Stewart: Patriots Simply Failed With Darrelle Revis
BOSTON (CBS) -- At the risk of deflating my own opinion and today's exercise of hammering the Patriots for not getting a deal worked out with future Hall of Fame cornerback Darrelle Revis, I feel that Revis wanted to play for the New York Jets.
He wanted to play for the Jets last year, but the Jets didn't want him. The Patriots were his second choice. Sometimes the second choice is the right choice -- I've seen it in radio. Revis won a Super Bowl in New England. Patriots fans should be thankful.
(OK, "deflating" was the wrong term to use there.)
There are some missteps by the Patriots here and the gossip/logic/narrative that is about to go out makes me worry. If the Patriots front office, Bill Belichick specifically, viewed Revis as having only one more year of elite play left in him, then the Patriots should have picked up the "placeholder" option.
The breakdown of Revis' contract: $16 million in 2015 (fully guaranteed), $17 million in 2016 (fully guaranteed), $15 million in 2017 ($6 million guaranteed), $11 million in 2018, $11 million in 2019.
I don't buy into the cap when it comes to a top player. Look at how the Patriots played defense this season. It was great! "The Butler did it" in the end, but if the Patriots don't have Revis and Brandon Browner, does that ever happen?
Kyle Arrington is now listed as the Patriots No. 1 corner. He played like crap in the Super Bowl and was benched.
If Patriots management believes the schedule next year is easy enough where they don't need him, they've got another guess coming. I'll give you that the quarterbacks might be weak on most of these teams, but the wide receivers are outstanding:
Buffalo: Sammy Watkins
Miami: Mike Wallace
NY Jets: Brandon Marshall
Washington: Pierre Garcon / DeSean Jackson
Pittsburgh: Antonio Brown
Dallas: Dez Bryant
Denver: Demaryius Thomas / Emmanuel Sanders
Indianapolis: T.Y. Hilton / Andre Johnson
NY Giants: Odell Beckham Jr. / Victor Cruz
I'm pretty sure that Revis and Browner would help.
As far as money goes, Albert Breer said on Toucher and Rich this morning that the Jets now have to write a check to the league for $39 million. That's real money and we think the Patriots hate spending real money. They've spent less than the league requires the last two seasons and we know the Patriots didn't want to send a $24 million check to the league with regard to Tom Brady's contract. Brady, being a team player, helped the team out.
Tom has gotten a few extras from the team -- he has the TB12 Sports Therapy Center at Patriot Place, and his land in Brookline is beautiful in this winter wonderland. Maybe Revis really did want his own physical island; the town of Brookline is pretty good about helping the Patriots acquire land.
I digress. I'm shocked that the Patriots went as high as $35 million in real money with Revis. I go back to if the Patriots truly believe he has one year of elite play left, wouldn't the Patriots just pick up the one-year option? I would have. For a team that loves to leverage players, they had a great piece of leverage, a "placeholder" for next year, and they failed.
They failed!
They lost an elite player for less than $5 million.
Five million dollars!
That's frustrating!
Can we all agree that Revis is a Hall of Fame cornerback?
Here are some Hall of Fame cornerbacks who made it beyond the age of 32, in recent years, at a high level: Deion Sanders, Rod Woodson, Darrell Green, Aeneas Williams. Pretty good class right there. I feel like Revis has more than one prime year ahead of him.
All that being said, the Patriots will win the AFC East and be in the AFC Championship Game for the fifth year in a row. I just question if the Patriots Way is best for the team winning championships or if it's just best for business.
It can be both and it should be both.
Revis out. J–Stew out!
James Stewart is the executive producer of the Felger and Massarotti Show, which airs 2-6 p.m. on 98.5 The Sports Hub. Find him on Twitter @IAmJamesStewart.