Revis to the Bucs

It's not often that the best player at his position gets traded.  Especially when it's one of those vital, difficult to fill positions.  It's even more rare for those types of trades to actually work out for both sides.  Yet in this case... it actually does make sense for both teams.

The New York Jets completed their long rumored trade by sending star CB Darrelle Revis to Tampa Bay for the 13th overall selection in this week's draft, along with a conditional pick next year (a 4th round pick that becomes a 3rd rounder if Revis remains on the Bucs 2014 roster). 

So why did each side make this deal?

Why the Bucs did the deal
Revis is widely considered to be the league's top cornerback after making 4 Pro Bowls in his first 6

seasons.  He quickly developed a reputation for shutting down the league's top receivers by blanketing them with his physical play and great instincts.  Opposing receivers around the league dreaded being stranded on "Revis Island."  The only reason he doesn't find his name at the top of the list for INTs and passes defended more often is because most QBs are afraid to even throw in his direction.  He's capable of forcing a team to change their game plan by taking their top receiver out of the game and making teams beat them another way.  There are few defenders that can have such a drastic impact on the game.  Revis is not only the best at his position, he may be the best defensive player in the entire league.

Tampa had the league's worst pass defense last season and desperately needed to fix that hole considering they play in a division with Drew Brees, Matt Ryan and Cam Newton.  The addition of Revis immediately makes their secondary substantially better.  Factor in the signing of safety Dashon Goldson and the Bucs may end up having a well above average pass defense.

As part of the trade, the Bucs extended Revis with a 6 year, $96 million deal, deservedly making him the league's highest paid defensive back.  However, the deal includes no guaranteed money.  This likely stems from concerns over the surgically repaired knee that caused Revis to miss most of last season.  He is only six months removed from surgery to repair his ACL.  Revis did pass a physical as part of the trade, so it's assumed the Bucs would not have signed off on this deal if they had concerns about his health.  However, the non-guaranteed deal protects them from the risk of Revis suffering a decline now or in the future.

As long as Revis is healthy and back to his usual form, the Bucs will have acquired one of the game's best defensive players at a position of dire need.  They are one of the few teams with the cap space to reward Revis with the type of contract he was looking for, but if the knee injury scared off some teams from driving up the price, he may prove to be a bargain.  Revis is better than anyone they could have hoped to acquire with their first round pick, so if they had the money to spend, why not spend it on the best?

Why the Jets did the deal
On the surface it may appear that the Jets are getting the short end of the stick on this trade.  I'm sure that's how many Jets fans are feeling this morning.  They are giving up one of the best players in the league for an unproven draft choice that is unlikely to ever deliver the kind of impact Revis made for them these past six years.  He may have been the best player this franchise ever had (depending on how you feel about Joe Namath) and Jets fans were hoping he'd remain a Jet for life.

The problem is that owner Woody Johnson doesn't agree.  Perhaps he is concerned Revis won't be the

same post-injury and that his performance may have peaked.  Or he may just be tired of the headaches caused by drama with previous contract negotiations with Revis, which have resulted in several holdouts during his time in New York.  In any case, the Jets weren't willing to pay Revis the type of money he was looking for on a long term deal.  Revis reportedly was unwilling to lower his demands and Johnson is said to be philosophically opposed to paying that much money to a non-QB.  He was entering the last season of his current deal, which included a stipulation that prevented the Jets from franchising him.  Which means that if they kept him this season and weren't willing to re-sign him then they may have lost him for nothing next year.

Whether or not they were wrong to not want to pay their best player is irrelevant at this point.  The Jets reportedly made no serious effort to negotiate with him before turning their attention to trading him.  The haul for a player of his caliber may be underwhelming - it's hardly a Hershel Walker type deal and doesn't even bring back as much value as the Bengals got for trading Carson Palmer to the Raiders two years ago.  However, few teams had the cap space to pursue Revis and some that did may have been scared off by the uncertainty of his knee injury.  That limited the Jets leverage and prevented them from getting full value.  They sold low on a premium talent, which is a terrible way to conduct business, but it's better than ending up with nothing.

The Jets are in salary cap hell, thanks in part to the foolish contract extension (5 years, $58.25 million) they gave to Mark Sanchez last year.  When you are paying that much money to one of the league's worst QBs, it's very difficult to improve your roster with anything other than draft picks.  It becomes an even more impossible task if you are paying $16 million per year to another player.  Past contract mistakes made by a since fired GM put the Jets in a hole that made it unreasonable to re-sign Revis.  The Jets are in a rebuilding stage that could take years to climb out of.  Revis will likely be past his prime by the time they are ready to be a contender again and it doesn't make sense to pay anyone that much money to play for a bad team.  He would improve their team, but they are better off being worse in the short term so they can build through the draft.

It's a tough pill to swallow for Jets fans, who now have to suffer through another season with an unwatchable team, but parting with Revis is the best move for the long term future of the franchise.  It's vital that they hit on their draft picks (especially their two high first rounders - 9th and 13th), but the financial flexibility alone will help fix their cap situation and allow them to focus on rebuilding a flawed roster.

Why Revis did the deal
Of course the deal never gets done without Revis agreeing to a new contract with the Bucs, but he had

about 96 million reasons to say yes.  Factor in the lack of state income tax in Florida and the financial benefits increase even more.  He gets to spend half the season in the warm Tampa sun instead of the frigid winters in New York.  He also moves from a franchise that stopped appreciating him to one thrilled to have him.  The Jets are a disaster right now, while the Bucs are a team on the rise.  With Revis on board, Tampa will be a popular dark horse candidate in the NFC.

As much as this deal seems to work for all parties involved, nobody is happier with this trade than the QBs in the AFC East.  This is the best news Tom Brady has gotten this off-season, as he no longer has to face Revis twice a year.

The news isn't quite as cheerful for those in the NFC South.  The top receivers in the division better pack their sunscreen and shades - they are about to spend a whole lot of time on Revis Island.

It may take a few years to determine which team actually got the better end of this deal.  In the short term, the Jets may regret it when Revis comes back to haunt them in Week 1 when the Jets face off against the Bucs (what's the over/under on passes from Sanchez that get picked off by Revis, 3?  I'll still take the over).  When evaluating the deal based on it's impact on the future of both franchises, it seems like a deal that both teams had to make.