Darrelle Revis believes he’ll be back in the NFL in 2017. Specifically, he seems to think he’ll be a member of the New York Jets next season. But does he want to be there?
“I’m under contract,” Revis said, per Daniel Popper, NY Daily News, when asked if he’d be back in action. “So I’m still playing.”
Those certainly don’t sound like the words of a man who’s excited about playing football.
To be completely fair to Revis, this may not be the ideal time for him to talk about his football future. Two years ago at this time, Revis was a member of the New England Patriots, preparing for a trip to the playoffs that eventually yielded a Super Bowl victory.
A year ago, Revis and his New York teammates were preparing for a Week 17 game against the Buffalo Bills where a win would have placed the Jets in the playoffs.
New York lost that game to miss the playoffs. Since then, it’s been a bumpy road for Revis and the Jets. Gang Green never got on track in 2016, sputtered to a 1-5 start and now sits at 4-11. That’s a massive drop off compared to where Revis and his squads were at this time in each of the last two years.
Revis has also played well below his standards in 2016 and is clearly not the dominant corner that he once was. The end of a disappointing season is more likely to yield frustrating answers than logical ones.
But Revis’ answer begs another question. Do the Jets want him? His effort has not always been sharp, as you can see here. It was reported in November that New York wasn’t likely to bring him back, which you can read about here.
Revis is under contract through the 2019 season. He’s technically owed $15.3 million for 2017, and a shade under $11 million for both 2018 and 2019. Should the Jets cut Revis, though, they’d only be on the hook for $6 million of 2017’s number, and none for the final two seasons of his current deal.
So while cutting Revis would certainly be felt, it’s not an outrageous possibility. Given the success (or lack thereof) of the 2016 season, regrouping with a younger roster is a logical option for New York. Revis is a soon-to-be 32-year-old cornerback who repeatedly gets burned on deep routes. Players like that don’t exactly fit in with many rebuilding plans.
While Revis may technically be under contract, New York can take care of that. Should that happen, we’ll find out how bad Revis really wants to play in 2017 and whether it will even be at cornerback.