Well it was only matter of time, but today the New York Jets parted ways with star cornerback Darrelle Revis. They traded Revis to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the 13th overall pick in the upcoming NFL draft. For all the people who are sensible and understand the situation the Jets put themselves in, this was a move that HAD to be made. The Jets are at minimum 3 years away from competing (and that’s being very very nice). To be honest, they are more like 5 years away. With the rebuilding state that they’re in, you simply can’t tie up so much salary on one player. I know people will say, “but his contract has no guaranteed money in it so what’s the problem?” To that I say you would still be filling a roster spot with a 29 year old who is coming off a torn ACL and wants to be the highest paid player in the world. Hmmmm, what to do, what to do? Plus, what does Revis do whenever he doesn’t get what he wants? Yup you guessed it, he holds out until someone pays him what he feels he deserves. In the past he deserved the money he got, but you can’t convince me that he’ll undoubtedly return to the Darrelle Revis of 2010. Not everyone in the world is Adrian Peterson. If you still don’t get my point, let me keep hammering the round peg into the square hole. See, its kind of like Ichiro Suzuki playing for the Seattle Mariners for all those years (when they were terrible). It’s a waste of time for both parties. If you have to rebuild and fill 12 empty roster spots (a roster spot that includes a new QB), than you can’t occupy one of those spots with a player that won’t be playing at a high level once the rebuilding phase is complete. It’s not an attack on Revis’ game, it’s simply logic. Now, as for analyzing the trade itself, that’s another story. Darrelle Revis, even coming off ACL surgery, is worth more than the 13th pick in the NFL draft. The only problem is, thanks to the Jets organization that is the absolute best value they were going to get for him. If you recall an article I wrote entitled ‘The Unnatural Disaster that is The New York Jets’, I highlighted how poorly the Darrelle Revis situation was being handled. Months ago, the Jets leaked that they were shopping Revis. This news came out of nowhere and it wasn’t a good tactical move for anyone involved. What this slip up really did was devalue Revis. When a franchise says, “hey everyone, we WANT to trade one of our players!”, the rest of league says, “okay sounds good and thanks for the leverage”. You at that point have no bargaining chips whatsoever. You just have to wait and hopefully see if a team comes along that is actually interested in your player and has just enough to offer. And that my friends is exactly what happened. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had some money to throw around and they had a decent enough draft pick to interest the Jets in giving up Revis. It also didn’t hurt that the Bucs secondary was horrendous last season. Now Jets fans need to join me in realizing just how bad they are going to be for the foreseeable future (come to terms with it already you’ll feel better). Then all you can do is hope that Revis is never the same player he once was, and that the Jets 13th overall draft pick this year turns into the next Lawrence Taylor. Then you’ll join me in saying they made the absolute correct move today. However, knowing the Jets luck, Revis will probably win defensive player of the year for the next three years, and their two first round draft picks won’t even make the team this season (hahahaha). You’re only half laughing because you know it’s possible. Enjoy the NFL draft and enjoy a long loooooooong NFL season.
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Dave Talks Sports 