From Revis Island to Rikers Island: NFL agent explains how Jets might tear up star’s contract

Darrelle Revis is certainly in a sticky spot, legally speaking, the New York Jets cornerback allegedly at the center of a fight on a street corner two weekends in Pittsburgh. At the end of the day a trip to the big house is likely not in the mix for Revis but this situation might present his current NFL team with a golden opportunity to cut ties with the once great cornerback.

And that he’s been more Rikers Island than Revis Island this year and into the offseason must be a concern for the Jets and a reason to wonder if it is time to move on.

It has been a precipitous decline for Revis this past year, who went from being a top-end cornerback in 2015 to downright awful some weeks this past year, showing more fight in a street brawl then he did for much of the season’s last two months. The Jets still owe Revis a considerable amount of money on the free agency deal he signed two years ago, a contract that not only brought the star back to the team that drafted him but was a seminal moment in the supposed rebuilding of the team.

The Jets got one good year out of Revis before his decline and now his recent legal issues might just give them an out from a player whose best days are apparently behind him. This is where a salary and contract expert such as Joel Corry can help wade through the issues at play for the Jets.

“Contracts with salary guarantees contain a default provision. Most allow for guarantees to void with suspensions under any league policy – substance abuse, PED, personal conduct -and from conduct detrimental to the teamamong other things: retirement, holding out, etc. Some teams have a more vague kind of catch all provision allowing forvoiding ifa player engages in conduct reasonably judged to adversely affect or reflect poorlyon the organization. Revis has this type of language in his contract,” Corry told Metro. A former NFL agent, Corry now works for CBSSports.com.

“Revis has a $15,333,333 2017 salary cap number. His $6 million of $13 million base salary is fully guaranteed. He also has a $2 million roster bonus due on the second day of the league year which is March 10.”

But it might not be as simple as merely cutting Revis, even if the Jets are willing to eat a good portion of his contract to be rid of the player as well as open up a few million under the salary cap.

The player’s association will almost certainly weigh-in, especially if the legal matter remains pending.

“The Jets invoking this catch all to get outthe $6 million guaranteeis probably a grievance waiting to happen. The NFLPA would surely file one on Revis’behalf. While there was a pending dispute, 40 percent of the $6 million would count against the Jets salary cap ($2.4 million). It would remain until theparties settled or an arbitrator rendered adecision,” Corry said.

“The Jets cutting him before hisroster bonus is due without trying to escapethe guarantee would leave them with a $7 million salary cap charge for Revis for a cap savings of $8,333,333. It would b