Revis holdout is the right move

Who knew that all of that talk of “Revis Island” meant that Darrelle Revis would truly be by himself?

Revis’ holdout is almost two weeks old, with no end in sight.  The latest move in the stalled contract talks?  Coach Rex Ryan’s idea of a town hall meeting featuring Revis, his agents, Ryan, Jets’ owner Woody Johnson, and the entire Jets roster.

Yes, its really come to that.

Although the two sides released a statement today to continue any further negotiations in private, the public can already guess what the issue is…guaranteed contract money.

Or rather, the lack of guaranteed money within Revis’ contract.

Revis is entering the 4th year of his rookie contract, with a 2010 salary of approximately $1 million dollars.  Since he’s already held out past August 10th, a contract clause turns the $20 million dollars he would have received in 2011 and 2012 ($5 million and $15 million respectively, assuming the Jets would have bought back the last two years of his rookie contract) from guaranteed money to non-guaranteed money.

So, to recap…the best cornerback in the league is in the middle of his rookie contract.  As he enters year 4, both sides agree that he’s out performed that contract and that the deal needs to be restructured.  Revis, (the Jets as well) believes himself to be the best cornerback in the league and wants to be paid as such.  Oakland Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha is currently the league’s highest paid CB, making approximately $16.5 million a season.  The last reported offer by the Jets would have paid Revis $120 million over a 10 year time period, an average less than Asomugha’s, which Revis rejected. But its not the total monetary amount that is the point;  it’s the guaranteed money.  Football contracts have long been structured where a player is set to receive some exorbitant amount of money in the last years of their contract, but the money is not guaranteed.  And in a league where the average player only plays four years, and the chance of injury is basically 100%, players have to get as much money as possible before their careers are done.

Which brings us to the problem:  The Jets are looking at total compensation and Revis is looking at guaranteed money…and both sides are millions of dollars apart.

The Daily News has learned the Jets have had a 10-year, $120 million offer on the table for months as one of their two proposals. Although the Jets continue to insist “we are flexible on how the guaranteed money is structured, including the areas of signing bonus, roster bonus and option bonus,” they have not yet attached a specific dollar figure to any guaranteed money.

The Jets say they need to agree to the total compensation before negotiating the guarantees. It’s hard to argue with a $120million deal that contains sufficient guaranteed money, which would be about $25 million-$30 million. (via The NY Daily News)

Why the Jets care about total compensation when they can back end the contract with an outrageously high, non-guaranteed number, and cut Revis before he ever gets to that contract year is beyond me.  But, if you’re Revis, why not just take the deal?  Again, it goes back to the guaranteed money.  If the Jets offer a $120M contract but only put a guarantee of $5 million in the first year, and make all other guarantees contingent on playing through the first year, if Revis is seriously injured he only gets $5 million dollars.  That bit of logic is exactly the same reason why he should be holding out for a better contract now, instead of playing through the season and renegotiating later.  Just ask Leon Washington.

Leon Washington was negotiating his “big deal” with the Jets in 2009, couldn’t get it done, and played for his $1.1 million base salary instead, with the hope of doing a new deal after the season was over.  Washington was subsequently injured, missing most of the 2009 season.  He never signed his large contract, and was ultimately traded by the Jets.

Washington is making $1.8 million this season.

If for some reason Revis suffered serious injury this season, there is nothing to say that he wouldn’t be in a situation similar to Washington; I personally would almost expect it.  Of course, there’s another contract wrinkle to consider…the looming lockout.

If the league does lockout the players, as expected, then Revis’ expected $5 million deal in 2011 is obviously in jeopardy (no football = no money).  A prolonged lockout leads to other issues: bills to pay, lifestyles to maintain, whatever.  It also makes Revis another year older, which could mean a lot for an elite cornerback.  And there is always the possibility of injury, regardless of activity.  Not knowing that you have guaranteed money coming your way always puts you at risk of being released with nothing to fall back on.

I’m certainly not saying that the Jets need to sell the team to pay Revis.  But I do believe that all parties involved believe that Revis is the best CB in the NFL, and they both believe that he has out performed his rookie contract.  That all being said, maybe the Jets need to stop looking at the big picture (total compensation), and focus on the smaller details (guaranteed money) so they can get this situation resolved.

Hopefully, now that the matter has gone private, that will happen sooner rather than later.

Tags: Darrelle Revis, guaranteed money, hold out, New York Jets, NFL

Category: Football