Darrelle Revis is still rehabbing from a torn ACL.
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Former Colts general manager Bill Polian is among those perplexed by how the Darrelle Revis situation will pan out.
Recent reports have linked Revis as trade bait for the Jets, especially since he is able to opt out of his contract after this season and could become a free agent. Revis has had lengthy holdouts twice in his career to resolve contract disputes and the Jets, who are tight against the salary cap and could use more draft picks to restock a team lacking in depth and talent, might be tempted to deal their best player.
In a conference call with the media, the now-ESPN analyst sees issues with the Jets lining up a deal for Revis. The major stumbling block being his recovery from a season-ending knee injury in Week 3 — something that might scare away suitors, or at the very least bring down his value.
“Well, I can’t predict either one. I can tell you that as of now … all general managers deal with facts and not sound bites or noise. The fact is he’s an injured player who has not proven yet that he is what he was before he got hurt. So that’s point A,” Polian said on the call. “Point B is that he is entering the season prior to his free agency and he cannot be tagged so he either reaches a long-term agreement with the club, or he becomes a free agent. Those are the facts. How you balance them is the difficult part.”
On Monday, in a conference call with Jets season ticket holders, general manager John Idzik didn’t exactly give a ringing endorsement to a future for Revis on the Jets. While he said that “we’re very, very happy to have him as a New York Jet,” Idzik wouldn’t commit to a long-term future between the franchise and a player considered the best cornerback in the league.
Polian sees the health issue of Revis creating a quagmire when deciding to sign or trade the player.
“How can you negotiate when you don’t know what the player is likely to be? You can surmise, but you don’t know until he gets on the field. To me, that’s a very important issue. I presume that if they have an intention to keep him at some point they’ll enter into the negotiations. But the timing of that depends entirely on what they find out vis a vis the medical,” Polian said.
“And, again, as I stated just a minute ago, that’s something that none of us in the media business know. The club is the repository of that information. That is what is going to drive the decision. I can’t predict what’s going to happen, but I can tell you what’s going to drive the decision, and that’s the medical.”
Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer for all your offseason news.
