Revis: No hard feelings over contract dispute

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - Darrelle Revis measured his words, balancing a fine line between disappointment and frustration.

The All-Pro cornerback is in the midst of tense negotiations on a contract extension, one he says the Jets approached him about after last season. But things aren't going the way Revis would like, leading him to skip last Thursday's voluntary practice to bring more attention to the situation.

He returned Tuesday partly because he doesn't want things to become messy. But that might happen anyway if Revis doesn't get his deal and holds out in training camp, a possibility he didn't discount Thursday.

"It's different sides agreeing and disagreeing on different things," Revis said. "This is the process and it's going to continue until both sides agree. Right now, I'm just being patient. I'm not mad about anything. I'm here. I want to be here, they know that. And I know they want me to be here.

"This is not being enemies or warring against each other. It's just negotiations. Crazy things [happen]."

Still, he and the Jets appear to be far apart. Revis, who's scheduled to earn $1 million in base salary this year, said his agents received a second offer. But it still isn't close enough to what wants: more than the $15.1 million that Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha gets per season.

"If he's here long enough, which I anticipate he will be, will he go down as the best football player in Jets history?" Rex Ryan said. "He's going to go down as one of them. I know about Joe Namath and all that, but this guy has that kind of ability."

And Revis wants his bank statement to reflect it.

"Patrick Willis [of the 49ers] got paid, and a couple of other people got paid, so the decision is the Jets need to pay their guys," Revis said. "There's a lot of us on the line right now - me, Nick Mangold, D'Brickashaw [Ferguson], David Harris. It's up to them to choose who they want to pay and who they don't want to pay. I might not get paid this year. I might. We'll see.''

Although Revis made it clear he'll attend next week's mandatory three-day minicamp - unlike Mangold, who said he's "50-50" - Revis' future could include a holdout. But there's a clause in his contract that wouldn't guarantee the $20 million left on it, and he'd be fined $16,523 per day.

Revis' understanding is the Jets would like to have something done by the season opener, but he didn't sound overly confident that would be the case.

"If it don't, there's going to be other changes,'' he said. "There are going to be other things going on where I need to look at my career and weigh it off that. But they said they were and I think that's what they are pushing for, too.

"I'm just going to keep on doing what I've been doing, come in here and be around until it's time for me to do something different."