By Mike Waxenberg, Staff Writer
Jets fans around the country had a ton of anxiety lifted Monday as the team finally put an end to the Darrelle Revis holdout. The Jets and their star cornerback agreed to 4 years and $42 million, $32 million of that guaranteed. Before the signing, Revis had 3 years left on his deal and was supposed to be making 1 million dollars. The deal comes through as pessimism was the feeling in the Jets front office,
“This was one of those things where I really wasn’t optimistic,” General Manager Mike Tannenbaum told the media at his press conference Monday. “I really wasn’t. I’m an optimist by nature, but this was really hard. There was a lot of heavy lifting, a lot of work put into it.” Revis had been holding out since August 1st.
Some real strides that helped get this deal done were taken over the weekend as coach Rex Ryan and owner Woody Johnson flew down to Florida on Saturday to meet face-to-face with Revis and his uncle, former NFL player Sean Gilbert. Gilbert happens to be famous for holding out in his career as well and was reportedly instrumental is helping Darrelle with the negotiations. In his press conference, Revis talked about how having a face to face meeting with Johnson helped the situation and allowed him to get to know Johnson a little better. Revis also said it’s very hard to say no to Rex.
The timing of this signing could not have come at a better time because it gives Darrelle a week of practice before the season opener next Monday night against the Baltimore Ravens. During the press conference, Rex Ryan assured everyone that Revis would definitely be playing Monday and most likely every defensive snap.
The signing could also be looked at as a symbolic end to an active off-season for the Jets. During the off-season, the Jets successfully recruited the talents of Ladanian Tomlinson, Antonio Cromartie, and long time rival Jason Taylor. In the draft they got the highly regarded cornerback out of Bosie State, Kyle Wilson. In the absence of Revis during camp, the coaching staff was pleased with the play of Wilson.
All the new faces in training camp and the Revis holdout were all going on as the Jets welcomed in the cameras of the HBO series “Hardknocks.” As many teams are turned off by such attention, this played right into the Jets’ hands, as for the first time in a long time, the Jets have received way more attention than their cross town rival, the Giants.
With all the off-season and training camp hype, the Jets still have to go prove their worth on the field. The first few weeks for the team are no cakewalk either. They open Monday night against the Baltimore Ravens, who have a star running back in Ray Rice and an emerging quarterback in Joe Flacco. Then, after a short week, the Jets play their biggest division rival, the New England Patriots. Not only do they open with two tough weeks, their next three could be just as difficult as they have back-to-back road games against divisional opponents and then play Brett Favre and the Vikings in week 5. We may know after the first 5 weeks what kind of team the Jets are.
After the Jets reached the AFC Championship game last season, Ryan has been far from bashful in saying the team’s expectations are to win the Superbowl this season. He certainly has been successful is getting Jets fans excited, but they still have to win games. On paper the Jets have done everything is their power to make that happen, but games are won on the field, not on paper. As the regular season is just days away, we’ll all have to sit back and see if all that hype is just hype, or if the Jets are truly ready to win their first Superbowl since 1969.