Revis Island can be a lonely place for receivers. At the moment it’s also a lonely place for a Darrelle Revis. The man who was hands-down the best defensive player in the league last year is not practicing or spending time with his teammates, and it HAS to be a frustrating way to follow up such a great season.
As a fan, I always seem to pick a side when there are holdouts or contract disputes. Last year I thought that Michael Crabtree was making a stupid mistake holding out, and I still think that. In Revis’ case, it’s not so black and white.
Revis is playing on the rookie deal he signed that pays him $30M over 6 years. That’s not gutter money. While Revis’ base salary is only $550,000 this season, he got $5M in bonuses in 2007 and another $6.9M in bonuses between 2008 and 2009 (according to NYJetsCap.com). The big issue is his final two years, which are voidable, but the Jets could buy them back for $15-20M depending on certain incentives. The guy has made, and will make some sick money, it’s just that he wants to be paid like Nnamdi Asomugha.
As Bill Simmons’ put in his latest column, the only advantage owners have now is when a player outperforms his contract. That’s definitely the upside for the team. The downside comes when they sign a player to a big contract and he never lives up to it, but it’s easy to cut players in the NFL and only the signing bonus money is lost along with a cap hit.
So the argument really boils down to one question. Did Revis’ outperform his rookie contract badly enough that he deserves a re-negotiation?
Rather than rehashing what many other writers have covered, just take a look at this article put together by Tim Graham of ESPN (the table is below). Revis took every team’s #1 receiver out of the game. Given that it was against players such as Randy Moss, Andre Johnson and Reggie Wayne, we can safely say that he was more restrictive to receivers than belts are to Albert Haynesworth.
Receivers vs. Darrelle Revis And Rest Of The NFL
| Week | Receiver | vs. Revis (Rec-Yds-TD) | Avg vs. rest of NFL | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andre Johnson, Texans | 4-35-0 | 7-105 | 9 |
| 2 | Randy Moss, Patriots | 4-24-0 | 5-86 | 12 |
| 4 | Marques Colston, Saints | 2-33-0 | 5-70 | 9 |
| 6 | Terrell Owens, Bills | 3-13-0 | 4-76 | 4 |
| 10 | Mike Sims-Walker, Jaguars | 3-49-1 | 4-54 | 7 |
| 11 | Randy Moss, Patriots | 5-34-1 | 5-86 | 12 |
| 12 | Steve Smith, Panthers | 1-5-0 | 5-70 | 7 |
| 13 | Terrell Owens, Bills | 3-31-0 | 4-56 | 4 |
| 15 | Roddy White, Falcons | 4-33-0 | 5-75 | 10 |
| 16 | Reggie Wayne, Colts | 3-33-0 | 7-82 | 10 |
| 17 | Chad Ochocinco*, Bengals | 0-0-0 | 5-70 | 9 |
| *Snapped streak of 120 consecutive games with a reception | ||||
In the Football Outsiders Almanac 2010, Bill Barnwell compares Revis’ performance (using Yds per pass) to Peyton Manning passing for 5,532 yards, Maurice Jones-Drew rushing for 2,000 yards or Brandon Marshall racking up 1,922 yards receiving.
So yes, Darrelle was good last year. Damn good.
For further proof, take a look at the chart below to see how his 3-year stats compare to other top corners in the league and their salaries. I also included Dunta Robinson because he was the most recent corner to sign a free agent deal.
Just as a refresher, Success Rate is better when it’s high and measures the CB’s ability to stop his receiver from gaining 45% of the yards needed on 1st down, 60% on 2nd down and 100% on third. So if Revis was covering a WR on 3rd and 8, and let him catch the pass for 5 yards and a punt, that is a success. Catches aren’t as important as first downs.
Revis’ 2009 season definitely blows away any other season on this chart. Bailey’s best season since FO started game charting is 2006 (62% SR and 5.8 yds/pa), Woodson’s was 2008 and Asomugha’s 2007 was the season everyone anointed him the best corner in the NFL.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Revis’ is the best corner in the NFL right now, but he’s really only been at that level for 2 years, and possibly has 3 years left on his deal. At ~$5m per year (based on the Jets buy-back price) he’s definitely a value deal for the Jets, but he’s not free either. For Revis’, the big money doesn’t really kick in until next season so he’s likely worried that an injury this year could wipe out the big payday.
Revis’ insistence on being paid Asomugha money is absurd though. Asomugha is extremely overpaid, and just because Al Davis is a few plays short of a playbook doesn’t mean every team should follow suit. The more realistic contract is likely Dunta Robinson’s.
The argument has been made that the Jets will play well with or without Revis. They will play good defense without him, but anyone who thinks he can be replaced talent-wise is smoking more than Turtle and Johnny Drama combined.
In this ESPN Insider article, KC Joyner argues that the Jets other CB’s also had great seasons in Yards per Attempt and that in the past, when players like Champ Bailey had a great season, the other corners on the team didn’t. Revis follows the #1 receiver all over the field, while most corners play only on one side of the field. The reason the Jets other CB’s looked better is because they NEVER had to face the opposition’s best player. Revis effectively shielded them from top competition.
Joyner further states that the Jets pressure scheme funneled plays towards Revis because he was always in single coverage. He then goes out on a limb to say that since Cromartie intercepted 10 passes in 2007, that the Jets could get a lot of interceptions if Cromartie replaces Revis. What he failed to mention was that Cromartie has only 15 career interceptions in 4 seasons, so 2007 was likely a career year, with a lot of luck. He’s never had more than 3 interceptions in any other season in his entire career. Furthermore, Cromartie hasn’t been over a 50% success rate in the last 3 seasons.
Cromartie can replace Revis as well as I could replace Brad Pitt in Fight Club.
My Recommendations
Revis has drastically outperformed his contract, but needs to be conscious that the Jets should get some value from him for it and don’t want to be held to Asomugha’s ridiculous contract figure.
The Jets need to realize that Darelle Revis is the centerpiece of their defense and is in his prime as he just turned 25 a month ago. He could hold down their defense for the next 5 or 6 years.
Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum should offer Revis a contract extension for 3 years at $11M per season, but tack on an extra $15M as a retroactive “Defensive Player of the Year” bonus to acknowledge the fact that Revis got robbed when the award went to Charles Woodson.
Revis gets his ego massaged (by the DPOY bonus), and some short-term guaranteed money, and the Jets get the best corner in the league for $20m over the next 3 years and $11m per year after that (plus bonus).
No related posts.