SHAKE YOUR MONEY FAKER
No point in Jets trying to get $6M back from Revis after arrest
Darrelle Revis is wealthy due to his ability to divorce himself from sentimentality. He’s a business man driven by the bottom line in a cutthroat, big-boy industry. His top priority has — and always will be — Darrelle Revis.
The Jets should take a page out of his playbook, forget about the good ol’ days, and finalize this divorce in the wake of an ugly late-night street fight in Pittsburgh that has prompted police to file four first-degree felony charges and one misdemeanor against the cornerback.
The powers that be, however, evidently believe that they have one important order of business to take care of first.
The Jets have done their homework on how to recoup the final $6 million of guaranteed money in Revis’ contract should they cut him. The deadline to make a decision before this headache surfaced had always been March 10, the second day of the 2017 league year, when Revis was owed a $2 million roster bonus. The organization and player would need to come to an agreement on a restructured deal (aka — pay cut) prior to the March 10 payment.
Only $6 million of Revis’ $13 million base salary in 2017 is guaranteed, so the no-brainer offer from the Jets if they wanted him to return was to slice the base salary to the guaranteed portion. Revis had little leverage before getting into hot water. Now, he has none.
What team would touch a soon-to-be 32-year-old cornerback (who shied away from contact, gave terrible effort on tape and was a sieve in pass protection last season) with this dark cloud hanging over his head?
An NFL spokesman told the Daily News in an email on Friday morning that “we’re looking into the matter.” The league will likely wait until the case winds through the courts before deciding on any discipline.
The Jets need to cleanse themselves from the Revis stench as soon as possible.
A league source told The News that there’s no clause in Revis’ blockbuster five-year, $70 million contract that would allow the Jets to void the deal if the player is charged with a felony. That makes sense, of course, but what happens if Revis is ultimately disciplined (via suspension or fine) by the league? Could the team re-coup any of the guaranteed portion of his 2017 salary if he is found to have violated the league’s personal conduct policy?
The league source told The News that the Jets would have a solid case to recoup the $6 million if Revis is ultimately suspended… as long as he remains on the roster at the time of the disciplinary action.
It’s unclear how long this matter will wind through the legal system before there’s a resolution, but it makes little sense for the Jets to hold onto Revis with the hope that they might
reclaim his guaranteed money. He’s simply not worth the distraction.
Woody Johnson isn’t in the business of wasting his money, but it’s important to weigh the benefits of eating the money. Due to financial realities of the salary cap, the earliest the Jets would likely feel comfortable cutting Revis would be the start of the new league year on March 9.
In the meantime, more accounts of the scuffle that involved at least eight people that took place around 2:30 a.m. Sunday on Pittsburgh’s South Side will surface.
The criminal complaint obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette stated that 22-year-old Dallas Cousins, one of the alleged victims, suffered broken bones around his eye. After Cousins, who was taking cell phone video of Revis on the street, and 21-year-old Zacheriah Jarvis were knocked out (it’s unclear who punched them), Cousins’ friend approached the scene and told police that Revis had his hand balled up in a fist and said, “I got more guys coming. Do you want to be next?” Another man was with Revis at the time.
A police officer on the scene examined the video on Cousins’ cell phone before concluding that Revis had been involved in the incident. It’s unknown Rat this point what Revis did or didn’t do that night. evis’ attorney, Blaine Jones, contends that the cornerback wasn’t the aggressor and that this was a case of self-defense. Revis turned himself in to police Friday and reported to Municipal Court in Pittsburgh. Either way, the Jets need to steer clear of this circus. The sooner the organization distances
itself from Revis, the better.