Revis the Patriot: Countdown to March 10th

RedOctober3829

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Revis certainly is getting paid well in New England, but his choice was about more than money. Two AFC teams other than the Patriots wanted him and were willing to pay him $16 million per year, according to two Revis sources, but Revis said no. Those teams weren’t legitimate Super Bowl contenders.
At 29, he’s hungry for a ring and starting to think about legacy. Revis went to two AFC Championship games with the Jets, but hasn’t been on the NFL’s biggest stage. He’s already considered one of the best cornerbacks of all time, but he wants championships. Plural.
I hear a lot from fans who are nervous about the Patriots losing Revis in the offseason because they’ll nickel and dime him and eventually lose him to a higher bidder, like what happened with Wes Welker. But in talking to Revis, his teammates and the people closest to him, the feeling is Revis Island will be making a more permanent landing in New England.
Revis likes playing for Bill Belichick. He likes the Patriots’ no-nonsense approach and professional environment. He likes the guys in the locker room. He likes competing for Super Bowls.
“It’s been everything he thought it would be,” a source close to Revis said, “and more.”
 
 
He wants to play for a perennial winner, and the Patriots are one of a few. The Patriots can always move around salary cap money, and they just freed up $24 million in cash with Brady’s contract tweak. As long as the Patriots are competitive with their offer — and after opening up their checkbook last year for him, why wouldn’t they be again? — Revis should be back next year.
 
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/01/16/onfoot/0uqBsSCQXSHCOx2WoJEOBK/story.html?hootPostID=53d0e1dc35ca36f9eb50135623c97e09
 

Ed Hillel

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NFLN stream on the bottom said Pats willing to pick up 20 million dollar option if they can't work out a longer deal.
 

Corsi

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southshoresoxfan

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Heres the thing. If you exercise option you can then Franchise tag him. So youd have him for 2yrs at roughly 33ish. Bringing the 3 year deal to 3/45. Not a worst case scenario by any means.
 

Shelterdog

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southshoresoxfan said:
Heres the thing. If you exercise option you can then Franchise tag him. So youd have him for 2yrs at roughly 33ish. Bringing the 3 year deal to 3/45. Not a worst case scenario by any means.
 
The tag the greater of the franchise amount or 120% of your current salary--so Revis would be a 24 million hit in 2016 if tagged which is pretty high. 
 
I assume they're just threatening to use the option to get him to the table for a long term deal--I think the calculation is that Revis should prefer a long term deal with the Pats when they have exclusivity in 2015 rather than take 20 million for 2015, face injury and performance risk for a year, and be a free agent in 2016.
 

RedOctober3829

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Ferm Sheller

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Might the Patriots have floated the rumor that they might pick up his option for only the purpose of serving as evidence that they want him back to bolster their tampering case against the Jets?
 

RedOctober3829

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SCOTTSDALE, Arizona -- Darrelle Revis was facing one of the more difficult decisions of his life, a free agent for the first time, teams around the NFL scrambling for his services. And while his agents and advisors and family members tended to the business of football, executing Revis' plan that would culminate with him playing for the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, the All-Pro cornerback needed to find something to occupy his time and keep his mind off the meetings and negotiations swirling around him.
In years past, when a contract holdout or impasse kept him away from the game, he'd usually find a beach somewhere to make a temporary home. This past March, however, Revis took a different approach, and spent the better part of two days tooling around South Florida on a mini-motorcycle, getting a license to operate a Vespa with the son of his agent, Neil Schwartz.
From 8 a.m. until noon Revis and Jesse Schwartz got acquainted with a big parking lot and turning and stopping, while Jesse's dad weighed offers and sorted through scenarios. The goal was putting Revis, 29, in a position to finally win again. Revis wanted to be on a contender after being dealt from the spiraling Jets to the sagging Buccaneers in 2013, and then being released from Tampa in the offseason. The Bucs opted to cut Revis before triggering a roster bonus and a condition that would cause the team to send a third-round pick to the Jets instead of a fourth-round selection. Revis needed an oasis of sorts, with his future still uncertain at the time and in the aftermath of the Bucs' decision. He found it on a Vespa.
 
"I just wanted something to get away and clear my mind and do something else to keep me busy instead of having stress or pressure on me," Revis said, finding a few minutes of downtime after Super Bowl media day in the back offices of a Whole Foods in Scottsdale after doing a promotional appearance there for Steaz, a brand of organic teas that he has partnered with. "So that's how I spent my days. And I think that's how we always handle my situations. When I was a rookie and had to hold out I was on the beach with (agent) Jonathan (Feinsod) in the Hamptons. And this is how we always approach it: Just get your mind off of it so it doesn't drive you crazy."
Revis and Jesse Schwartz took orders from a crusty old instructor named Dale to learn how to ride the bike, while the phone calls and offers came in and he grew closer to a deal with the Patriots, a team Revis had immediate interest in. "Dale was pretty interesting, he was man," Revis said. "He had his whiskers, and he could be tough, but he was pretty cool. We were grinding for two days."
 
 
 
Schwartz (the elder) and Feinsod were grinding as well, with their work resulting in a complicated two-year deal, at least on paper, that earned Revis $12M this season (he made a staggering $16M in his lone season in Tampa), with him remaining the highest paid corner in the game at the time of his signing. The creative approach resulted in what amounts to a faux contract year in 2015 (New England would have to pay Revis $20M for that season with an impossible $25M cap hit) that allowed the Patriots to have more cap flexibility in 2014 and still richly rewarded the corner. It sets the stage for what could be another flurry of free agent talks in just a few weeks -- all things being equal Revis would like stay in New England he told me -- and possibly another March where the star ends up finding a new temporary hobby or two to get away from it all.
 
Conversations with several league executives and sources provided an insight into how Revis ended up with the Patriots last March, through a series of events. It began with Tampa's owners firing their coach and general manager after the 2013 season, moving on from the men who dealt a first-round pick and more for him a few months back, and then signed him to a deal worth $16M a season. Their new coach Lovie Smith, rigidly dedicated to a zone coverage scheme, didn't see the value in paying Revis that kind of money as a lockdown man-to-man corner, and by the combine last year astute teams had determined Revis was available.
The Bucs had little leverage -- it was clear they would ultimately cut Revis rather than give up the higher pick to the Jets and to avoid a looming $1.5M roster bonus, and Revis and his agents are the rare men to have thrived, repeatedly, even when opting to hold out or not report if necessary. If perennially losing teams didn't realize that dealing for Revis, and willingly continuing to pay him $16M a year, was a lost cause -- he wasn't going to end up at some outpost -- they would soon enough.
Revis, as well as his agents, declined to speak about other teams or the specifics of any talks with them, but the list of potential suitors was long. NFL sources said the Raiders and Browns both had deals with Tampa essentially in place for Revis, but those trades were scuttled when it became clear that's not where Revis would be interesting playing. Sources said Jets coach Rex Ryan was consumed with re-acquiring Revis -- a former first-round pick of his and someone who could immediately lift New York's depleted secondary (one that ended up damning their season), but could gain no traction with his appeals to ownership and the front office.
 
Ryan's relationship with Revis is very strong, and Revis became the embodiment of the Big Apple Star Athlete during his time there, falling in love with the city and all it had to offer. Getting Revis back, and having to give up little to do so after already landing two picks from Tampa in the original trade, might have saved the doomed regime of general manager John Idzik and would have been heralded by Jets fans. The Bucs would have essentially have rehabbed Revis, coming off his 2012 ACL tear, for the Jets and New York could benefit. All of it appealed greatly to the head coach, but came at a time when Ryan's cache within the organization was waning (his job was in the balance through 2013 and he would be fired right after the 2014 season).
At one point Ryan told confidants on his staff he thought he would maybe pull off acquiring Revis "around Idzik's back" but nothing materialized and while Ryan was acutely monitoring the situation and trying to keep the Jets in the game, in reality he was losing time. Ryan made a calculated gamble that, unable to convince others in the organization to give up a draft pick for Revis, he'd be able to get them to secure him as a free agent, at a lesser salary. But sources said even that gained little traction within the front office and the Jets had quickly earned a reputation for being patient and prudent to a fault during this regime.
Had Ryan been able to generate support to move on Revis via trade or free agent, the corner would have embraced the opportunity, with some close to him maintaining the Jets were his top choice. But it wasn't meant to be.
 
By this time the agents had a good read on who the likely remaining candidates were to push for Revis's services and the more they spoke, the more the Patriots kept coming up. Getting to a winning team was paramount, one with strong ownership. Revis ended up coming up with his pecking order from the group and at the end of the lengthy discussion Schwartz gave his client some simple advice: "Don't give me an answer now, let's sleep on it."
"When Tampa decided to let me go it was going to be a process of which teams were interested in me," Revis said, "and we went down the list and tried to pick out the best playoff and Super Bowl contenders. It came down to New England and Denver and there were a lot more teams interested and Denver and New England stuck out. I didn't know much about Denver so l was leaning more to New England, because I played against them in New York and the rivalry and being familiar with Bill Belichick. And it was a no brainer at the end. I felt very comfortable with New England."
 
The Patriots were the top choice at that point, and as teams began more formal communications -- and Revis took to the Vespa -- they remained at that perch.
The Chiefs maintained a pursuit, sources said, with their defensive coordinator, Bob Sutton, a former coach of Revis in New York and someone the corner regarded highly. The Chiefs had been a playoff team and had some good pieces in place on defense, which made them worthy of consideration. The Broncos, off a Super Bowl defeat and with Peyton Manning's long-term future in doubt, were all in for 2014 and made Revis a priority, with Aqib Talib, who they eventually signed to a big free agent deal, a contingency as well.
The Patriots had become willing to let Talib go in no small part, sources said, because of Revis. The Patriots were talking to the Bucs for a while -- Tampa general manager Jason Licht is a former Pats executive who has done several deals with them in just his first year in that position -- and had a bead on Revis's trade market throughout the entire process, determining back at the combine that he was going to be released if he wasn't traded.
Dealing for Revis and playing $16M wasn't nearly as attractive to New England as doing a new deal themselves, and they gambled, correctly, that all things being equal, and with the Jets out of the mix, that they would be tops on Revis' list when he hit the open market.
 
With the mutual interest between Revis and the Patriots only growing, he began talking to owner Bob Kraft and coach Bill Belichick on the phone, and then a face-to-face meeting was set at Kraft's house in Florida with Revis and Schwartz. "It went well," Revis said. "That's what drew me in even more. I was very comfortable with the New England Patriots."
While some of the concepts with the contract became a little complicated, the nuts and bolts of the deal were hammered out in a matter of minutes. Revis would make $12M in 2014, and while the deal could be longer with additional season for cap purposes, etc, it would have to read as one-year at its core (ie, no ability to franchise or transition him in 2015). The Patriots have been thrilled with Revis's production, obviously, and while sources said keeping him at the $25M cap figure is basically impossible, Kraft will push to get him signed to a new deal this offseason before free agency officially begins in March.
 
"I love playing for Bill, it's pretty awesome," he said. "We're going to win -- that's what he offers. It's great to win and this is my eighth year and I've been through a lot -- not reaching our goals in New York and being on 4-12 team in Tampa and earlier in career in New York. So if all the stars align and everything goes well, I could be back there this offseason, or I could be moving on somewhere else. It's all fine. It is what it is."
 
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/jason-la-canfora/25002980/super-bowl-49-the-story-of-how-darrelle-revis-became-a-patriot
 

Ed Hillel

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Reading that, I really don't see him taking a paycut. Although they got a good deal this year, it turns out it's a bit of a shame they didn't throw a 7th rounder at Tampa to absorb that contract, or find a way to work Mankins into that deal. It would have freed up the money to make it possible to take the cap hit in 2014 and set them up with a pretty awesome contract going forward. I think they'll make Revis what they consider to be a fair contract before March 10. If he doesn't take it, it's 20 million or he's gone. If he hits the market, he's not coming back.
 

Jettisoned

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If Revis hits the market and signs with the Bills, their defense is going to be absolutely ridiculous next year.
 

Ed Hillel

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If Revis signs with the Bills, they may have the worst offense in the history of the league. It would be like an even more polarized version of his Jets teams (the ones that didn't suck).
 

jsinger121

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I'd be stunned if Revis is not here next year. They are going to pay him elite dollars because he is an elite player. They won't be cheap with him.
 

Super Nomario

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Ed Hillel said:
Reading that, I really don't see him taking a paycut. Although they got a good deal this year, it turns out it's a bit of a shame they didn't throw a 7th rounder at Tampa to absorb that contract, or find a way to work Mankins into that deal. It would have freed up the money to make it possible to take the cap hit in 2014 and set them up with a pretty awesome contract going forward. I think they'll make Revis what they consider to be a fair contract before March 10. If he doesn't take it, it's 20 million or he's gone. If he hits the market, he's not coming back.
His current Patriots contract is the same AAV - $16 MM / year. It's just structured so that the cap his was $7 MM in 2014 and $25 MM in 2015, which was more palatable to get under the cap than $16 / $16. I think Revis would take a longer-term deal at $16 MM / year; I think that's too rich for Belichick.
 

Ed Hillel

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Super Nomario said:
His current Patriots contract is the same AAV - $16 MM / year. It's just structured so that the cap his was $7 MM in 2014 and $25 MM in 2015, which was more palatable to get under the cap than $16 / $16. I think Revis would take a longer-term deal at $16 MM / year; I think that's too rich for Belichick.
It is the same amount for the first two years, but the great thing about that contract is that nothing was guaranteed each year. You pick up the 16 million this year, and see where you stand next. If he's still performing at this level next year, 16 million is likely under market. If he gets injured or drops off, he's gone with no financial impact. And there were still a few years left on that contract.

If 16 million AAV for, say, 4 years is too rich for Belichick then I am pretty confident saying Revis is gone, unless they pick up the option.
 

Super Nomario

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Ed Hillel said:
It is the same amount for the first two years, but the great thing about that contract is that nothing was guaranteed each year. You pick up the 16 million this year, and see where you stand next. If he's still performing at this level next year, 16 million is likely under market. If he gets injured or drops off, he's gone with no financial impact. And there were still a few years left on that contract.

If 16 million AAV for, say, 4 years is too rich for Belichick then I am pretty confident saying Revis is gone, unless they pick up the option.
I don't think anyone's going to give him that. And I disagree with your assessment of his Tampa contract. Every team had the option of trading for him, but they all passed, and while arguably he built some value back with a nice season, he's a year older, too. The big contracts at CB are Peterson, Sherman, and Haden and neither has a $16 MM cap hit at any point in their contracts. They're also all younger.
 
The interesting thing is that Revis has generally preferred maximizing the money without regard for guaranteed money. He turns 30 this summer; does he maybe exchange total dollars for guarantees / security / protection? How do Belichick and the Patriots feel about a contract with a big AAV but less guaranteed money versus lesser cap hits but more ability to walk away?
 

RememberTheGronkans

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I suspect, that if the Patriots win that game that's coming up in about oh, four, days, then Revis being in a Patriots uniform, under a long term contract, is practically a certainty. 

Now, if that game that is coming up is lost, then I say it's still likely that Revis is in a Patriots uniform next year, but likely for a bit more, and either on an option pick up or on a shorter deal. 

Something I was thinking about. Brady's new contract is only guaranteed in case of injury, I believe. Now, I may not be incredibly well versed on how the salary cap works; it's really damn complicated as far as I can tell, but assuming he can be cut with zero cap hit, what's the chance he's cut then resigned for a far smaller contract? Again, I don't know exactly how the salary cap works. 

Getting rid of a bit more several million of the cap would be huge for the Pats in their efforts to resign Revis. OTOH, there is expected to be a major cap jump in 2016 I believe, so a majorly back loaded contract with plenty of guarantees makes sense as well. 
 

RememberTheGronkans

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He can't. $18 million in 2015. $12 in 2016. $6 in 2017. These are just dead money numbers.

www.patscap.com
Well, the salary cap confuses me at times. 

Though the 12 and 6 million dollar cap hits make it kinda obvious a very heavily back loaded contract is a good idea, especially with the spike the cap itself coming up. 
 

Silverdude2167

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So why are those tweets not considered tampering?
 
Maybe Schefter is at fault for how he worded it. But he is not saying he would expect Rex to be in on it. He is saying Rex will be, which implies Rex or someone in Buffalo told him that.
 
It just goes to show you how stupid Woody was to say what he did directly, just leak it to the press. It is the NFL way!
 

GBrushTWood

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Corsi said:
 
Adam Schefter ‏@AdamSchefter  42s42 seconds ago
Jets are expected to pursue free-agent-to-be CB Darrelle Revis to see if they can bring him back to New York, per sources.
 
 
Of course they will. The goddamn owner said he intended to. He is likely going to punished for tampering. I don't understand how Schefter considers this newsworthy.
 
I'm just glad the NFL propganda department (Schefter, Mortensen, King, La Canfora) hasn't published some more inflammatory ballghazi horeshit from the league office this morning. There's still time before kick off though.  Remember when this happened the morning of the 2008 Super Bowl? Tomase published the completely fabricated Matt Walsh story about filming the Rams walk through before SB31. 
 

cgori

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Revis was interviewed on ESPN NFL Tonight (the Berman, Young, Jackson show).

He was smiling from ear to ear and seemed genuinely happy with the whole year. He was also super proud of Malcolm Butler, and clarified that NE was in "goal line / 3 CB" on the pick play, not full goal line, though they had started in full goal line and he got sent back onto the field based on the personnel that SEA had on the field.

Just a great, composed, ecstatic interview. I'm still unbelievably happy he became a Patriot.
 

Import78

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I wonder if the SB win makes him easier to sign or harder.  I could easily see him saying "I got my ring, now I want to get paid" (again).  There is a part of me (the same part that had a wistful memory of another goal line stand that was sort of important against the Colts) that says he will stay for the repeat attempt with a renegotiated contract.  
 
That part of me hopes he says: "I have played for the Jets, the Bucs and the Pats.  Is the extra few million going to be worth giving this up?"
 

Tyrone Biggums

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Pay him whatever he wants. You cannot break up the Revis/Browner duo.
 

DJnVa

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Revis had this quote last night: "It would be awesome to rejoin this team."
 
Yes, that's somewhat meaningless in the sense that he can always say later he wanted to come back but they couldn't get it to work, but he said he was crying and laughing and would be doing that all night.
 
I think he's back.
 

soxfan121

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DrewDawg said:
Revis had this quote last night: "It would be awesome to rejoin this team."
 
Yes, that's somewhat meaningless in the sense that he can always say later he wanted to come back but they couldn't get it to work, but he said he was crying and laughing and would be doing that all night.
 
I think he's back.
 
Yeah, it's also a quote that implies (correctly) that as soon as the game ended, he was basically a FA again. 
 
I love Darrelle. He has every right to get every penny he can. I hope he won't, but I know he will. 
 
Open the checkbook, Bob. Pay that man his money. 
 

johnmd20

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Revis made the difference. The Pats have been thisclose to winning the bowl in the past 7 seasons. They added Revis and made it back to the top. That was solid.
 

loshjott

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soxfan121 said:
 
Yeah, it's also a quote that implies (correctly) that as soon as the game ended, he was basically a FA again. 
 
I love Darrelle. He has every right to get every penny he can. I hope he won't, but I know he will. 
 
Open the checkbook, Bob. Pay that man his money. 
 
But he's not, he's under contract for another year.  I imagine they have been in negotiations for an extension but I highly doubt the Pats have intimated that they will release him otherwise.
 

SeoulSoxFan

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Yeah, the title change is a click bait. Jason Cole reports that "Revis really loves NY and really would consider reunion with the Jets":
 
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2352144-insider-buzz-revis-loves-nyc-strongly-considering-jets-reunion-if-let-go?
 
Not that he talked to Revis' camp, not that it's a direct quote. Conversation (if any) probably went:
 
Cole: Hey Revis, did you enjoy the time with the Jets?
Revis: That was the team that drafted me so yeah but I am a Patriot and will let the off-season work itself out. 
Cole: So then did you enjoy NYC while you were there?
Revis: I really did. It's a great city but I am thankful to be a Patriot and will let the off-season work itself out. 
 
Bleacher Report headline: "Buzz: Revis 'Loves' NYC, Would Consider Jets Reunion"
 

Ferm Sheller

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Yeah, the media does that all of the time.

Media: Hey Ferm Sheller, do you think Kate Upton would ever date you?

Me: Ha. I'd have like a one-in-a-trillion chance.

Headline: Ferm Sheller says there's a chance he might date Kate Upton.
 

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johnmd20 said:
Revis made the difference. The Pats have been thisclose to winning the bowl in the past 7 seasons. They added Revis and made it back to the top. That was solid.
Interesting debate--to use the term generously--over at GG about just how important Revis was to the team this year.  The "con" argument, in short, is that some numbers suggest he was very good but probably not a huge difference maker (or at least not enough to justify backing up the truck for a return to NY).
 
Knowledgable guys:  how do you go about assessing his impact this year?  How does that tie into the offer you make to him?  Seems a slippery task, along the lines of which/how much you value defensive metrics for baseball players.