Before everyone pissed off the league office with blatant tampering during the legal tampering period, I figured the Jets would not have to surrender a heck of a lot for their tampering. Now that the league needs to make an example of someone, I expect a harsher punishment. I still don't expect a first or second rounder without evidence of them contacting Revis, but a third isn't out of the question.
Unless there's evidence that the Jets contacted Revis than I seriously doubt it. All Woody said was he'd like Revis to come back. Every team would like that. Revis wanted to go back home and he'd be stupid not to test the market anyways. Obviously Woody tampered but getting the Jets first round pick is insane. Is there anyone in the NFL world that thinks this is fair punishment? The only people that think the Pats should get a first round pick are Pats fans.
No, that is not "all he said" he said that and he said
1. That he would have signed Revis for the contract that he signed for in NE. That is notifying Revis thru the media that 2 years and 32 mill is not a problem.
2. That they made a mistake in not signing him and the guy who made that mistake is no longer there, I fired him.
3. And to counter the "woody is just too stupid and did not know it was tampering" He was just warned by the league last year regarding comments he made to the media about Desean Jackson.
4. Then to compound the issue, The jets FO leaks internal discussions that the owner is pressing the GM to sign Revis. Not to fix the secondary but to sign Revis. This is reported by Mehta and attributed to jet sources. No public disclaimer is issued even though such a media leak is in itself tampering.
5. The weekend of the Negotiations between the pats and Revis, Mehta once again publishes what the jets offer will be and is only wrong by 1mil of guaranteed money.
The rule makes no allowances for "grades" of tampering. There are three scenarios mentioned,-
A. directly B, thru an agent C, thru the media.
Now as far as damage to the Pats negotiating position.
1. The jets were his#1 team on his list to play for. He said so withing days of signing with the pats, he did not sign there and with the pats only because the jets said they were not interested.
2. Woody's press conference now puts the jets in the drivers seat, with the owner saying a mistake was made, 2 years and 32 mill is no issue, we want you back.
3. Just like last year, when Revis turned down other teams to go to the pats, it could be assumed with reason, that he would prefer to stay with the pats again over any other team than the jets, as long as he was the highest paid corner in the game. The pats were certainly prepared to do so.
4. If Woody said at that press conference that Revis caused him more problems than what he was worth and he was looking forward to a new 'jet age" that did not include Revis, Reviswould have signed with the pats. The only thing IMO that caused him not to sign was the staeement of interest by Woody and the subsequent leaked offer.
I don't think that a switch of 1s is called for either. Too much tampering goes on to punish 1 team so harshly, but this is so much worse than the detroit case where an asst coach made a comment to a media type that that punishment should not be considered as a precedent.
