Contract battle risky for Revis and Jets

FLORHAM PARK, N.J.

When All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis missed a few snaps in Monday morning's minicamp practice, it seemed harmless enough. He didn't look hurt and was eventually back with the first-team defense. It wasn't until afterward that he admitted the ailment that sent him to the sideline was self-induced.

Evidently, contract fever was the real cause.

"You just let them know, I can play, or I cannot play," Revis said. He then ripped into the Jets for the slow pace of negotiations for a new contract, a deal he said should make him the richest cornerback in football.

"It's about loyalty," he said. "You say, 'You're the best [defensive] player in the league, you're our No. 1 priority.' [But] you're not showing loyalty in keeping your core guys. You want to build a dynasty, you've got to start being loyal to some of your players."

Revis even caught Rex Ryan unaware about his minicamp mini-protest. When I asked Ryan about Revis, the coach said he had no problem with him sitting out a few plays if he didn't feel up to it. Revis had not told Ryan that it was related to the contract situation.

"I'll have to talk to Darrelle, and we'll see what's out there," Ryan said. "If his situation is that he's got something on his mind and he's not focused 100 percent, I don't want him out there."

$urprise $urprise: Revis' ailments cleared up in time for the afternoon practice, and he didn't take any plays off.

But that doesn't mean all is well with the 24-year-old cornerback. He is clearly digging in his heels. And with memories of Leon Washington's failed negotiation last season and subsequent career-threatening leg injury fresh in his mind, Revis is adamant that he won't become a similar casualty.

"You look back at that situation last year, and it's sad," he said of Washington, who was traded to Seattle on draft day in April. "I don't want to end up like that. But you sit here and you hear them say you're the best defensive back, you should be paid like it, and you're sent over little crap proposals. That's not being loyal."

And so it goes for a player who is essential to the Jets' push for a Super Bowl title, but a man who will be assuaged only when he surpasses Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha ($15.1 million a year) as the league's highest-paid cornerback.

If only it were so easy. Asomugha's contract exceeds every other cornerback's by more than $5 million a year. Philadelphia's Asante Samuel and Atlanta's Dunta Robinson make $9.5 million a year, Nate Clements of the 49ers makes $9.1 million and Denver's Champ Bailey $9 million.

No matter to Revis.

"[Asomugha] set the bar," Revis said. "Every year the market goes up."

Tough talk from a tough player, one who is deserving of a new deal to replace the one that pays him $1 million this season. But both Revis and the Jets need to proceed carefully here.

The Jets risk the possibility of a protracted training-camp holdout if they don't meet Revis' demands, and it's conceivable his intransigence could last into the regular season. General manager Mike Tannenbaum, who has publicly said redoing Revis' deal is the team's top priority, is willing to increase the cornerback's pay dramatically.

But he wants to do so within reason, and maintain some sense of fiscal responsibility to the rest of the team. There's nothing wrong with that; simply giving players whatever they want is not the way to run an organization, especially in a league that eventually will have its salary cap back in place.

If Tannenbaum can't get Revis' deal done, then the consequences will be severe. No Revis just might mean no Super Bowl.

But Revis needs to be careful about his stance here, too, lest he lose in the court of public opinion and embolden the Jets in the process. He's asking for a deal that is mind-numbingly expensive, and he's doing so in an economy in which so many are suffering.

Revis might do better to sit back and let negotiations proceed without the specter of bitterness. He has stated his case eloquently and effectively. The Jets know he's serious. Now he needs to dial back the rhetoric and see if negotiations can lead to a new deal.

No deal, and everyone loses.