NFL

Darrelle Revis Says He Wants To Retire A Jet, Heartening HBO And Jets Fans Everywhere

The Darrelle Revis contract saga soldiers on.  And, with Jets training camp only 10 days away, a potential holdout looms large.

But for Jets fans there is some solace to be found, as Revis continues to voice his desire to remain a New York Jet and said today that, if given the opportunity, he will retire with Gang Green.

“From the business side, they make the choices. They know my heart is with the Jets and Jersey and New York City. I’m here as long as I can be. If they give me the ability to have a choice, I’ll stay here as a Jet.”

The contentious issue between the Jets and their star cornerback remains the issue of guaranteed money, and Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork sums up the logistics of this dispute quite well:

“The Jets have said they’d like to give Revis an extension as long as it’s “within reason,” and they’re believed to be offering him something in the range of $11 million to $13 million a year. The problem, according to Revis, is that the offer contains no fully guaranteed money.

The Jets are somewhat restricted by the reallocation rule, which states that an extension in an uncapped year can include future guarantees against skill and injury only to the amount of leftover cap room in 2009. For the Jets, it’s not much — roughly $300,000. Therefore, Revis would have to accept a guarantee against skill or injury, but not both.

However, the Jets can avoid that restriction simply by giving Revis a huge signing bonus, which is possible this year because there’s no cap. But the Jets don’t want to do that, according to league sources.”

It appears likely that this issue will fail to see a resolution before training.  But should Revis holdout, he would be risking a ton of money.

$20 million to be exact.

Revis’ contract is structured as such so that the Jets owe him $20 million in guaranteed money in 2011 and 2012.  However, there exists a clause in his contract that negates this money as guaranteed should Revis fail to attend training camp.

Thus, if Revis did ultimately make the decision to hold out, it would appear that he would need to be certain–beyond a reasonable doubt–that a deal would get done. Either that, or he would need to have balls of steel.

All we know is that it will be awfully awkward if HBO’s Hard Knocks presents the Jets without their best defensive player.