In another Jets episode, the Darrelle Revis contract holdout situation seemed to finally reach a plateau, as Revis and head coach Rex Ryan agreed on Thursday to conduct their future negotiations in private. Is the timing a mere coincidence? Or is there more to this holdout than meets the eye?
Revis has been holding out on the Jets’ training camp from the get-go, and is on his 12th day of missed practice. Revis is currently on his fourth year of a rookie contract, and is due to earn just $1 million this season with the Jets. The All-Pro cornerback wants to become the highest paid in the league, however, and is demanding a contract higher than the three-year, $45.3 million extension Oakland’s Nnamdi Asomugha signed last offseason.
Heading into Wednesday’s premiere of Hard Knocks, the Revis and Ryan camps have been griping statements back and forth to one another, turning the entire negotiation into the he-said, she-said” spectacle of the summer. It escalated to the point of Ryan requesting a meeting with Revis flanked by the entire Jets roster. Can you imagine that? General Ryan and the Big Green Army versus the little cornerback that could.
The premiere episode might as well have been called the “Darrelle Revis Hour,” as Ryan complained about the contract negotiation to anyone that would lend an ear during the hour-long debut. Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum added to the suspense of the holdout, as cameras anxiously awaited his departure from a contract meeting with Revis’ agents. Tannenbaum exited with his head hung low, claiming the two camps “disagreed on everything.”
Thursday’s latest in the Revis negotiation indicates that the Jets no longer want to play the blame game in front of the media. It could also mean they are close to making a deal, just in time for cameras to catch for the show’s finale.
It’s not that Revis doesn’t deserve the higher contract, his past numbers clearly indicate he deserves more than $1 million this season. However, it’s difficult to ignore the coincidental timing of his holdout to the timeline of the show. Audiences love controversy, and the Revis negotiation has been one of the most-talked about contracts of the offseason — aside from all the quarterback drama — who wouldn’t turn in to see the insider view on Hard Knocks?
Let’s say these private negotiations lead to a signed contract with the Jets, and Revis receives the monumental amount he’s seeking, that would be more than enough to pay for those pesky holdout fines (which add up at $16,523 per day). Or would HBO foot the bill, since he was holding out at the expense of the ratings?
Do you think the Revis holdout is for real, or for ratings, or is a little bit of both?
Is the Darrelle Revis holdout for real or for ratings?online survey
