Revis camp finally abandoned the quest for Nnamdi money
Posted by Mike Florio on September 6, 2010 7:08 AM ET
Ross Tucker of Sirius NFL Radio launched his new daily early-morning show on Monday, and in a very weak moment he decided that it would be a good idea to have me on.
So we talked about the Darrelle Revis deal and other Jets-related issues, and during the conversation Ross mentioned the reality that, in the end, Revis gave up on his attempt to match or beat the deal given to Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha.
Asomugha's deal has an average of $15.1 million; Revis' deal works out to $11.5 million, far short of the Asomugha average.
So what gives? Though some will say that the Jets persuaded the Revis camp that the Asomugha deal represents yet another crazy move by the Raiders, the more likely reality is that Revis and his agents finally conceded that being the best defensive player in the league and the highest-paid defensive player in the league are two different things. Asomugha had finished his rookie deal and he had completed a season under the franchise tag before inking a three-year deal based on the money he would have made if the Raiders had kept applying the franchise tag.
Revis had three years remaining on his rookie deal, and thus at least three years to go until hitting the open market. So Revis finally abandoned the goal of matching Asomugha's annual average.
As previously explained, the real issue was guaranteed money. Assuming that the Jets gave Revis true and complete guarantees (and not Ferguson/Mangold incomplete guarantees), Revis can now take $32 million to the bank -- and he could try to get millions more when the new deal expires, and when Revis is still on the right side of 30.