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Darrelle Revis Trade: Leaving a team with no options

Looking at the situation the Jets were facing with injured and embattled cornerback Darrelle Revis, it's a smart move to deal him in a decent draft, as well as the cap space they'll get in 2014.

By Neal Coolong
Jeff Zelevansky

The Jets traded rehabbing cornerback Darrelle Revis to Tampa Bay for the 13th pick in the 2013 NFL Draft.

The reaction to this seems to be largely that the Jets somehow got screwed out of this whole deal. It's unclear to me how that's the case.

From SB Nation's own Dan Kadar:

How can fans not be excited about having the ninth and 13th picks in the same draft? Granted, drafting Coples and Ferguson again may not help, but the fact is Revis is coming off a major knee injury and still wants high-end money. Tampa Bay didn't give him a cent guaranteed.

Not. One. Penny.

The Jets clear off x amount of dollars from their cap and get to begin a rebuilding process with a new GM and a slew of top 75 picks in this year's draft - a good one at multiple positions, and two of those are in the top 13.

If they can't get "hooked" on that...well, then they're Jets fans.

So they have two first round picks, and while Revis counts $12 million against their cap this season, he won't count anything next year. Along with an anticipated four compensatory picks next year, you're looking at a complete roster overhaul that includes the quarterback position by 2014. That's not a bad spot to be in, especially when you can't score.

Our SB Nation NFL blog brethren at Gang Green Nation feel this is a horrendous travesty, complete with the classic "inner-reflection on my team" piece, written by John B.

A Case Study in a Poorly Run Franchise

Gang Green Nation writer John B. is not happy with the Jets trade of Darrelle Revis to Tampa Bay.

What's missing here is the multiple holdout threats Revis left with the team. He was talking contract even after he tore his ACL this season. What rebuilding team can successfully make that transition with entrenched superstars? Very few, if any. If the Jets are going to change their current course, they can't do it with Revis. They can't do it with Rex Ryan either, but that's another story.

Another way to look at it...

You gotta think this move is clear and definitive proof of two things: 1. Rex Ryan has been formally shut up, and 2. No coach, except for probably Ryan's moronic brother, will ever again heap such lavish praise on one player. The only reason Ryan wasn't a part of that trade is because the Bucs didn't want anything to do with him.

So in a way, if Jets fans really want to complain, it should be about the fact Ryan is still there, not his prized possession, Revis.


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