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Jets, Revis in dispute over career security
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By Mark Cannizzaro
August 3, 2010
Cortland, NY — The Darrelle Revis saga -- and it has officially morphed into a saga -- is quickly spiraling into a he-said/she-said battle of semantics.
New York Jets owner Woody Johnson yesterday weighed in on the Revis training-camp holdout for the first time, and insisted the primary issue between the sides is not the fully guaranteed money that Revis is seeking for career security.
Sources close to Revis, however, are adamant that the fully guaranteed money is exactly the issue and, if the Jets were willing to give him either fair-market compensation for 2010 as a short-term solution (perhaps $10 million) or a large signing bonus for the long-term deal (perhaps $30 million) -- even if it's deferred -- a deal would get done.
Johnson disputed that, saying, "I don't think [guaranteed money] is a sticking point. The sticking point is total compensation. We haven't talked really about any other of those other issues, because we're so far apart on the other one [total compensation]."
Those close to Revis insisted, however, that the security of fully guaranteed money is what he wants -- particularly after watching his teammate and close friend Leon Washington suffer a career-threatening injury last year with no new contract in place.
"If Leon Washington didn't happen," this situation wouldn't have gotten to this point, someone close to Revis told The Post yesterday.
The person said that, had Washington not been rejected for the contract he wanted and not gotten so seriously hurt and then dealt away in the offseason with no career security, it's likely Revis would have played the 2010 season for the $1 million he's scheduled to make and "trusted" Jet management to sign him to an extension later.
One perception that has been misinterpreted by some through this is the issue of Revis' final two years of the existing contract, which called for him to receive a guaranteed $20 million if the team decides to buy it out.
In other words, if Revis wanted to become a free agent after the 2010 season, the Jets would have the option of either letting him test the free-agent waters or they could opt to pay him the $20 million for 2011 and 2012, all guaranteed money.
However, if Revis were to play for the $1 million this year and then suffer a career-threatening injury like Washington's, the Jets could cut him after this year and Revis would never see that $20 million.
This is where the risk factor comes in that has Revis, seeking the security Washington never got, so committed in his stance to hold out for fully guaranteed money.
It's believed that Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum has not offered any fully guaranteed money to Revis, which has insulted him and spurred his holdout. Sources said the Jets' "Band-Aid" offer to Revis for 2010 was somewhere around $3 million -- a good $7 million short of what Revis might consider taking for this season.
Johnson addressed speculation that he has a cash-flow issue, and that's the reason he doesn't want to write a big bonus check, saying, "Cash-flow situation? I've been with team, this is my 11th year, and we've never had an inability through lack of resources to sign whoever we wanted."
Where all this leads them with Revis is anybody's guess, because this situation doesn't seem close to being resolved.
Johnson said he was going to instruct Tannenbaum to "reach out" to Revis' representatives last night to reiterate their willingness to talk and to let them know Johnson wanted to get personally involved if that would help.
Told that, a Revis confidant told The Post he was certain Revis would welcome the owner's input.
"Am I disappointed Darrelle is not here? Yes," Johnson said. "I would like everything to be clear sailing right to the Super Bowl and we win that and boom, boom, we're done.
"I'm disappointed he's not here, but the lines of communication are totally open. I'm open. If Darrelle wants me to visit him, I'll go and see him, wherever he is, and express my feelings about it."
• NFL News Archive Index:
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