Think about how dangerous the San Francisco 49ers are on defense. Now think about how much worse it could get for opposing offenses if they added Darrelle Revis to the mix.
By trading Alex Smith to the Kansas City Chiefs on Wednesday, the Niners are expected to add a second-round draft pick to the stockpile of selections they already have in 2013. If Kansas City sends a second-rounder to San Francisco, that will give Jim Harbaugh’s team 12 picks in the upcoming draft. More importantly, the trade gives them five of the top 93 picks.
With a divorce between Revis and the New York Jets looking more inevitable by the day, the Niners have put themselves in a prime position to offer the type of compensation New York would be seeking in exchange for its star corner. As Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports pointed out, the Niners have expressed interest in a number of top cornerbacks already, so they are certainly in the market for one. In 1994, San Francisco signed some guy named Deion Sanders to a one-year contract and went on to win the Super Bowl.
According to CBSSports.com’s Clark Judge, it is widely believed that it would take at least a first-round pick to pry Revis away from the Jets. However, a number of GMs feel that a second-round pick would be a good place to start, given the fact that Revis is coming off major knee surgery and New York seems to have no intention of keeping him around after his contract expires next season.
For what it’s worth, Sports Illustrated’s Jim Trotter does not see the Niners acquiring Revis. Trotter said that the team does not typically do the one-year rental thing and doubts they would shell out the necessary cash to keep Revis long-term.
The Niners marched their way to the Super Bowl earlier this month, but their secondary was torched in the playoffs. Joe Flacco threw for 287 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in the big game, which is one of the reasons the Baltimore Ravens are Super Bowl champions. Whether San Fran is willing to pay what it will take to get Revis remains to be seen. But if they do pull the trigger, the best team in the NFC will get that much better.
Photo credit: Kevin Hoffman-US PRESSWIRE
