Someone please explain to me again why Darrelle Revis held out of the New York Jets training camp hoping to become the highest paid cornerback in the NFL.
After signing a new deal reported to be $46 million over four years with $32 million guaranteed, Revis’ annual average compensation remains a distance second to Oakland Raiders corner Nnamdi Asomugha.
Based on everything I’ve read, Revis was said to want as much if not more than Asomugha since most insiders agreed that the Jets Pro Bowler was the best corner in the NFL.
Asomugha is in the second year of a three-year deal with the Raiders that calls for him to earn $14.25 million this season and at least $16.875 million next season.
Unless my math skills have failed me, Revis will earn $2.75 million less this season and $5.375 million less in 2011, meaning his hold out didn’t achieve the desired goal, at least from a total compensation standpoint.
Revis did get more guaranteed money from the Jets with the new deal, adding $11 million to the original $21 million he was guaranteed under the terms of his old three-year contract.
But when the negotiations began, Revis’ agents were asking for $162 million over 10 years, with more than $40 million guaranteed.
To go from asking for an annual salary of $16.2 million and agreeing to $11.5 million is a significant reduction. Signing a contract that pays so much less tends to make you question Revis’ motivation.
Perhaps Revis didn’t really want to be the highest paid corner in the league after all, or maybe he just wanted to avoid all the F-bombs Jets’ coach Rex Ryan dropped during the filming of Hard Knocks.
If your stated purpose is to become the highest paid player at your position, then Revis and his agents shouldn’t have agreed to a contract that will pay him substantially less than Asomugha, especially given that he’s supposed to be better than the Raiders corner.
On top of that, for a player who is one of the best in the NFL, Revis is nowhere close to being one of the most well compensated.
In addition to Asomugha making substantially more money than Revis, there are another 14 players in the NFL who make a lot more than him – a lot more.
Now that the new deal is done everyone seems to be happy. But based on the hard numbers, it seems the holdout was effectively an exercise in futility.
With the Revis contract now behind them, the Jets can finally focus all of their attention on another goal – reaching the Super Bowl for the first time in 41 years.
