Revis Contract & Salary Cap Discussion

[flgreen]

Ran across this article by Jason.  Thought it was an excellent read

 

Thoughts on Revis’ Contract and Future

Posted on November 30, 2016 by Jason Fitzgerald

With Darrelle Revis’ struggles becoming more pronounced by the week, his contract for next year has become a hot topic of discussion. Revis was signed in 2015 to a five year, $70 million contract with nearly $40 million in guarantees to help correct what many felt was a mistake made by the Jets in 2013.  It didn’t take long for most to notice in 2015 that this version of Revis was a far cry from the 2009/10 version that was the best defender in the NFL, but in 2016 he looks like a shell of a player. The Jets have not even finished paying the guaranteed portion of the contract but they are clearly going to have to consider moving on next year. It’s possible that this will mark the end of Revis’ career, at least as a cornerback, and should certainly mark the end of his run as the highest paid player at his position. So what are the options for Revis and the Jets? 

 

Next year Revis carries a $15.3 million cap charge which is second among corners in the NFL to only Josh Norman of the Redskins.  The cap charge is made up of a $13 million salary, $2 million roster bonus, and $333,333 option bonus proration, which would actually not be earned until after the 2017 season is complete. $6 million of his salary is guaranteed for the year, meaning the Jets would have to pay him $6 million if they released him from his contract for any normal football reason.

The $6 million figure would also be the total dead money that the Jets would absorb if he was cut (the site shows a different number based on his option bonus being earned) prior to the start of the 2017 league year. That would be a $9.3 million savings on the cap for the Jets while saving themselves $9 million in non-guaranteed salary.

Revis’ dead money number is not as bloated as some other players, such as Muhammad Wilkerson’s, because the Jets used no signing bonus in his contract and resisted the urge to restructure his contract this year despite a $17 million cap charge, which was about $2.2 million higher than any other corner in the NFL.  This was a shrewd move by the Jets who struggled with the salary cap all season long but instead decided to do small restructures with the likes of Marcus Gilchrist, Buster Skrine, and James Carpenter. That kind of tells you what the Jets front office thought of Revis going into the season as 90% of the time teams restructure the contracts of stars for cap space. Had they restructured the contract they would be looking at well over $13M in cap charges for releasing him next year.  Still that makes it odder that they did little to give him help early in the year or give major consideration to a positional move.

While the $6 million guarantee can make things tricky for the Jets, as that is a large amount of money to pay to a player you no longer have on the team, the cap and cash savings alone should make that a reasonable figure to absorb. The Jets currently project to be over the cap in 2017 and that would help them gain some cap room next year.

That said it is not a contract that the Jets can use to make the team cap compliant as some may think. The NFL requires all teams to be under the cap on the first day of free agency, which marks the start of the new NFL league year. Dead money from a salary guarantee is treated differently than dead money from a bonus in that it accelerates into the current league year, which will be the 2016 season. The Jets do not have enough cap room to cut Revis in 2016, which will technically run through the start of free agency.  So unless they tweak his contract by paying him a bonus odds are he won’t be released until after free agency starts and the Jets will have to count his $15.3M cap hit up until the first day of free agency.

The one option that Revis will not consider, at least initially, is official retirement even if it has been suggested by some fans. If Revis were to walk away from the NFL he would be walking away from that $6 million salary guarantee, which no player would do.  So he will force the Jets hand before he were to announce any retirement.

If Revis insists that he will still play in the NFL I think it adds another layer to the Jets decision which they should, but are not, acting proactively on. Revis has already indicated that he could see himself transitioning to safety which is a move that has prolonged the careers of other cornerbacks. Between interviews and just the way he plays he is practically begging the Jets to move him. The Jets have no idea if Revis can play safety but if they cut him it will likely mean they are paying Revis to play for another team, which could include division rivals Miami and Buffalo, both of whom have ties to Revis with Mike Tannenbaum and Rex Ryan both having power with those teams.

The way the contract is written the $6 million guarantee contains an offset clause which gives the Jets the right to recover any salary, up to $6 million, that Revis will earn from another team in 2017.  What that means is that unless Revis earns more than $6 million, his compensation is maxed out. Since it is doubtful that any other team in the NFL would pay Revis more than $6 million based on how poor he has looked at cornerback the last two years, there would be no incentive to pay him more than the minimum, which is around $1 million for the year. If he was successful at safety playing for $1 million while the Jets pay him an additional $5 million, it would look like the Jets handed him on a silver platter to a rival

The Jets have their moments where they do certain things that seem to be fueled more by perception outside the team and this is going to be something that come January the business end of the Jets bring up as a real possibility of ending up with egg on their face.  That could very well lead to the team preferring to try to renegotiate Revis’ contract and simply move him to safety next year. Historically contract talk with Revis has never been easy, though he was always coming from a position of power because of how good he was. Ideally the Jets would want to bring his salary down next year to $6 million and bring down his salaries for 2018 and 2019 from the $22 million number that stands there now.

With the Jets being so bad this year and looking to go back to a rebuilding effort Revis would have no real incentive to finish his career with the Jets when he could find work elsewhere. He may only want to remain with the Jets if his three year contract averaged around $10.5 million a year, which would then rank him among the highest paid safeties in the NFL. That would make little sense for the Jets, but given the way the Jets have made some last minute concessions to players on contract issues it can’t be ruled out. The Jets will need to make a decision on Revis by the 2^nd day of free agency, at which point he will earn a $2 million roster bonus, which is in addition to his $6 million guaranteed salary.

With all of that in mind the Jets are doing themselves a disservice by not proctively moving Revis to safety for the remainder of this year.  Why the Jets didn’t do this during their bye week is something I don’t understand and after he was beaten by a 4^th round draft pick with a grand total of 15 receptions to lose on Sunday I don’t know what reason they have for not at least trying it now.  At least this way the team not only has all the information possible before they make a decision on his contract in the future, but the business end of things will also get to see if he can or can not play a different position. If he looks like he cant play then the decision to cut becomes easy.  If he can play the position you have a real understanding of what the contract should look like.

The decline of Revis will likely mark the end of one of the great contract runs of modern times. Outside of Larry Fitzgerald and maybe Ndamukong Suh, there has been no non-quarterback in the NFL that has been able to win in the contract game as much as Revis. From his first holdout as a rookie in 2007 to being able to negotiate a $39 million guarantee in 2015 after being effectively given up on by three teams (the Jets, Buccaneers, and Patriots) in three seasons he is one of the few players that has been able to beat the system that generally favors teams. You can never count him completely out, and maybe that financial wizardry can continue, but it’s unlikely that any second career happens with the Jets.

http://overthecap.com/thoughts-revis-contract-future/#more-12724

[Larz]

bullet point me, superbowl ?

[Jetdawgg]

is Revis a 1,000 yard CB this season?

[varjet]

Hopefully the other 10 or so players who need to be cut will allow the Jets to be under the cap on the first day of the league year, and then Revis can be cut shortly thereafter.

[flgreen]

6 minutes ago, varjet said:

Hopefully the other 10 or so players who need to be cut will allow the Jets to be under the cap on the first day of the league year, and then Revis can be cut shortly thereafter.

Jets won't, but could free up 50 + Million in contract space

Revis...........................9.3

Clady..........................10.0

Mangold......................9.8

Richardson..Trade?.. 8.7

Marshall.....................7.5

Harris........................6.5

Giacomini.................4.5

Folk..........................3.0

 

Total.......................59.3

 

Jets won't make all those cuts because they are in the 3rd year of this regime.......They will be expected to win in the 3rd year......They won't.

Hate to say it, but team needs to be torn down, and pray there is a franchise QB available with the first pick in the 2018  draft.

[Hael]

The problem is it's hard to see who you replace those players with.  If you go with say the rank 32 best wr in the league (e.g. The worst number 1 wr in the league by salary) in FA you are looking at Rishard Matthews of the Titans who makes..  5 million a year.

so if you swap him for Marshall you are looking at only a 2.5 million dollar saving if somehow you get lucky and he doesn't negotiate a better deal, and you now have a contract with guarantees.

THe problem is it's hard to make savings by cutting players and then seeking replacements in FA.  It's almost always a losing proposition.

ONly the draft gives you a real mechanism for advancing your team in a fiscally efficient way, and that simply takes time.

[j4jets]

2 hours ago, Jetdawgg said:

is Revis a 1,000 yard CB this season?

I think he reached that by the bye week. 

[flgreen]

11 minutes ago, Hael said:

The problem is it's hard to see who you replace those players with.  If you go with say the rank 32 best wr in the league (e.g. The worst number 1 wr in the league by salary) in FA you are looking at Rishard Matthews of the Titans who makes..  5 million a year.

so if you swap him for Marshall you are looking at only a 2.5 million dollar saving if somehow you get lucky and he doesn't negotiate a better deal, and you now have a contract with guarantees.

THe problem is it's hard to make savings by cutting players and then seeking replacements in FA.  It's almost always a losing proposition.

ONly the draft gives you a real mechanism for advancing your team in a fiscally efficient way, and that simply takes time.

As i mentioned, because pf the 3rd year situation, this won't happen.  

If it were to happen it would not be a compete year.  It would be a purge year.   You don't have to spend all that money this year.  You would load the roster up with young guys fairly cheap.  See what any of them have .  In 18 pray there is either a franchise #1 pick, or a young promising FA QB available  You now have the money to make a play for him..

If they keep the guys they have now, at their salary, I doubt the Jets will be any better then they are right now next year.  Not a promising concept either way.  At least with the clean house route there is some hope that they hit some good FA's and draft picks.    

 

[j4jets]

Easy solution to this dilemma. Talk to revis and tell him Jets will $4mil right away if he gives up the $6mil guaranteed. Then he can go into the FA possibly making 3-4 mil. Revis ends up making 7-8 mil as opposed to the $6mil he'd max out at in any case (new team pays minimum $1mik n Jets pay $5mil). This way, Jets don't hand Revis on a platter possibly to the rivals for vets minimum AND save $2mil themselves. 

If Revis wants revenge on the Jets, which I don't see what for, he wouldn't accept the Jets deal. But we all know he's all about himself and making an extra couple of mil would be a better option for him as well. 

[rangerous]

7 hours ago, Hael said:

The problem is it's hard to see who you replace those players with.  If you go with say the rank 32 best wr in the league (e.g. The worst number 1 wr in the league by salary) in FA you are looking at Rishard Matthews of the Titans who makes..  5 million a year.

so if you swap him for Marshall you are looking at only a 2.5 million dollar saving if somehow you get lucky and he doesn't negotiate a better deal, and you now have a contract with guarantees.

THe problem is it's hard to make savings by cutting players and then seeking replacements in FA.  It's almost always a losing proposition.

ONly the draft gives you a real mechanism for advancing your team in a fiscally efficient way, and that simply takes time.

that's true.  imo only marshall, giacomini, and maybe harris.  and marshalla dn harris can probably be restructured. 

[jamesr]

Why is there such fear of Revis playing for another team, especially a divisional rival? He's old and broken down, a shell of his former self, and a player that teams ACTIVELY TARGET whereas previously they avoided him like the plague.

Please, let him sign with Buffalo or Miami, and when he does, pick on him endlessly just like other teams are doing to us right now.

[kdels62]

Revise should be playing safety now. Let's get him on the field and decide if he's playing safety for us next year. Gilchrist is playing poorly. If Revis plays fine then we can restructure him as a solidly compensated safety and save money.

[flgreen]

28 minutes ago, kdels62 said:

Revise should be playing safety now. Let's get him on the field and decide if he's playing safety for us next year. Gilchrist is playing poorly. If Revis plays fine then we can restructure him as a solidly compensated safety and save money.

Agree 100%.   

Right now Revis is a liability out there as a CB.  He is practically campaigning to be shifted to S.  Odds are he won't be very good at S,  he seems to have lost his heart to make a tackle, but there is always the chance.  Right now is the time to find out if he can be an adequate S.  Jets have to give him 6 M anyhow.  Gilchrist isn't exactly playing lights out right now either, and is scheduled to make 7.4 M against the cap next year.  If he is cut the Jets save 4.6.   If, big if, Revis can play as well, that 4.6 is found money.

Like with the Petty situation, why not find out what both these guys can do RIGHT NOW.  Bowles can't possibility be hoping the Jets will run the table and somehow miraculously  squeeze  into the play offs can he?

Bowles is starting to  look like a HC who is coaching scared.  Thinks maybe a 6-10 season will save his job.  

[kdels62]

2 minutes ago, flgreen said:

Agree 100%.   

Right now Revis is a liability out there as a CB.  He is practically campaigning to be shifted to S.  Odds are he won't be very good at S,  he seems to have lost his heart to make a tackle, but there is always the chance.  Right now is the time to find out if he can be an adequate S.  Jets have to give him 6 M anyhow.  Gilchrist isn't exactly playing lights out right now either, and is scheduled to make 7.4 M against the cap next year.  If he is cut the Jets save 4.6.   If, big if, Revis can play as well, that 4.6 is found money.

Like with the Petty situation, why not find out what both these guys can do RIGHT NOW.  Bowles can't possibility be hoping the Jets will run the table and somehow miraculously  squeeze  into the play offs can he?

Bowles is starting to  look like a HC who is coching scared.  Thinks maybe a 6-10 season will save his job.  

Exactly but if we transition now we could end up a better team than we have been. Petty could be better than Fitz who was awful until a few weeks ago and makes no impact now. Gilchrist is late to every play and has done poorly in centerfield, Revis might be better.

Bowles is failing himself and this team

[bergenjets]

Revis has been avoiding contact which make me dubious about him at safety. A good safety embraces contact. Just cut him and move on.

[Beerfish]

I keep seeing this 'move him to safety' thing popping up, just what in the world would lead anyone to think eh would be any less stinky there?  He has to be cut.

[flgreen]

1 minute ago, bergenjets said:

Revis has been avoiding contact which make me dubious about him at safety. A good safety embraces contact. Just cut him and move on.

I agree that it's unlikely Revis will be a good S with the way he's playing, but there is absolutely no damage done in seeing if he can do it in a lost season.  Same with Petty.

Major changes will have to be made next year.  No harm in seeing what they have this year instead of chasing a ghost of a chance 

[Sperm Edwards]

11 hours ago, flgreen said:

Jets won't, but could free up 50 + Million in contract space

Revis...........................9.3

Clady..........................10.0

Mangold......................9.8

Richardson..Trade?.. 8.7

Marshall.....................7.5

Harris........................6.5

Giacomini.................4.5

Folk..........................3.0

 

Total.......................59.3

 

Jets won't make all those cuts because they are in the 3rd year of this regime.......They will be expected to win in the 3rd year......They won't.

Hate to say it, but team needs to be torn down, and pray there is a franchise QB available with the first pick in the 2018  draft.

Personally I'd swap Marshall for Decker, with the idea that by 2018 neither is needed. Hopefully by then we can get by among Enunwa, Anderson, Peake, D.Smith, J.Marshall plus swap in/out any with whomever else we add in 2017-2018. Cap-wise it's not much different for 2017, with plenty of savings in 2018.

I had:

• $10 Revis ($9M plus figure a $1M offset from his next team)
• $10 Clady
• $9.1 Mangold
• $8.0 Sheldon
• $7.5 Marshall or $5.75-7.25 Decker (depending on release date)
• $6.5 Harris
• $5.4 Gilchrist
• $4.5 Breno
• $3.0 Folk
• $2.75 Henderson

So it's closer to $65M if all of them were let go, and that's simply not happening. Crazy thing is the $60M-ish cleared could be spent on new starters at $10M apiece (without even backloading the contracts) and we'd be in the same shape we're in now cap-wise.

All that said, the ones in bold represent starting positions that would need to be filled right away, either in FA or the draft. That's on top of re-signing Winters, finding yet another starting CB, a real pass rusher, and ideally I'd like to see them extend Enunwa now rather than wait 2 more seasons until he's a more-expensive, full UFA.

Oh yeah, and we need a QB.

But again, all of this won't happen. They'll likely hang onto Mangold, Harris, probably Folk, and I'll believe they're actually letting go of either Marshall or Decker when I see it happen. Ditto Breno, since he still needs to find a new LT as it is and re-sign or replace Winters. So I think it'll look more like just Revis, Clady, Sheldon, Gilchrist, and probably Henderson when the dust all settles. So about $36M. And with that we need to find and draft a hell of a lot of starters, plus a year later at least 3 more for expiring contracts (Mangold, Harris, Breno).

[Maxman]

14 hours ago, flgreen said:

Jets won't, but could free up 50 + Million in contract space

Revis...........................9.3

Clady..........................10.0

Mangold......................9.8

Richardson..Trade?.. 8.7

Marshall.....................7.5

Harris........................6.5

Giacomini.................4.5

Folk..........................3.0

 

Total.......................59.3

 

Jets won't make all those cuts because they are in the 3rd year of this regime.......They will be expected to win in the 3rd year......They won't.

Hate to say it, but team needs to be torn down, and pray there is a franchise QB available with the first pick in the 2018  draft.

Cutting Folk and Marshall doesn't make sense to me though. Those guys are both playing well and the contracts aren't that bad.

[flgreen]

10 minutes ago, Maxman said:

Cutting Folk and Marshall doesn't make sense to me though. Those guys are both playing well and the contracts aren't that bad.

As I mentioned all these cuts won't be made, but should.

If you feel the Jets will find a good QB, a good LT, a good RT.  An OLB'er who can rush the passer, and about 3 DB's to be competitive, yeah they should keep Marshall, and Folk.

If a person feels the Jets have many problems to solve before ever seeing the playoffs again, then a total roster re-build is in order.

This team is a mess.  I strongly suspect if the Jets look like they are competing for the 1st pick in the 2018 draft next year, we are going to see a different personality on Marshall 

[section314]

17 minutes ago, flgreen said:

As I mentioned all these cuts won't be made, but should.

If you feel the Jets will find a good QB, a good LT, a good RT.  An OLB'er who can rush the passer, and about 3 DB's to be competitive, yeah they should keep Marshall, and Folk.

If a person feels the Jets have many problems to solve before ever seeing the playoffs again, then a total roster re-build is in order.

This team is a mess.  I strongly suspect if the Jets look like they are competing for the 1st pick in the 2018 draft next year, we are going to see a different personality on Marshall 

Revis, Clady, Harris and Giacomini are no brainers. Would keep Mangold and Folk. Wouldn't mind seeing what you could get for Sheldon. As for Marshall, I agree could be a problem next year with a new QB, so draft Mike Williams(Clemson) and solve the problem with a true game changer. Tend to favor the rebuild idea over the absurdity of thinking this team is anywhere close to being good.

[j4jets]

11 hours ago, jamesr said:

Why is there such fear of Revis playing for another team, especially a divisional rival? He's old and broken down, a shell of his former self, and a player that teams ACTIVELY TARGET whereas previously they avoided him like the plague.

Please, let him sign with Buffalo or Miami, and when he does, pick on him endlessly just like other teams are doing to us right now.

The only concern I have is if he has a breakout year. He has lost all motivation this year and that's easy to see the way he plays like a lazy c*nt. You can't be the best corner one year and the absolute worst the next year. I hope he retires after this year though. 

[fltflo]

Revis must be gone the sooner the better. He as a future HOF'er, sends a terrible message to the younger players. I have watched him closely this year and he is dogging it without a doubt. This is on the CS to sit his ass and embarrass him in public the way his play is embarrassing this organization. We all know what a Belicheat or Parcells would do to his lazy butt. Yet, this CS makes excuses for him and keeps trotting him out there week after week. That should tell you all you need to know about what is going on behind the scenes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jamesr]

12 hours ago, j4jets said:

The only concern I have is if he has a breakout year. He has lost all motivation this year and that's easy to see the way he plays like a lazy c*nt. You can't be the best corner one year and the absolute worst the next year. I hope he retires after this year though. 

I'm prepared to take that risk, to be honest. Chance of him having a breakout year with us is 0%, IMHO; and i doubt it's that much elsewhere.

I'd much rather cut bait, use the money elsewhere and bring in a younger CB and FS that have a future, rather than hanging onto a guy in his decline just because he used to be great.

[RoadFan]

I was outspokenly against resigning the mercenary.

RoadFan:  I don't know how many and counting...

"STB" sheep:  zero

[j4jets]

1 hour ago, jamesr said:

I'm prepared to take that risk, to be honest. Chance of him having a breakout year with us is 0%, IMHO; and i doubt it's that much elsewhere.

I'd much rather cut bait, use the money elsewhere and bring in a younger CB and FS that have a future, rather than hanging onto a guy in his decline just because he used to be great.

Well I do want to cut bait. Don't want him back even at the bare minimum of his guaranteed $6 mil

[kelly]

"Here's how the Jets can create more cap space (and a lot of it)"..

> http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2016/12/heres_how_the_jets_can_create_more_cap_space_and_a.html#0