Darrelle Revis Wears Patriots Uniform As New York Daily News Imagines Bill Belichick Making Move for Jets Cornerback (Photo)

It’s not a question of if the Patriots would want Darrelle Revis in a New England uniform. It’s a question of how, and when.

No team would turn down the talent of Revis, one of the best cornerbacks in the league and a player who has caused serious trouble for the Pats in recent years. And no one in New England would feel bad if the Jets couldn’t afford to keep Revis, and he ended up playing his best years in Foxborough. (That would be especially sweet considering Ty Law went out to pasture in the Meadowlands instead of finishing his career with the Patriots.)

That’s what makes Thursday’s New York Daily News cover so delicious (and even tastier than the “Butterball” Bill Belichick from just a few months ago).

On the cover, Revis is imagined in New England blue, complete with No. 24 (Law’s old number, of course). A smiling Belichick and Tom Brady are on the page as well.

Columnist Gary Myers writes that the Jets would obviously never trade Revis to AFC East rival New England, but that they’d better get working on trading him elsewhere fast. Otherwise, the Patriots could have a real shot at Revis after he wraps up this year and becomes a free agent.

Myers notes that while Belichick typically does not go after big free agents — and especially not ones expected to command a bidding war — he has plenty of reasons to break that trend with Revis. First, Revis is Revis, and getting him on the Patriots keeps the Patriots from having to face him. Second, the Patriots have desperately needed a solid cornerback since the days of Law, and Revis would solve a whole bunch of problems on the defensive side of the ball. Law has also had a role in mentoring Revis, meaning Revis may not be as hostile to joining the Pats as one would think. Finally, Belichick hates the Jets — and that can never be discounted when it comes to these kinds of things.

“It’s not far-fetched,” Myers quotes an NFL source as saying. “It would not shock me if he’s in a Patriots uniform next year.”

Revis has pushed for a pay raise going into the final year of his (already restructured) four-year, $46 million contract, of which he’ll receive $6 million this year. He and the Jets were thought to be primed for a long-term deal until the Jets ran into salary cap problems. The issue has also been complicated by Revis missing much of last year with an ACL injury.

Now the team is scrambling to find a return on Revis’ value since it likely can’t lock him up for good. Imagining Revis with Pat Patriot at his side just makes that more urgent.

Check out the cover below.

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Photo of the Day

See! It’s a goal.

Quote of the Day

“It flared up on me. We’re just being careful. I don’t think it’s [anything] crazy, just everybody is being very careful. From what I’m hearing, this stuff happens and I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens again. We just have to stay on top of it. I don’t look at it as a major setback. If I had to, I could do the things I’d have to do.”
— Carl Crawford, making us wonder where we have heard something like this before in spring training