Mar 14, 2014
Over the past seven years Darrelle Revis has been known as the best “shutdown” cornerback in the NFL. Last year that title went to Richard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks. Revis spent last season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers working through an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury that ended his 2012 season as a New York Jet. Revis began the 2013 season with a strong desire to re-establish himself as the most dominant cornerback in the NFL.
The All-Pro cornerback had a slow start statistically due to all the mental issues it takes to work through a serious knee injury. Revis needed to regain confidence in his ability to run, plant, and cut while defending opposing wide receivers. The amount of respect opposing quarterbacks had towards Revis and his “playmaking” ability, contributed to his slow start also. Towards the middle of the season his play started resembling the Darrelle Revis of old. He ultimately finished the season with 50 tackles, 1 sack, 2 forced fumbles and 2 interceptions. Revis went on to earn his 5th Pro-Bowl selection.
The new start of the NFL year began on March 11th. This day brought a high level of excitement to all NFL franchises along with their fans. A high amount of player turnover takes place throughout the league. The second day of free-agency saw the Tampa Bay Buccaneers release All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis. If he stayed on the Buccaneers he would be owed 15 million dollars for the 2014 season. The price tag would be to steep to pay, so the organization decided to release him.
There were a number of rumors floating around about New England’s interest in Revis, but no one expected the Patriots to make a move. The Patriots have a long history of not paying large amounts of money towards one position, especially cornerback. Another factor in the decision would have to be Revis and his wiliness to sign for less than the 16 million he would have earned from Tampa Bay.
New England went into free-agency with the goal of resigning last year’s Pro-Bowler Aqib Talib. The Patriots did not accomplish this goal as Talib decided to sign with the Denver Broncos for 6 years/57 millions with 27 million being guaranteed. Once New England lost Talib, the realization of their team needing a Pro-Bowl caliber cornerback became a major reality. Both sides discussed numbers and surprisingly came to an agreement. Darrelle Revis agreed to a 1 year, 12 million dollar deal with a second year team option worth 20 million dollars.
The addition of Revis strengthens the inept secondary of the Patriots. He brings leadership and shutdown capabilities to a team in desperate need of them. The manner, in which Revis finished the 2013 season, proves he is well on his way back to being the number 1 shutdown corner in the NFL.
