point, and contract by contract, right here.

Revis’s Argument: Nnamdi Asomunga’s Contract
Most of this whole renegotiation has to do with the enormous amount of money the Raiders gave their top cornerback, and maybe the NFL’s top cornerback (named to the All-Decade Team from 2000-2010), Nnamdi Asomunga. His contract details are below:

First two years, starting in 2009: 28.6 million dollars total.

Third year (2011): 16.875 million OR the franchise tender for quarterbacks, whichever is higher.

What does that all mean? It means that Asomunga is being paid like a quarterback, and in his third year, he’ll be paid like a top quarterback. That’s an awful lot for a 2nd tier position player, and the Jets aren’t afraid to blame this whole situation on the unwisely spending of Al Davis.

Jets’ Counter Point: Nnamdi Asomunga’s Situation
The difference in Asomunga’s situation and Revis situation is this: Asomunga has served his time. He played through his rookie deal in Oakland, and was franchised in 2008 by the team. Because the Raiders weren’t willing to give him a long-term deal, they were set on franchising him.

Obviously, like most top tier players who are franchised, Asomunga didn’t like that at all. He was going to threaten the Raiders with a “trade me” request, but sides had a different idea. They landed on giving Asomunga his next two year’s “franchise tender” in a short term deal. That way, the Raiders weren’t locked in but Asomunga got his money. The third year is a team option, and while that 16.875 million looks like a lot, for all we know, the cornerback tender could be up there by then.

Either way, Revis has only played two years of his four year rookie deal in New York, and the Jets have a very reasonable point to make him play that out for at least one more year. Still, his 1 million dollar salary is a bit too little for a player of Revis’s calliber.

Jets’ Argument: Lack of Money Left for New Deal
The Jets have been extremely aggressive these past two off-seasons. In 2009, they acquired big-time salary cap eaters and big time NFL defenders Kris Jenkins and Bart Scott, so that sucked up some long term money. Then this off-season, they signed Braylon Edwards to a one year deal, and Tomlinson and Jason Taylor to two year deals. From those three alone, that’s 13.5 million in salary in year one.

Plus, they resigned their left tackle of the now and future in D’Brickashaw Ferguson to an 8 year, 73 million dollar deal, and need to pay their Pro Bowl center Nick Mangold very soon as well. So with a total of 95.6 million dollars spent this summer on the aforementioned players, how can Revis’s ask for and expect a lucrative deal THIS off-season?

Revis’s Counter Point: Leon Washington’s Injury
Well first off, Revis isn’t a quarterback or on the down-slope of his career, so he’s more focused about his well-being then overall team structure. Not saying he doesn’t want to win, but his play isn’t all that impacted by the salary and play of others.

Second, look no further than Revis’s former teammate and close friend, Leon Washington. Washington held out in training camp because he was slated to make only 500,000 in his 3rd season, and definitely deserved much more. The Jets held strong and both sides agreed to wait until the end of the season. While you can’t blame the Jets for the broken femur injury that would threaten Washington’s career and lead him to be expendable as the Jets traded him to Seattle, you can see why Revis would be concerned. Sure, he’d like to put his ego totally aside and show his dedication, but because the NFL is so violent, you can’t knock on him for wanting what he deserves.

And while 1 million dollars sounds like a lot, if he gets a career ending injury, he’ll have to live on that one million dollars until he can find a new job outside of football. I don’t know if he deserves 15 million a year, but for a top notch defender, he deserves some stability for his family and for his future.

Revis’s Argument: Rex Ryan’s Praise
The loud mouth of Rex Ryan is always hungry for some media attention and national headlines, but in one situation he may have hurt his team. Ryan came out repeatedly last season and made it very clear that Revis was the best defensive back in the NFL and maybe the best defensive player in the NFL.

While that is a great complement and probably not that far off, when it came time to discuss a new contract and Revis asking for top cornerback money, he can site his coach as a source for why he deserves it. It was a generous thing to say and probably meant alot to Revis as a player, but it may have hurt the contract situation more than some realize.

Jets’ Counter Point: Talent, Depth at Cornerback
The drafting of Kyle Wilson at the end of round one was surprising for two reasons. One, there is no way he should have fallen that low. He was close with Joe Haden on most team’s boards, and I think a few surprise picks forced Wilson to slip dramatically.

Two, they already had one of the top cornerback duos in Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie, along with Dwight Lowry and other capable cornerbacks. Why did they need another one?

Whether or not they planned for a Revis holdout is almost moot, but now it seems it works pretty well in the leverage department. While obviously the team would love to have Revis in the lineup in Week One, Wilson and Cromartie are a more than capable duo at cornerback, and they can play together for a few weeks until this Revis situation gets over with..if it gets over with.

Final Verdict: Show Revis the Money
I don’t think their is any question that Revis deserves a raise eventually, and while most fans and the Jets would rather see it next year when his contract would be near up, it’s happening now and there’s no changing that.

And while Revis doesn’t deserve Asomugha money quite yet (again, another year would help his case), he should get something close to that with an incentive to reach that number. While my opinion may mean nothing when it comes to the Jets negotiations (scratch that, definitely nothing), here is the contract I think makes the most sense for both sides.

First year: 15 million

Second year: 10 million–Incentives: 7+INTs=2 million bonus–DPOY finalist=4 million bonus

Third year: 10 million–Incentives: 7+INTs=2 million bonus–DPOY finalist=4 million bonus

Total Contract: 3 years, 35 million with 12 million in incentives

His contract would start a lot like Asomunga’s in year one, but after that, he’ll have to prove himself each year to stay at that level.

Disagree? Leave your comments below.