Woody no longer optimistic about Revis deal

Woody Johnson's optimism has waned. Exponentially.

A week after the Jets owner expressed sincere hope that a new deal for his star cornerback would get done soon, Johnson was much more somber today, an indication that Pro Bowler Darrelle Revis could end up staging a lengthy holdout.

"In my impression, there is no progress," Johnson said. "That’s the way Mike characterized it to me. There is no movement whatsoever."

Asked point-blank if he's optimistic a deal will be done by the Sept. 13 season opener, Johnson said flatly: "The answer is no."

Why?

"Well, I think based on the meeting last Friday that Mike had," Johnson said. "That’s the conclusion and that’s my feeling right at this moment."

Revis agents met with Tannenbaum at Roscoe Diner in Roscoe, N.Y. on Friday and delivered a new proposal. Jonathan Feinsod earlier this afternoon said they were waiting to hear back from the Jets.

However, Tannenbaum said their offer was generally the same as others and there wasn't much difference in the proposal, which Revis' camp hoped was a long-term solution.

"I think fundamentally, there were some technical changes to it that we looked at, we’ve talked about," Tannenbaum said. "But as Woody has said, fundamentally there really hasn’t been a change, and right now we can’t find something that makes sense for both sides. So we really have no progress."

Tannenbaum added: "We spoke for three hours and I think we left that meeting with a pretty good sense of their position and I think they had a pretty good sense of our position. But again, let me just reiterate, the lines of communication have been open. We have spoke countless times. Ari Nissim, Jackie Davidson, they do a great job of preparing and we communicate. So that has not been the problem. The problem in this situation is we have a very fundamental difference of opinion on what the compensation should be.

"When we’ll talk next, that’s hard to say."

Revis wants to top the $15.1 million Oakland's Nnamdi Asomguha makes, and that's where the hangup remains. The two sides can't seem to find a common ground. 

"As of now, we still have a very fundamental difference of opinion on what the appropriate compensation should be," Tannenbaum said. "Until we get that solved, there’s not really much to discuss."

Asked if things could progress if Revis' side backs off their demand for a contract that pays him more on average per season tha Asomugha, Tannenbaum said: "I think there’s a lot of diferents ways to get to a landing spot that both sides could feel good about. Our organization's track record is, we can be flexible and creative when necessary.

"So any one deal is not about one contract. Obviously, the contract you’re referencing is a significant issue in our deal, but it’s certainly not the only one. ... So I don’t think this is a one-contract issue."

Are the Jets ready for a potentially lengthy absence from their All-Pro?

"As an organization, all we can do is put ourselves in the best postion possible, and what that means organizationally is that Rex is going to coach those players on the field, Woody, Rex and I are going to talk every day about how we can improve the team and we’re going to be as prepared as possible. This is an issues that we’ve taken very seriously, starting with the Tuesday after we lost to the Colts

"It’s something we continue to look at. Fortunately for the organization, we've been able table that and make progress in a lot of other areas with a lot of other transactions. When there is an appropriate deal to be made? I have absolutely no idea. Do I wish it was a month ago? Sure.

"But until there is a deal that make sense for both sides, he’s not here and there is nothing we can do about that."