New England Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis is likely going to hit the free agent market next week, and there will be no shortage of teams vying for his services. It sounds like the New York Jets will be first in line to deliver a sales pitch.
According to Manish Mehta of the NY Daily News, Jets owner Woody Johnson has had internal discussions with new general manager Mike Maccagnan about making a push for Revis if and when the All-Pro becomes available.
While there will probably be at least a dozen teams trying to sign Revis, the Jets and Buffalo Bills have been consistently mentioned as New England’s steepest competition. The Bills now have Rex Ryan, who has always had a great relationship with Revis and never wanted to get rid of him. Then there’s Johnson, who has been so open about wanting to bring back Revis that he committed a tampering violation.
The Patriots could pick up a $20 million option ($25 million against the salary cap) to keep Revis for 2015, but that is reportedly not going to happen. That doesn’t mean the Patriots won’t keep him, but Revis isn’t the type who is going to take a huge discount to remain with a team.
This could be Revis’ last chance to cash in on a huge deal, so he may want to squeeze every last penny out of a team with loads of cap space, like the Jets. Or, he could decide he enjoyed winning a Super Bowl and playing with a championship contender. Either way, the Jets are not going to stand by without driving up the price on their rival.
