NFL players for the most part have short careers and many of them walk away with debilitating injuries / trauma. If you want selfish look to the owners who make a windfall on the blood and sweat and tears of the players. The players may seem selfish to the average citizen working a job that only pays five figures, but compared to the people they are working it is if they themselves are making 5 figures. I'll never begrudge any NFL player for trying to get their due. The truth is its a game - a game that costs players a lot more than is visible to the public eye. If we really want to get into the selfish selfless debate, then our military are the people who really deserve to get paid... but the military doesn't generate money like the NFL so they don't.
I think it's selfish to negotiate a contract then not honor it. I'm not against Revis or any other player making money, or making as much as possible, but once they agree to a contract, they shouldn't threaten to hold out every couple of years to get a new one.
I belive like you he will hold out only next year but im sure the jets will work on his contract before training camp he will be a jets for year to come.
You're delusional. In a league that is OBVIOUSLY becoming pass-first, you're saying the best pass coverage player in the game plays a low impact position? I feel bad for you man, you get the opportunity to watch one of the greatest players to ever step onto a football field and you don't even appreciate it.
If we really/truly develop a pass rush this season DR is as good as gone next season since once U have a pass rush U no longer need super star CBs like DR who cost U a ton of money vs the cap :sad:
Who were the best CB's last year? How did their teams fare? Who have been the best CB's of the last 5 years? How did their teams fare? Who have been the best CB's since Peyton Manning came into the NFL? How did their teams fare? These are a set of fairly simple questions. I know there are people who think the Jets would have been 6-10 instead of 9-7 in 2009 if Revis wasn't here. Realistically that's just not the case. The Jets didn't win any games in 2009 because they had Darrelle Revis. They won the games they won because they had a Rex Ryan defense coupled with a strong ball-control offense. If Darrelle Revis had not been on the Jets in any of the last three seasons the odds are excellent that the record would not reflect that. If Rex Ryan hadn't coached the Jets they'd probably be worse though. If Darrelle Revis left next year and was replaced by a competent CB it would have almost no impact on the Jets won-loss record or overall defensive efficiency. If Rex Ryan left? Well then you'd see a big difference. I'm not arguing here from a theoretical standpoiint. You can go back and look at what Champ Bailey's teams did. You can look at what Nnamdi Asomugha's teams did. You can look at what Charles Woodson's teams did. This is part of the NFL historical record at this point. The two teams that have won multiple Super Bowls in the supposed era of the great passer of the last 6 or 7 years have ZERO great CB's between them. They both have a great pass rush. That's what wins for you in the age of the great passer. Neither of the teams that have won multiple Super Bowls has a top 5 passer either, although they have very good QB's. It's ironic that in the age of the supposed Super Passer the teams that keep repeating have good ones instead of great ones and don't have great CB's. That should tell us something important about how perception and reality differ at this point.
You raise a lot of good points here, unfortunately I don't have time right now to respond with the kind of depth your post deserves. I'll pick up this discussion later.
In a vacuum I agree with you. I think the NFL is an exception only because of the nature of the contracts. The teams aren't forced to honor the players contracts either and holding out is a balance to that. I believe the players and owners should have parity in their rights and if players were unable to holdout even though contracts are the way they are then the owners would clearly have the leverage.
The NFL is also an exception because of the salary cap. In an un-capped environment Revis is probably worth every dollar you have to pay him, because that doesn't effect talent on the field elsewhere. The way the cap works it forces people to pick and choose where they spend their money and that's where the great CB's value drops to almost nothing. If you have a competent CB that will avoid getting burned most of the time and a great pass-rusher who will get to the QB and apply pressure you're much better off than if you have a great CB who almost never gets burned and a competent pass rusher who gets some pressure but doesn't put up great numbers in the process. The CB's value is only there on throws to his side and he does very little to effect the field elsewhere. The pass rushers value is global as every receiver's value is diminished by the pressure he applies. People point at the Raiders of the early 80's as a team that thrived with two great CB's, but those teams had no cap pressure in place. The only question was what Al Davis wanted to pay his players and the players themselves had very little say in the matter because there was no effective free agency. Yeah in that situation great CB's work well because they don't take away from other positions on the field. Today a great CB likely costs you a great pass rusher and that's a trade-off no great team can afford to make.
Doesn't matter. As for it being the media's fault... It wasn't the media who signed a contract after sitting out of camp a couple of years ago and intimating that it was a stopgap and he'd consider sitting again in a couple of years, it was Revis. And it is Revis who won't say yes I'm coming to training camp or no I'm not, it's not the media. It's clear to anyone with open eyes that he's at least considering it.
IMO, there are only a handful of corners that have played in the last 10 years that belong in the same discussion with Revis. The only guys you can really compare him to are Aso, Bailey, and Woodson. Charles Woodson's team has had a pretty decent amount of success, but I'm not gonna take credit away from any of them because teams like the Raiders and Broncos aren't well run organizations. All of these guys have done a substantial amount to help their team win games, whether or not the team was actually good enough to win the game isn't the point. Darelle Revis is the best player on the team, I don't think there is any team in the league that could afford to lose it's best player and not see a reflection in the W-L record. Do you really believe that Revis doesn't help hide the deficiencies the Jets have with their safety play? Or the pass rush? Rex Ryan (and every other coach in the league) would tell you that you can't make a great defense (or offense) without great players. Revis is a great player. There are a lot of different ways to win in the NFL, I don't think the fact that the Giants and Steelers have won 4 out of the last 7 means that's the ONLY way to win. This point really loses steam when you consider the years the Giants or Steelers didn't win, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, or Drew Brees did.
So poorly run organizations have a CB as their best player and cannot win. Don't you think that's somehow relevant? How many organizations had a CB as their best player and won over the last decade? I count zero unless you think Woodson was worth more than Rodgers the year the Packers won it, which I think is not the case. Revis is a cornerback. How many teams have lost their best player who was a cornerback and what did they do the following season? I count 2 teams that you could argue had their best player at corner over the last decade or so and then subsequently lost him. The 2003 Redskins went 5-11 with Champ Bailey. They traded him before 2004 and went 6-10. The 2010 Raiders went 8-8 with Nnamdi Asomugha. They let him go free agent before 2011 and went 8-8. Where is the huge impact that losing a player like Bailey or Asomugha caused his team? I just don't see it. I absolutely think he does not help the safeties. He exposes them more because the QB has to go looking for the TE more often. On the pass rush: is your argument that Revis causes coverage sacks, because I have news for you - the Jets get very few coverage sacks. Most of their sacks come off of the blitz. Just remember what happened to Tom Brady in 2010 in the playoffs, not coverage sacks, pure scheme and blitz sacks. Everywhere Brady looked somebody was covered in the 1.3 seconds he had to make decisions in that game. Yes, but they've won 4 out of the last 7. That has to count for something given they do not have great QB's or CB's. If doesn't lose any steam at all when you consider that the teams that play the grinding pass rush game are 4 out of 5 over the last 7 seasons. No team that is coverage heavy and pass rush lite has won a Super Bowl since 2004. That's just not what wins these days. As to the QB issue: nobody in their right mind would consider Eli Manning a top 10 QB if he hadn't won two Super Bowls. The fact that he won those games elevates him into elite consideration. Really the same is true for Roethlisberger although Roethlisberger is probably a stronger case on the merits even without the big wins. The Steelers have been in 3 of the last 7 Super Bowls. They've done this without a top 5 QB and with a pair of corners that ranked in the middle of the AFC. That's not a result that happens in an NFL in which you have to have great QB's and CB's to win. What you need to win in the NFL today is a great pass rush and a QB who can get the job done in crunch time.
What if Revis is untradeable? There has to be a market for us to trade him, I haven't heard of any potential suitors. Does the headache outweigh the benefits?
Quite simply, this does not answer the point. You elsewhere make the point, which I agree with, how the Giants are a more effective and well run organization. How they plan ahead, make better use of the draft, do not waste picks trading up. Now suddenly it's all about the Jets have Revis and they don't. Please. The Giants also have used a lot of high picks in their secondary. The fact taht the Jets wasted their VG pick, sixth in the draft, has nothing to do with Revis. If they had gotten someone like Tuck or Pierre Paul instead of VG, where would that leave your argument?
It is also hardly the case that the Giants have not invested heavily in their secondary. Corey Webster - 2nd round pick 2005. Six interceptions last year. Kenny Philips - 1st round pick in 2008. Had four interceptions last year. Antrelle Rolle - picked with the eighth pick of the 2005 draft by Arizona, the Giants in 2010 signed him as a free agent to a $37 million contract, at the time making him the highest paid safety in the league. Terrell Thomas/ Aaron Ross. Ross was the Giants' first pick in the 2007 draft. He was the backup to Thomas going into last year, with Thomas being the second round pick in the 2008 draft. Ross started after Thomas got hurt, starting 15 games for the Giants, and had 4 interceptions. Prince Amukamara - despite only playing three regular season games after a pre-season injury, he did get an interception and most importantly was the Giants' first round pick last year. It is just misleading to suggest the Giants do not place solid emphasis on their secondary.
Ummm, Pass rushing and good coverage go hand in hand. The perfect defense has both. You can't just say, oh, pass rushing is all that matters, because that's a load of shit. Pass rushing is great to rush the QB, but if he's elite and your corners are mediocre, he'll find somebody to pass it to. Similarly, if your corners are elite and your pass rushing is mediocre, QBs will have more time but it will be more difficult to find the open man. Claiming CB is a non impactful position in today's NFL is a complete joke. Revis won us plenty of games, and without him, we don't beat the Colts in the playoffs in 2010. End of story. People just don't realize the impact he has. What the Jets are missing is a Ray Lewis type player to complement our coverage. If we can get that and Coples emerges, all pieces will fit together. Shutting down the opponents best WR is important. Without Revis, we obviously don't make the playoffs in 2009, maybe in 2010 as well, it's hard to say since we had Cromartie playing pretty well. Revis wins games.
I'm not going to dispute any of the rest of your point. I agree that the importance of a strong pass rush is greater than the importance of strong CBs. However, I disagree with your stance that the CB value is only there when the ball is thrown to his side and how he reacts (i.e. knocks away pass, interception, tackles receiver after minimum yardage gain, etc.). If a CB is doing his job correctly and his receiver is very well covered (as Revis does more often than not) then he forces the QB to look elsewhere. That has value right there. It could eat up a bit of time of the QB standing in the pocket, thus giving the pass rushers a better chance to get the sack, it could force the QB to throw it away if he has no other options or, if nothing else, it forces him to throw it to the other receiver...which could be beneficial or not depending on how well the other CB and safeties are doing their jobs. Either way it forces the QB's hand which could increase the mistakes made. I don't think it's as simple as "they didn't throw the ball to CB1's side therefore he contained no value in that play" because they didn't throw it to that side because CB1 was doing a good job.
