The Darrelle Revis holdout is coming up on four weeks. There have been glimmers of hope, but so far there is still no resolution. As of right now, it appears this will not be resolved before the Jets season opener on September 13th. The Revis camp wants their client to be the highest paid cornerback in the league. The Jets want to sign him to a long term deal that is more accommodating to the team's future. The end result? No agreement.
Everyone has heard the arguments for both sides throughout this ordeal. Revis has three years left, the Jets promised a new contract, Revis is the best at his position, yada yada yada. No matter which side you take, one thing is clear. The 2010 New York Jets are not a shoe in for the Super Bowl, let alone the playoffs without their best player on the field. In 2009, Revis had arguably the best season a cornerback has ever had. No one on the Jets roster can even come close to replacing that type of production.
Antonio Cromartie is great...as a #2 cornerback. Kyle Wilson is great...as a nickel back. Dwight Lowery is better then average...as the dime back. The secondary would be undoubtedly the best in football with #24 eliminating half the field. Without him? Things fall by the wayside. Cromartie is not a shutdown corner. He is a high risk/high reward type of player who will make you sing his praises one play, and curse his name the next. He has never been a fan of contact and is easily one of the worst tacklers in the NFL. For the most part, Cromartie should be able to dominate #2 wide receivers, but facing the NFL's elite may not be so easy. Kyle Wilson was widely regarded as the best man-to-man cover corner in the draft and has been very promising so far in training camp. However, things will certainly get rocky once the bullets start flying for real. Rookie corners rarely, if ever, have great rookie seasons. Wilson is going to realize very quickly that covering Wes Welker is just a tad bit tougher then covering Joe Schmo of the Western Athletic Conference.
In the past, Rex Ryan has been a master of reshuffling and retooling. He has won some games without Ray Lewis and Ed Reed and his Jets defense will still be above average without Revis. That is all well and good, but the stakes are raised when your team has Super Bowl aspirations. Jets fans will realize just how much they miss #24 when their Revis-less defense is getting beaten up by Anquan Boldin, Randy Moss, and Brandon Marshall during the first 3 weeks of the season.
The AFC is a loaded conference and the AFC East is one of the toughest divisions in football. The Jets have put it all on the line this season and anything short of the AFC Championship would be a major disappointment. Without Revis, everything changes. The Jets go from a potential 1/2 seed to a team that will have to fight and claw it's way to the playoffs.
Until the Jets kick it off for real, there is a chance this deal can get done. The two sides have been playing chicken for weeks now and hopefully one side blinks first. If the stare off goes past September 13th than all hell could potentially break lose. No Revis means no division title, no Super Bowl, no championship. But hey, Jets fans have been living that way since 1969.
I understand Revis wants his money, I just cant see how Darelle doesn't feel the slightest bit selfish. He is on a Super Bowl Caliber team and they need him. Any idea when this will be resolved?
ReplyDeleteI think Revis should take the money and play.He has a contract.Would it look better on his resume to have MVP of the Super Bowl or sat out next to this season?
ReplyDeleteHey Matt,
ReplyDeletegreat piece of literature
Darrelle is getting some bad advice.. the Jets have the leverage since they already have him signed for 3 years. I get the sense that the owner is not going to be pushed too far or this contract would have been signed. Bad news for Jet fans ....
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