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Darrelle Revis’s return to New England Patriots seems likely

By Aryan von Eicken

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Based on recent actions by the New England Patriots, they have indicated that Darrelle Revis is their main focus in free agency. They seem to believe that his addition is what made this defense good enough to win a Super Bowl. Since he was the X-factor, they want him to stay, because I don’t think any Patriots fan wants to deal with another nine grueling years in which the Patriots contend, but at the end, they fall just a little short. Revis is the Patriots priority, and they don’t seem to want to do much else, prior to resigning him.

Not franchise tagging Devin McCourty was a major indication of their intention of focusing on Revis. They saved about five million dollars in cap room by allowing McCourty to hit the open market. While I don’t believe that McCourty is definitely on his way out of New England, I doubt the Patriots will be making any big signing prior to agreeing to a long-term deal with Revis. Letting go of McCourty was a surprising decision,that must have been very difficult to make by Bill Belichick, as he embodied the Patriot way and was a major leader in the locker room.

Feb 1, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; New England Patriots defensive tackle

Vince Wilfork

(75) and Devin McCourty (32) celebrates an interception during the fourth quarter against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

The Patriots also declined their other defensive captains option, as Vince Wilfork announced via Twitter that the New England Patriots were not bringing him back. Letting Wilfork leave, gives the New England Patriots more options, even if they do sign Revis to a rich deal. It is always hard to see a player like Wilfork leave, but he simply wasn’t worth the price tag.

It is widely believed that if Revis leaves New England, he will leave to either the New York Jets or the Buffalo Bills. Adam Schefter told Mad Dog Sports Radio that he believes it will come down to either the Jets or the Patriots. If this is true, I simply can not believe that Revis would leave New England for a team as bad as the Jets. Winning is not something you simply need to do once, and then you have experienced enough. I believe that unless the Patriots lowball Revis too much, in a way in which he feels disrespected, he will pick the Pats over the Jets.

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To me, the Bills are actually the biggest threat to snatching Revis away from the Pats. The Bills are showing a lot of promise, and with Revis, their defense would probably be the best in the NFL, combined with the Seahawks. Revis knows Rex Ryan well and the Bills have a realistic chance of winning, especially if Matt Cassel can actually play like a decent quarterback.

Other than those two teams, there really aren’t many possible suitors for Revis. If he goes for only money, I believe he will pick New York, but otherwise there aren’t a lot of good teams that have a huge need for a corner, or the cap space to afford him. The only truly good team that has a lot of cap room, are the Indianapolis Colts, and they are quite desperate for other positions.

In the end I believe it will come down to if he chooses the money and the Jets, or the winning and the Patriots. Revis has made a lot of money throughout his career, and I believe he will take a deal somewhere in the range of $12-14 million dollars annually with the Patriots. That is the range in which he would be the best paid corner, but would not be too expensive for the Patriots. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Jets offer him somewhere in the $17-18 million dollars annually, but I would still be surprised if he return to NY.

The Patriots also understand that Tom Brady is still playing at an extremely high level, and nobody knows how long he will be able to play at that level and how good his successor will be, so the Patriots will want to keep the talent around today, instead of speculating on the future, because at some point the future will not contain Brady. So at the end of it all, Revis will most likely end up in New England, unless he simply wants to make a lot of money and doesn’t care about winning, or the Patriots lowball him, because in the NFL, respect is a very important when it comes to salary.

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