Revis and Butthead

Darrelle Revis is a free agent at the end of the 2013 season, provided he does not holdout, and provided he does not sign an extension. There has been much speculation regarding the possibility of trading Revis. Many think trading him would be insane, since you are extremely unlikely to find a talent anywhere close to Revis with the draft pick or picks you would get for him. However, if he chooses to leave via free agency then the Jets would receive only a 3rd round compensatory pick. Given that reality, if the Jets believe they are unlikely to be able to resign Revis, exploring a trade makes sense. Better to get a 1st round pick than a 3rd.

So, what are the chances Revis will resign with the Jets? The only one who can definitively answer that is Revis, and even he may not be sure. Certainly if the Jets were to offer him by far the most money he would be extremely likely to resign. Outbidding every other team nearly always gets it done. But suppose for a moment that the Jets have no intention of doing that. Suppose that John Idzik is true to his reputation and will not pay more than market value. Then what? Would that be enough to resign Revis?

If you believe what Revis says, then yes, that should get it done. Revis SAYS he wants to be a Jet for life. He SAYS he wants to be here, as long as he's paid what he's worth. But should we believe him? I would guess there are some very good reasons not to believe him. First, that is exactly what virtually every player says. It is good PR, it gets fans on your side, it puts pressure on the team to get something done. But it ain't necessarily so. Second, it's quite possible that Revis' position is evolving in this. It may well be that when the Jets were fresh off of back to back AFC Championship games and Rex Ryan looked to be the long term answer at head coach, Revis wanted to be here forever. However, now that the Jets are capped out, a 6-10 team sliding toward oblivion, with a lame duck Rex Ryan who may not be here next year and a new GM known for being frugal, Revis' calculations may have changed. What was once appealing may be becoming very unappealing.

Enter our very own Butthead, he of the most famous headbutt in Jets, if not all of NFL history, Mark Sanchez. Sanchez is pretty much the worst starting QB in the NFL. As long as he is with the Jets and competing for the starting job, the Jets' chances at being a serious contender are constrained. Revis spoke with reporters on New Year's Eve and told reporters the same thing he did last summer about this offense … that it lacked the talent to win.

"You just need to evaluate [the team] this offseason and try to get some playmakers in here," he said. "I think you need playmakers to win games. That’s just straight football talk."

Revis had criticized the organization in August when he told Newsday he wasn’t sure if the front office had done enough to provide the team with offensive weapons. Now, five months and one of the worst offenses in the NFL later, there are even more question marks regarding the offense in general and the quarterback position in particular.

Revis is getting older. He is heading into his 7th NFL season, and there is good reason to believe he may have less time in front of him after the 2013 season than behind him. Given that state of affairs, it is fair to wonder if he will consider long and hard whether the Jets offer him any realistic chance of winning a Super Bowl before he begins his inevitable decline. The way the new GM deals with the Sanchez situation may well come into play as to whether he's willing to sign up for another tour of duty with the Jets. If Sanchez remains the starting QB for the NY Jets in 2013, it is very likely Revis could grow increasingly frustrated at the organization's apparent commitment to a player that clearly cannot get the job done. Keeping him on the roster would send a not so subtle message that the Jets are more concerned with their bottom line than they are with winning, and that could be enough for Revis to decide he wanted to hit free agency and see what other teams, teams with actual NFL caliber QBs, are willing to pay for a shut down corner. If so, then Moore's butt may claim it's final casualty, the greatest Jet of them all, Darrelle Revis, as Mark Sanchez, our own Butthead, forecloses on the Jets future with Revis in the secondary. That would be the ultimate disastrous legacy of the ultimate disastrous play.