New England Patriots: The Patriots Failure to Re-sign Darrelle Revis a Home Run Two Years Later

As the New England Patriots (13-2) gear up to finish their regular season against the Miami Dolphins (10-5) with an eye on securing home field advantage en route to another Super Bowl appearance, their most bitter rival, the New York Jets (4-11), continue to spiral downward into a seemingly endless pit.

The Jets, coming off their greatest ever offensive season and their first 10-win campaign since 2010 a year ago, have been an utter disappointed this season. Among their greatest deficiencies has been the play of the defense, one of their perceived strengths coming into 2016, and particularly the play of the secondary.

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Chief among their secondary concerns in particular, and defensive woes in general, is All-Pro CB Darrelle Revis, who has suffered through his worst camp gain as a professional. Couple this with the fact that it comes off only his second year of the five-year, $70 million contract he signed back in 2015, Revis has hardly been able to live up to the hype of such a massive deal.

Now the Jets are faced with the predicament of what to do with him heading into 2017–particularly as they look to start over with a roster re-haul. If the Jets don’t cut Revis before the start of the new league year (March 1), he’ll count $15.33 Million against the Jets’ salary cap, which is a big hit for an aging star. A cut seems likely, despite Revis’s intention to remain in New York.

As reported by the New York Post on Friday, Revis was more or less resigned to the fact that Sunday could be his last game with the Jets. He just hopes the organization treats him with the class he deserves.

"“Would I love to be here? Yes,” Revis said. “Will I be back? That’s a great question. My thing would be this: Do the New York Jets want to treat my situation with class or no class? With me being one of the best players in the history of this franchise, do they want me to retire here or not retire here?"

As unfortunate as Revis’s downfall is for the Jets, his tale has become a cautionary one for other teams looking to sign aging stars to top dollar contracts. And none have been able to reap the fruit of Revis’s shortcomings quite like the Patriots.

Remember, it wasn’t took long ago that Revis was nearly resigned by New England during the 2015 free agency period. Patriots fans were hoping the team could bring back one of the greatest cornerbacks of all time who had just helped them win their fourth Lombardi trophy.

But Revis spurned the Patriots, and decided to return to the team who drafted him in 2007 and with whom he made his name. Two years later, and the Patriots are looking back at their failure to resign him as one of their biggest free agency wins.

Since Revis’s departure, the Patriots have seen the meteoric rise of Malcolm Butler as a steady and reliable cornerback for a fraction of the cost. While New England ranks 19th in pass defense, they are first in points allowed and are looking to become the lowest scoring defense since the great 2013 Seattle Seahawks–who won the Super Bowl.

While Butler certainly would have received ample playing time in a Revis era in New England, there is a good chance we would not have seen Logan Ryan or Eric Rowe nearly as much, and both have become steady, ‘under-the-radar’ talent that Patriots have needed in the defensive backfield. In any case, with Revis–and his contract–playing time for lesser DB’s would have certainly been limited, and their talent would be on the sideline instead of on the field.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway with Revis is that the Patriots–for all of the criticism and cynics they have received over the years–are not going to cave in for the top dollar. It has been long known that New England cultivates a culture of value players, and while they are willing to sign select players to top money (see: Tom Brady, Devin McCourty, Rob Gronkowski), no one is irreplaceable. They will find a player with the necessary ta

lent, they will develop that talent, and they will make up for any loss of production with as many parts as necessary.

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Darrelle Revis may be a cautionary tale for teams looking to sign aging stars, but the Patriots reliance on finding value is the real takeaway teams should be left with–and developing the player value they have on their own teams, whether it’s hidden or not.