NFL Rumors: Darrelle Revis Is The Top Priority For The Patriots
By Cyrus Geller
Coming into this offseason for the Patriots, there were two huge deals that had to be done within the organization if they wanted to keep the core of this championship team together: re-signing cornerback Darrelle Revis, and keeping safety Devin McCourty here either by a new contract, or the franchise tag.
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I think it has been clear that retaining these two has been priority number one for the Pats for awhile, but the real question was who between those two would emerge as the top dog for New England’s contract priorities.
According to Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald, Revis is the guy:
"The Patriots’ actions this week have indicated they’re all in on cornerback Darrelle Revis.It’s unclear how much progress the two camps have made in their efforts to strike a contract extension this week at the scouting combine in Indianapolis, but the Patriots have been deliberate with their other objectives as they creep toward free agency, according to a variety of sources."
So essentially, it is Revis, and then everybody else for the Pats in this free agency. I agree with this strategy, although keeping McCourty is almost as important as Revis, given his extended time with the team, his leadership, and the fact that he is a top-2 safety in the NFL.
If the Patriots can bring back both Revis and McCourty, their defense will be elite once again in 2015 (barring injuries of course), and they can begin to address other needs via the draft and free agency. I have said from the beginning that New England can’t really begin to work their way through team needs until they know what is going down with Revis and McCourty, and I stick by that.
Hopefully based off this latest report, Revis and the Patriots can work out a deal soon, so the team can focus on McCourty, Stephen Gostkowski, and other key free agents.