Greed, selfishness... being a bonehead. These are all thoughts that came to my mind this morning when I heard the Jets owner believes Darrelle Revis will sit out the entire season. WHAT!?! The Jets have always sort of been the dark horse of NY, and while I am a Giants fan I would never project any ill will towards the Jets (unless of course they were playing the Giants). Beginning last year, the Jets made HUGE strides to turn this around. Rex Ryan, Mark Sanchez, high profile, well liked guys. No one thought they would even win 9 games let alone do what they did and make a run at the Super Bowl with a rookie coach and a rookie quarterback. Most did think coming into the year that Darrelle Revis was a solid cornerback, but by season's end he had become a stud.
This offseason, the Jets continued to make moves to better themselves. Antonio Cromartie, another Pro-Bowl cornerback shores up the secondary, while Ladanian Tomlinson was brought in to support the up and coming Shonn Greene. Tomlinson might now be the back that he once was but with a solid offensive line, and plenty of time off, the ability he brings to the table is nothing to scoff at. Lets not forget the addition of Santonio Holmes either to run along side Baylon Edwards. Yes, he is suspended for the first four games of the season, but he will be there when it matters most.
All of this equates to one thing, the priming for a strong run at the Super Bowl. So now with all this in place, arguably their best player is going to hold out for a bigger contract. Talk about impeccable timing. Now??? SERIOUSLY??? This is the second high profile hold out of the summer. The first, Chris Johnson, has since been settled. Johnson however, I would like to give the benefit of the doubt. Johnson was scheduled to receive $550,000 this year, and while the number is nothing to be upset about (I know a lot of people who would LOVE to make that much money, myself included), the fact of the matter is that he IS worth much more than that to the team. Add to that the fact that the average running back's career is roughly 2.6 years, after the stats he put up last year he does deserve to be more in line with the salary of the better RB's in the league.
Revis on the other hand is scheduled to make $6.3 million this year. Who wouldn't take that AND a solid chance to win a Super Bowl?? Let's see, $6.3 million and immortality, or fines, fines, fines... more fines, losing guaranteed money on a contract thats still valid, and tarnishing your image. Seems like a no brainer to me. Granted, I am not an NFL player and make no where near a 7 figure salary (I'm still hoping one day that will come to fruition) but when is the greed and the selfishness too much? I really do feel bad for the Jets if he doesn't play this year, and in some ways will be rooting for them to win it all more so if he does.
Generally I would agree with you, but in the NFL there are no guaranteed contracts. Which is to say, the Jets could pay Revis less than he is worth this year, and then cut him or restructure his contract if they don't like him next year. In football, where the contracts provide little insurance for the players, the players have to do whatever they can to get as much money while they can. If this was baseball, and Revis was guaranteed money for the next 10 seasons, I would agree with you. But in the NFL, where a player can sign a 10 year contract and then be released or have the contract restructured, a player has to get what he can when he can.
ReplyDeleteI heard that Revis was promised a new contract at the end of last season. Why not keep your promise? Also if Woody Johnson can hold up his team's fans for every last dollar for PSLs, what's wrong with a taste of his own medicine? Plus Mr. Johnson has been in trouble with the IRS for some tax shelter scam, sounds sketchy check it out - www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/31/AR2006073101097.html
ReplyDeleteCome on... what's the point in having a contract at all if you can just demand a new one whenever you please. He's still under contract for 3 years, yet the Jets are willing to tear that up and give him a new one. Revis won't settle for anything but being the highest paid player at his position.
ReplyDeleteEven crazier I think is that the Jets apparently offered him the 10 year deal he wants (albeit the money was off). What happens when he wants another one after 4 years? TO model anyone? I know it will never happen as he is a star player and worth a long time deal, but it would sure be fitting. At some point this needs to stop.