ESPN First Take - How Much Better Does Darrelle Revis Make The Jets ?
The money mattered.
The Patriots lost superstar cornerback Darrelle Revis to the Jets because their rivals offered substantially more money, a source told the Herald yesterday.
Surely, Revis was enticed by the possibility of winning back-to-back Super Bowls with the Patriots, and there had been a strong feeling around Revis for several months that he would have returned to the Pats if the money was close because winning was his priority.
But when the dust settled Tuesday night and the Patriots were left with a crater in their secondary, their unwillingness to approach the Jets five-year, $70 million offer, which included $39 million in fully guaranteed money, was the trump card. As the sayings go around locker rooms, players cant pay for groceries with Super Bowl rings, and legacies arent accepted at the cash register.
So, after multiple conversations, here is how the Patriots lost Revis one year after he was the highest-profile free agent acquisition in franchise history.
To set the stage, Revis and the Patriots both viewed their two-year, $32 million pact as a one-year, $12 million contract. The Pats added the second year to split up the cap implications, with a $7 million hit in 2014 and an assumed $5 million in dead money against the cap in 2015. That was the price of doing business.
As the season progressed, there was some quiet discussion the Patriots would consider exercising Revis option, which would come with a $25 million cap hit in 2015, if negotiations werent progressing and it was financially feasible to do so. Though Revis preferred a long-term deal, he would not have been ticked over that outcome because he would have earned $20 million in cash to defend the crown. Of course, as the Patriots were significantly up against the cap, the option was not seriously considered.
Revis had no desire to enter negotiations during the season, but both sides began to work together at the scouting combine in Indianapolis, where impending Pats free agents were universally given the impression Revis was the priority.
The Pats had both the cap room and the cash flow. After declining the options for Revis, Brandon Browner and Vince Wilfork, NFLPA records showed the Patriots had $17 million in cap space. Revis will have a $16 million cap hit in 2015 with the Jets, but the Patriots could have chopped down that number by a considerable margin if they gave him a signing bonus. And because Tom Brady gave the team a break last season by slashing the full guarantees in his contract, the Patriots had an additional $24 million in cash flow because it was freed up from the leagues escrow account.
Early this week, though, the Patriots came to the realization they were not going to meet Revis contractual wishes. Now, unlike Browner, the Pats did not give Revis permission to explore his value around the league while still under contract. So, if Revis did have discussions with the Jets prior to Tuesday at 4 p.m., that would be viewed as tampering, which is a charge the Pats already filed due to Jets owner Woody Johnsons comments about his interest in Revis in December.
It took less than five hours after he officially became a free agent for Revis agency to announce his agreement with the Jets, so that appeared relatively quick for such a substantial contract. However, remember it only took the Patriots five hours to agree to their deal with Revis last year after he was cut by the Buccaneers.
The Patriots played a strategic poker game Monday and Tuesday after relinquishing their hope on Revis. Publicly, they gave off the impression they were still in on Revis, but they essentially hoped the Jets would be bidding against themselves. The Patriots did not make any additional offers for Revis on Tuesday before the deadline.
So, why release Browner at the same time if they knew Revis was gone? They simply didnt feel he was a fit in their system.
And that is how Revis spurned the Patriots to return to the Jets.
Source: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/patriots_nfl/new_england_patriots/2015/03/why_darrelle_revis_left_patriots_for_jets
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