Darrelle Revis, Jets agree on new deal

Darrelle Revis' 36-day holdout has finally come to an end, and no one is more relieved than Rex Ryan.

"I think I had to medicate the head coach," GM Mike Tannenbaum said.

The Jets and their Pro Bowl cornerback agreed to a new four-year deal Sunday night, one worth $46 million with $32 million in guarantees, according to published reports. The deal came together quickly and both sides agreed to terms sometime after 11 p.m.

"This is an intermediate step to what we hope will be an entire career of Darrelle as a Jet," Tannenbaum said, "for him to retire as a Jet and for him to hopefully go to the Hall of fame as a Jet."

Revis is expected to officially sign his contract today at the team's Florham Park, N.J. training facility. The Jets had been trying to sign Revis to a contract extension since February and, although Revis participated in the offseason workouts -- there was also that one episode in training camp where he sat out on a mini protest but said he was lightheaded -- he skipped out on training camp.

Revis, due to make $1 million this season in the fourth-year of his original six-year contract, had wanted to be the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL. The impasse grew testy as both sides failed to agree on what the Jets termed as "total compensation," leading to the seemingly never-ending back-and-forth bickering that broke out between the two sides at the start of training camp.

Both sides agreed not to discuss the case publicly since the second week of training camp, and even though the lines of communication remained open, there wasn't much progress with the negotiations.

Things started to thaw Saturday afternoon, when Ryan and owner Woody Johnson flew down to visit with Revis in South Florida, where he has a place. They met with Revis, his mother Diana Gilbert and Revis' uncle Sean Gibert. The ball began rolling quickly Sunday night after the sides began agreeing on some of the more complicated points.

"We kicked around enough ideas that we found a landing spot that was good for both sides," Tannenbaum said. "It goes back to what we said for months. Darrelle's contract needed to be addressed because he's performed so well, and he had three years to go on his contract.

"So given those two variables, where was the landing spot that was good for both sides? I think this is a great deal for Darrelle and I think responsible for the club. So from that standpoint I think it's a win, win."

Revis was fined $16,532 per day, a sum that swelled to $594,828. Tannenbaum wouldn't disclose what would happen to the fine, saying it would be handled confidentially. But he added Revis and Ryan would have a say in the matter.

Tannenbaum wouldn't commit to Revis playing in the Jets' Sept. 13 opener against the Ravens at the New Meadowlands Stadium, saying that decision will rest on Ryan's shoulders. But there's little doubt the Jets won't have their All-Pro corner out there for the first snap of the season.

Just being able to even say that is music to the Jets' ears.

"This was one of those things, I really wasn't optimistic," Tannenbaum said. "I really wasn't. It was really a collectively hard set of dynamics. Until it was done, I mean I'm an optimistist by nature, but gosh this was really hard. There was a lot of heavy lifting, a lot of work put into it. My job is to solve problems and I'm an optimist by nature, but this honestly and truly was really, really hard. But I'm just happy with the result."

Revis hadn't spoken publicly since the ESPN Awards, just before training camp started, but ended his silence on Twitter once the news broke.

"To my family, neil, & john I love u guys I'm comin home baby!!! Revis Island LET'S GO," Revie tweeted, talking about agents Neil Schwartz and Jonathan Feinsod. "It not has only been hard on u guys but it has for me too. I just want to tell yall that I'm sorry for this process and I can't wait to get back on the field."

The Jets can't wait to see him out there.

"I’m happy, I’m relieved," Tannenbaum said. "Obviously, Darrell is a great player. He's our guy. He's an important piece of what we are trying to accomplish here. We’ve been working at this for a long, long time. So to finally get a landing point, I think it's a testament to both sides that we wanted to be here, and we wanted to get something done.

"I don't think anybody wanted it to take as long as it did, but it did. And now we can put it behind us and move on to Baltimore."

Revis' signing capped a busy day for the Jets. They released veteran fullback Tony Richardson, wide receiver David Clowney and running back Chauncey Washington, and signed tackle Patrick Brown, defensive tackle Marcus Dixon and wide receiver Patrick Turner.

Some may connect Richardson's release to the Revis signing, figuring it freed up money. Tannenbaum said that wasn't the case, though.

"No, really the opposite," he said. "Until he was here, the joke was, if you go back a year ago, we had the 54th and 55th best player in the NFL in Shaun Ellis and Calvin Pace. And then I'm thinking, 'Gosh, we got better this year. It's [Santonio] Holmes and Revis. We dominate on 54 and 55.'

"So until it was done, I really didn't think he would be here. Obviously, having Kyle Wilson and [Antonio] Cromartie, we felt really good about that. But adding Darrellle is another layer."