USA TODAY International Edition
NOW HE CAN MAKE JETS PAY
Revis set to return against team that didn’t lock him up
TAMPA Darrelle Revis threw up his hands, shook his head and chuckled, gesturing to indicate he bore absolutely no responsibility for the act.
But the new Tampa Bay Buccaneers star had to admit it was a striking image.
A fan showed up at the New York Jets preseason home opener Aug. 17 wearing an old, doctored- up Revis jersey. The nameplate above the No. 24 on the green Jets jersey, aided by masking tape and a black marking pen, read: Refund. Images of the stinging message to Jets management got national media play.
“That was not directed toward me,” Revis told USA TODAY Sports, standing outside the locker room at One Buccaneer Place recently. “It was towards management. They have to deal with that. Not me.”
“I asked questions, and I didn’t get the answers that I needed to get for my future and my career.” Darrelle Revis, on why the Jets didn’t sign him to a long- term deal
The Jets dealt Revis, 28, arguably the NFL’s best cornerback, for firstand third- round draft picks in April.
And money, albeit not in the sense of a ticket- buyer looking for an exchange, was undoubtedly part of the equation.
The Bucs, trying to improve a pass defense that ranked last in the NFL in 2012, granted Revis his wish to rank among the league’s highest- paid players, signing him to a six- year, $ 96 million contract — just the type of mega deal the Jets had no stomach for.
Now look who’s headed back to Met Life Stadium for a big comeback appearance on multiple levels Sept. 8.
Revis is expected to make his return from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the regular- season opener against his former team. The football gods must have quite the sense of humor.
“I will be very emotional,” Revis said. “I’m an emotional person, anyway. I’m a Cancer.”
The three- time all- pro insists he has no hard feelings for the Jets, which is the type of thing departed players contend while trying not to provide bulletin- board material.
But there was a time when Revis, a seventh- year veteran, thought he’d play his entire career with the franchise. When asked why the team guided by new general manager John Idzik didn’t work to lock him up on a long- term basis, he seemed put off by the months- long saga of trade rumors and uncertainty.
“You’ve got to ask them,” he said. “They didn’t ever give me a legitimate answer. I asked questions, and I didn’t get the answers that I needed to get for my future and my career. So I was just in limbo.”
That suspense is over now, but the next chapter of Revis’ career begins with a chance for a shot against the Jets.
“Yeah, we’ll take care of that,” Revis said.
This isn’t the first time a Jets star wound up with the Bucs. In 2000, the Jets traded star receiver Keyshawn Johnson for two first- round picks.
“The common denominator was money,” Johnson, vacationing in Maui, told USA TODAY Sports during a phone interview. “He wanted money. I wanted money. Tampa Bay needed a player for their defense in his case. Tampa Bay needed the missing piece to their offense in my case.
“I guess the moral of the story is that if you’re a star in New York and you want more money you get moved.”
Revis, who held out for all of training camp in 2010 over his previous contract, got his new deal with a price tag that is even more impressive when considering he’s coming off a torn ACL. The Bucs were convinced Revis’ knee was sound after getting the results of an MRI that occurred a week before the trade.
“On the MRI, we saw how the ACL was attached,” Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik told USA TODAY Sports. “If it had been Month 3 or 4, when he was not running, we would have had questions about the attachment, how it was growing and filling in.”
Satisfied on the health front and with ample room under the NFL’s $ 123 million salary cap, the Bucs — who also signed free agent Pro Bowl safety Dashon Goldson and drafted Mississippi State cornerback Johnthan Banks in the second round — got the centerpiece for a secondary screaming for an overhaul.
Said Dominik, “This was a round peg in a round hole.”
Still, there’s a catch for Revis. Technically, just $ 1.5 million of his whopping deal is guaranteed in an NFL marketplace that is notorious for its salary- cap cuts and restruc- tured contracts, i. e. pay cuts.
Revis didn’t even get a signing bonus. Instead, the deal brokered by Dominik and agent Neil Schwartz is structured to pay $ 13 million salaries for each year, with $ 3 million annually in roster and signing bonuses.
If, for instance, Revis doesn’t rebound from his knee injury as the premiere shutdown cornerback he has been throughout his career, there is no massive salary- cap hit that would be a factor if the team elected to part ways with him.
On the other hand, there’s obviously no way Revis is going anywhere this year. As a vested veteran, he is guaranteed his salary after making the 53- man roster. So that’s an essential guarantee of $ 16 million ( with the bonuses).
And given their investment of draft picks, it’s tough to imagine the Bucs cutting him loose next year, barring injury.
Yet the risk exists. It’s the NFL, where the next play could always be a player’s last.
“I’m taking the risk, telling the organization that I believe I’m coming back to play elite football,” Revis said. “If that’s not the case, then I’m helping the organization out. I’m not holding them hostage in any way.
“So the risk and the reward is, at the end of the day they have to make a decision every year whether to keep me or not. That’s why the deal was so unique. A lot of players wouldn’t take the risk. They would want the guarantee.”
But Johnson, an analyst for ESPN, scoffs at talk of a significant risk for Revis.
“Even if they cut him next year, do you not think he can get $ 10 million ( a year) on the market?” Johnson said. “As long as he’s healthy, he can get market rate.”
Time will tell. As long as he’s healthy. In the meantime, Revis embraces the idea of banking on himself, with the contract reflecting his in- your- face style of football.
He earned the nickname “Revis Island” for the Jets’ penchant of placing him in man- to- man coverage against the opponent’s best receiver — alone on an island, so to speak — while freeing creative space for the overall defensive schemes and blitz packages.
Revis, 5- 11, 198, is a special cornerback because he’s strong enough to bully receivers physically while also able to use a quick, agile burst to generate big plays.
As Revis began participating in 11on- 11 team drills in mid- August, Goldson said he was most impressed with how Revis made quick breaks to get his hands on the ball.
“He’s not that far off from making plays,” Goldson said. “He’s not even 100% yet. So the sky’s the limit.”
Bucs coach Greg Schiano similarly mentioned the explosive acceleration while envisioning how he would try to create more opportunities for Revis to make plays. Schiano said he wouldn’t use Revis exclusively in man coverage but would provide him safety help in zone coverages, allowing for risk- taking chances on passes.
“I think that gives a player some mental rope,” Schiano told USA TODAY Sports. “When you play 70 plays in man ( coverage), it’s all on you. It’s nice to get a few when you are topped by a safety, where you can take some shots on a guy and get physical.”
For a coach needing to fix a leaky secondary, Schiano probably could not have done any better than he did this offseason to bolster the ranks around last year’s first- round pick, hard- hitting safety Mark Barron.
When this was mentioned as Schiano sat in his second- floor office, he smirked.
“Well, you can get Revis before he gets injured, right?” he said. “Then you don’t have to wait and see if he’s going to be fine. But the reality is we probably couldn’t get him if that doesn’t happen.”