Jonathan Kraft said on the radio Friday that the Patriots have interest in signing top cornerback Darrelle Revis to a long-term deal.
Kraft, who is the Patriots’ president, made the comments during an interview with “Dennis and Callahan” on WEEI.
“I think we’re about to get started on the offseason,” Kraft said via CSN New England. “He is under contract for next year. I realize that it’s probably, people understand that that’s a placeholder. We’ll get to work on trying to make that happen and hopefully both sides will want to make a deal and we’ll get that done. He’s been everything and more since he’s been here.”
There has been a common misconception that Revis will be a free agent this offseason. The truth is that the Patriots hold a $20 million option on Revis that would count against the salary cap. They can exercise that option if they want to ensure Revis is back on the team next season. They can also try to sign him to a longer-term deal that is more salary-cap friendly, which it sounds like they will try to do.
If the Patriots decide not to pick up Revis’ option and he becomes a free agent, he might have interest in returning to the Jets, and the Bills under his former coach Rex Ryan would likely be interested. We also know from his tampering comments that Woody Johnson would love to have Revis back on the Jets.
Revis helped elevate the Patriots to a top-10 defense last season and won his first Super Bowl. Will he chase bigger money elsewhere now that he got his ring? Or will he stay in New England now that he got a taste of the professional and winning culture? This will be one of the bigger storylines in the NFL this offseason.
